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| Investigators |
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Profile |
Website |
| PI |
John Jaszczak, Physics, MTU |
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| Co-PI |
Bruce Seely, Social Sciences, MTU |
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| Co-PI |
Michele Miller, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, MTU |
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| Co-PI |
Gerard Caneba, Chemical Engineering, MTU |
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| Co-PI |
Elias Aifantis, College of Engineering, MTU |
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Abstract |
The project is developing a suite of educational and research experiences
to introduce students, primarily in their first and second years, to the
exciting prospects and challenges of nanoscale science and
engineering. Relying primarily upon the framework of existing courses, the
group will prepare an array of educational experiences and opportunities
designed to provide an integrated introduction to three crucial aspects of
nanoscale work: the underlying science, possible scientific and engineering
applications, and the societal implications of this still unfolding realm
of science and engineering.
Specific activities include preparing modules and problem sets on nano
topics for use in several introductory science and engineering courses;
offering a course in the required, first-semester freshman general
education seminar devoted to nanoscience and technology; creating a new,
first-year, team-taught interdisciplinary seminar on the Fundamentals of
Nanotechnology; installing nano modules in second-year courses on
manufacturing engineering; materials science and engineering; modern
physics; and a social sciences course focusing on societal implications of
science and technology. The program also includes a lecture series, and
opportunities for undergraduate research experiences. This menu of varied
options insures that nanotechnology issues and educational activities are
placed before a substantial number of all first-year students at Michigan
Tech, including almost all engineering students, with continuing
opportunities available into the second year and after. Additionally, this
project substantially advances an internal effort to develop fully
integrated and multi-disciplinary undergraduate (a
nanosciences/nanotechnology minor and a BSE degree) and graduate programs
in the realm of nanoscience and engineering at Michigan Tech, particularly
by stimulating substantial faculty collaboration in program and curriculum
development. The primary intellectual merit flows from the integration of
science, engineering, and societal implications from the outset of these
programmatic activities. In particular, the project pays particular
attention to the societal implications of the unfolding domain of the
nanoscale, incorporating an element minimally represented in many existing
nanoscale research and educational programs.
Project Web Site: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/nue/index.htm
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Discipline |
Keywords |
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Nanotechnology, Education
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