Nanotechnology Education Activities at Georgia Tech

NNIN Education Site

Georgia Tech Education Activities Summary

Georgia Institute of Technology’s NNIN site is located within the Microelectronics Research Center (MiRC) and houses the coordinating office for NNIN Education and Outreach. In addition to coordinating all of the NNIN sites and working with other national nanotechnology education initiatives, the Georgia Tech site is actively involved in local programs. Further details about our programs can be found at our web site --http://www.mirc.gatech.edu

RET Program – We offer teachers the opportunity to participate in cutting edge nanotechnology research during a six-week summer experience. This program is funded by the National Science Foundation. Teachers may apply through the Georgia Intern-fellowships for Teachers program (http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/gift/) which is a Georgia Tech collaborative effort to enhance mathematics and science experiences of Georgia teachers. NNIN RETs at MiRC are actively engaged in research in our cleanroom and laboratories while working six weeks with a faculty member associated with MiRC. In addition teachers receive one week of classroom support to implement their newly developed instructional materials and another week at the National Science Teachers Association annual meeting. At the NSTA all NNIN RETs come together to share lessons developed through their experiences. Four teachers per summer are placed at MiRC.

REU Program – Each summer MiRC hosts participants from the NNIN REU program. Approximately five of the 70 NNIN REUs are placed at MiRC. These students conduct exciting nanotechnology research in our facilities during this 10-week summer mentored research program. Faculty and graduate students mentors guide the interns through their research experience. In addition to the network activities, the REU students attend events sponsored by other summer programs on campus such as SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience; (http://users.ece.gatech.edu/~gsm/sure.html). Our participants are highly satisfied with the experience they obtain at our NNIN facility:

"I couldn't have asked for a better internship experience. I feel so fortunate about all aspects of the experience....In turn, these things really made it easy for the six interns to develop camaraderie. When I was saying bye to the other interns, we all felt that the NNIN REU program was really a good program, but having Georgia Tech as the host site was what made it special." Ian Yang, Georgia Tech REU 2005

Nano@Tech – The MiRC hosts an organization of graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff from a variety of nanotechnology research laboratories and programs across the Georgia Tech and Emory campuses as well as local businesses and industry. There are over 300 members of this organization which developed by request from our volunteers for our education and outreach programs. The purpose of Nano@Tech is to encourage interactions among the various disciplines represented by the members, share ideas, and serve as a communication and support network. Seminars and networking sessions are held 1-2 times per month and the schedule of meetings can be accessed at our web site (http://www.mirc.gatech.edu/nanotech.php) Nano@Tech participants. Are actively engaged in our outreach activities and volunteer to serve as mentor/guides to K-12 visitors, provide assistance with activities, and conduct cleanroom and resrach laboratory tours.

Nanotechnology Explorations - Each summer the MiRC hosts a week long summer program for high school students interested in nanotechnology (non-residential). The program is a combination of hands-on activities, laboratory tours, and lectures. Information on the camp is at: http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/summercamps.

School Visits – MiRC frequently hosts school groups who participate in hands-on activities, demonstrations and tours of facilities (cleanroom and research labs). The goal of these activities is to introduce students to nanotechnology and to encourage participation in science and engineering. The MiRC web site provides information on scheduling visits.

Cleanroom Training – MiRC has several training options for use of the cleanroom facility. Several training videos have been developed which can be accessed through the MiRC Cleanroom website: http://grover.mirc.gatech.edu. The “bunny-suit” video and clean room WebCam are used in activities with visiting school groups. Check out our WebCam to see real-time images of researchers in our cleanroom.

Teacher Professional Development Workshops – the MiRC NNIN site offers workshops for teachers to enhance their understanding of how nanotechnology can be included in the science curriculum. Workshops use a variety of lessons for middle and high school science classes which are tied to the Georgia Performance Standards. Information on scheduling a workshop or dates for upcoming workshops can be found at the MiRC website.