NNIN Education Site

Georgia Tech Education Activities Summary

Georgia Institute of Technology's NNIN site is located within the  Nanotechnology Research Center (NRC) 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.gaetch.edu/education.php).The programs are run by Nancy Healy (nancy.healy@mirc.gatech.edu) and Joyce Palmer (joyce.palmer@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 or at the NRC site noted above.  NNIN RETs at MiRC are actively engaged in research in our cleanroom and laboratories while working six weeks with a faculty member associated with NRC. 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.

REU Program Each summer NRC hosts participants from the NNIN REU program.  Approximately five of the 70 NNIN REUs are placed at NRC. 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. 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 NRC 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 NRC 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 NRC 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 NRC web site provides information on scheduling visits.

Cleanroom Training NRC 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 NRC 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 or National Science Education Standards.  Information on scheduling a workshop can be found at the NRC website.