NNIN Education Site

Nanotechnology Education Activities at UCSB

http://www.nanotech.ucsb.edu/NanotechNew/educationhome.html

The NNIN site at University of California, Santa Barbara finds talented, motivated people who want to learn nanotechnology and train people of all ages in a clean room specifically designed for education. Our programs are designed for students and teachers to acquire hands-on experience in the laboratory while learning new concepts and apply what they have learned to help solve real-world problems.

K–12 Events and Programs:

Middle School
Day in Nanoscience and Technology
This interdepartmental event is for middle school and high school students. Hundreds of students in the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties participate.

High School:
Chip Camps
The chip camp is an intensive learning experience. High school students spend either 1, 3, or 5 days in our teaching clean room facility and learn tricks of light and chemicals to make a tiny microresistor. Longer camps allow a guided exploration of "top down" nanofabrication processes and the results can be used as a science fair project.

After School Program
The after school program is a chip camp (above) broken down into smaller chunks (3 hours/week) for 5 weeks.

Apprentice Researcher's Program
In partnership with the California Nanosystems Institiute (CNSI), the NNIN at UCSB financially supports 4 students each year through this program. High school students are paired with graduate student mentors and faculty advisors to work on real-world research during the summer.

Research Mentorship Program (RMP)
Another research experience for high school students is the Research Mentorship Program, coordinated and hosted by UCSB Summer Sessions. In 2005, the NNIN provided a mentor and a project to develop a portable device that can be used in classrooms to teach photolithography.   

College & University Programs:

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program
The Research Experience for Undergraduates program brings undergraduate students into the laboratories doing real-world research in nanoscale science and technology. This 10-week program offers hands-on nanofabrication research in biology, chemistry, electronics, materials science, optics and optoelectronics, physics, and the life sciences.  Student interns work on research projects with faculty and graduate student mentors.  The primary goal of the program is to give undergraduates the opportunity to gain a positive educational experience in a supervised open laboratory setting.  Included are weekly meetings to discuss the progress of each intern’s research with other students.  The research is also presented at the REU convocation at the end of the program.

Technicians in NanoTechnology Program (TINT)
This is a 6-month REU program generally for international students.

Short Courses for College Students
In summer 2005, the NNIN at UCSB offered a short course for Ventura College students. More short courses may be offered in the future.

Teacher Programs:

Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program
This program will engage 6 middle school and high school science teachers from the tri-county area in an intensive 6-week experience of real-world nanotechnology research and curriculum development at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus.

Summer Science Institute
This workshop is designed for teachers within commuting distance of UCSB who would like to brush up on a particular topic in physics, chemistry, or biology. An encouraging, confidence-building, and supportive environment combined with hands-on labs will help strengthen understanding and help teachers to inspire students.

Science Specialists
The NNIN at UCSB is partnering with the Goleta Union School District to train science specialists to introduce new labs (linked to the science standards, of course) into 6th grade classrooms.

Professional Development Workshops
Teachers will earn professional development credits for their participation in the RET program and the Summer Science Institute. We will soon offer a workshop for teachers that will offer an introduction to nanotechnology as well as a curriculum development component.