Closing the Nanotechnology Workforce Gap [Nano Safety and Education]

The National Science Foundation projects a global demand of 6 million nanotechnology workers by 2020; however, only 400,000 nanotech workers are currently in the global workforce, and most of them are at the Ph.D. level conducting some form of research. For myriad of emerging nanotech companies to become commercially viable entities, they must find nonPh.D. human capital. Few nanotech companies could sustain long-term commercial success if non Ph.D.-based human capital was unavailable. Education is at the heart of closing the considerable gap between the workforce needs of a rapidly growing industry and an undergraduate, nanosavvy workforce. Nanoscience Education Program is an offering with the mission of taking nanotechnology education out of the clean room and infusing it into the undergraduate classroom by engaging students in a true hands-on nanoscience learning experience and, in doing so, helping them to better understand the science, intricacies, and instruments necessary to work at the nanoscale.