Maximizing Nanotechnology Education at Purdue University: Its Integration into the Electrical Engineering Technology Curriculum

Nanotechnology education continues to be a national priority [5], [12] while requiring an integration of the basic disciplines (physics, chemistry, and biology) into the systems of engineering and technology. Training the next-generation workforce in this complex and highly interdisciplinary field presents many opportunities and challenges. Various nanotechnology courses and programs [1], [4], [15] have been developed with differing levels of success. The issues of prerequisite material, student selective interests, and program-specific requirements are a few of the challenges that have slowed the rate of nanotechnology education. Also, access to and training on scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), one of the premier tools of nanotechnology [2], has been limited, particularly at the undergraduate level. A few laboratories [7], [13] have been centered around the atomic force microscope (AFM), a subset of the SPM. However, these systems are expensive, and it is a challenge to retain the expertise necessary to maintain, operate, and train students on these systems.