November 6, 2004
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A: FROM MENTOR CHRISTINE KUTA IN MA
Nanotechnology covers a broad range of technology so it is not surprising that you are having difficulty pinning down particular areas. Probably the most important thing to understand about nanotech, and the reason why it is so useful, is that things have very different properties at the nanotech scale than they do at larger scales. A crude analogy is that electrons and protons behave very differently from stars and planets. One way of looking at it is that nanotechnology is really a matter of getting down to basics. So, the best classes you can take to pursue a nanotechnology career are physics, chemistry and mathematics. Since you are interested in medical applications of nanotech, you should also be studying biology.
Many schools have nanotech programs, but Harvard University, in particular, has a nanotech program that focuses on life sciences and medicine.
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A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
Whenever a new scientific field emerges, it grows out of pre-existing
knowledge and pre-existing fields. Nanotechnology can be thought of
as engineering of the very very small, on a molecular level rather
than building with I-beams and trusses. Or it can be thought of as
the chemistry of large assemblies of molecules. Understanding the
properties of these assemblies can involve the application of
physics. If the assemblies are designed to be bits of computer
memory, then the field can be computer science or computer
engineering.

So you need to look a little more deeply at the kind of research
going in engineering, chemistry, physics and computer science (and
maybe others), and at the titles of courses being taught. At the
dawn of the nanotech era, you won't find whole departments and degree
programs labeled "nanotechnology". You might find interdisciplinary
research centers, though, and you can probably get involved in
research as an undergraduate - even if your major isn't labeled
"nanotechnology."

Biochemistry, molecular biology, computer science, and neuroscience
come to mind as fields that within my lifetime made the transition
from research interests carried out by people educated in older
fields - biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, mathematics - that
now are recognized as fields in their own right. I remember one
crusty old biochemistry professor dismissing the new field of
molecular biology as "the practice of biochemistry without a
license." And plenty of chemists think molecular biologists and
neuroscientists are woefully ignorant of chemistry. The same will be
true of nanotechnologists, I'm sure, if that becomes its own field of
study and specialists can get degrees in it without a broader
scientific education. But that's progress of a sort.
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A: FROM MENTOR CATHIE MANNION IN NY
I highly recommend you visit the Cornell University web site for
information on nanotechnology. A member of the Ivy League, Cornell
University located in Ithaca, New York is a global leader in nanotechnology
and the web site offers information as well as Cornell faculty contacts in
the field.

On October 6, 2004 Cornell University dedicated the new Duffield Hall $58.5
million nanotechnology research and education building. The center is one
of the first centers wholly designed for interdisciplinary teaching and
research in nanotechnology.

One of the choices first semester freshman engineering students at Cornell
can request to take is "Introduction to Nanotechnology". By taking this
introduction course, the freshman engineering student can get exposure to
this field early in their college experience which is helpful in chosing
their course choices to support their eventual declaration of the major.
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A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL
Hi, ladies,

You both requested college information on Nanotechnology! I find that so
coincidental. And then, I see that the NY Times had an article on
Nanotechnology and the medical profession on November 1, 2004!

"Doctors Use Nanotechnology to Improve Health Care"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/01/technology/01nano.html
(You may need a login to get to the above article. Just register - it's
free!)

I just typed in "What is Nanotechnology" in Google and found some great
sites. I'll list them because they talk about how Nanotechnology will be
used to better the human condition.

National Nanotechnology Initiative
http://www.nano.gov/

At the above site, I went to the search engine and typed in "Universities"
and found some information. The following webiste is one of them:
http://www.nano.gov/html/edu/eduunder.html

It says the following. Please to to the website just listed because there
are valuable links to the universities.

"Choosing a course of study for work in nanotechnology? Will it be
chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, IT or other technology fields?

Highly regarded researcher Stan Williams says that students often ask him
what they should study to prepare for the field of nanotechnology. "I tell
them to figure out what they like and get good at it and to take
communications courses, whether writing or journalism," he notes. While
nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field,
Williams is concerned that students could pursue too broad an education and
end up knowing a little about a lot of fields, but not enough in any one
field to make significant contributions.

There are undoubtedly other opinions about education in nanotechnology, and
it's a subject worthy of consideration as students plan their studies.
Today, few universities offer degrees in nanotechnology, although a vast
number of research universities offer courses in the field. Many
universities also offer undergraduate experiences in interdisplinary
centers.

Degrees in Nanotechnology

In conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania, an Associate Degree in
Nanotechnology is now offered at community colleges in Pennsylvania.

Dakota County Technical College (Rosemount, Minn.) in conjunction with the
University of Minnesota, Associate in Applied Science degree in Nanoscience
Technology

Louisiana Tech University offers a Master of Science degree in Molecular
Sciences and Nanotechnology

Rice University offers a Professional Master of Science in Nanoscale
Physics
University of Albany, School of Nanosciences and Nanoengineering, offers a
Ph.D. and M.S.

University of Washington, Ph.D. in Nanotechnology

Examples of Programs and Courses on Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Offered in U.S. Colleges and Universities

Clemson University, Scanning Probes and Nanostructure Characterization and
Nano-scale Physics (D. Correll)

Clarkson University,Colloid Chemical Approach to Construction of
Nanoparticles and
Nanostructured Materials (J.N. Fendler)

Cornell University, Nanobiotechnology Course

Kansas State University, Visual Quantum Mechanics

Penn State University, Nanofabrication Facility, Capstone Course on
Nanotechnology", for two-year colleges (S.J. Fonash)

Purdue University, Nanoscale Science and Engineering ( R. Reinfenberger)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Nanostructured Materials, (R. Siegel)

Rice University, Introduction to Nanoscience, (V. Colvin)

University of Arkansas in partnership with the Universities of Oklahoma and
Nebraska, Nanomanufacturing Processes, (A.P. Malshe)

University of California-Berkeley, Introduction to Micro and
Nanobiotechnology: BioMEMS -- Bioengineering and Solution Processing of
Materials, Devices, and Nanostructures -- Materials Science

Univerisity of California-LA, Mathematics in Nanoscale Science and
Engineering, Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics

University of Delaware, Nanotechnology (J. Kolodzey)

University of Florida, Nanocomputing (J. Fortes)

University of Notre Dame, Advanced Quantum Devices, (EE 666)

Univerisity of Southern California, Nanorobotics (A. Requicha)

University of Texas at Austin's Doctoral Portfolio Program in
Nanotechnology is a certification program which provides a formal mechanism
for recognizing and rewarding students who obtain the broad educational
background necessary to become leaders in nanotechnology after graduation.

University of Washington, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the
Joint Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Intensive Courses in
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

University of Wisconsin, Madison, New Technologies (R. Hamers)

Virginia Commonwealth University, Nanotechnology (M. El-Shall)

Yale University, Nanoparticles Processes (D. Rosner)

Other Resources:

Research Experience for Undergraduates in Nanotechnology and
Nanobiotechnology Research Experience for Undergraduates

Every summer, the National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network hosts a
Research Experience for Undergraduates Program (NNIN REU) from June to
August. Engineering and science students with a genuine interest in
nanotechnology are eligible if they are not graduating before the end of
the program in August. Also, applicants must be Citizens or Permanent
Residents of the United States. Minority and female candidates are
especially encouraged to apply. For the full program information, please
visit the NNIN REU Information Center.

See also Careers in Nanotechnology."

I urge you both to do the same as I just did:

Go to http://www.nano.gov/search.html
and enter "Universities" and you will find 28 or so articles of interest.

It looks like you can relate Nanotechnology to any of the sciences. You
should choose what else you are interested in and focus in that field. I
see from the above, that includes Biotechnology, Physics, Engineering,
chemistry. If you go to http://www.nano.gov/html/edu/eduunder.html there
are links to the colleges and the degrees listed above. Take notes as you
read and bookmark the sites you want to remember!

Good luck to you both!