2,000 students visited UAlbany NanoCollege this year

Posted: December 7, 2007
2,000 students visited UAlbany NanoCollege this year
(Nanowerk News) Three hundred students from throughout New York's Tech Valley region attended NanoCareer Day today at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering ("CNSE") of the University at Albany, bringing to more than 2,000 the number of middle- and high-school students to visit the UAlbany NanoCollege this year.
From putting on cleanroom "bunny suits," to conducting experiments using gummy worms to learn about polymers, to touring the most advanced education, research and development facilities devoted to nanoscale science and engineering on a university campus anywhere in the world, NanoCareer Day is designed to address the national need to stimulate an interest in math and science among America's younger generation.
The students received a firsthand look at the exciting scientific possibilities being enabled by nanotechnology in fields such as health care, energy and telecommunications, as well as the growing number of related career opportunities being developed in their own backyard, including those at the UAlbany NanoCollege's $4.2 billion, 450,000-square-foot Albany NanoTech complex.
"We're delighted that more than 2,000 students have had the opportunity to visit the UAlbany NanoCollege this year to get a firsthand look at the field that will define their careers as adults," said Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of CNSE. "The extraordinary interest in events like NanoCareer Day among students, teachers and administrators at our middle and high schools is an encouraging step toward development of the future workforce that will support the growing nanotech-driven economy in our region and state."
Schools participating in NanoCareer Day, and their counties, include: Farnsworth Middle School (Albany), Watervliet Junior/Senior High School (Albany), Fonda-Fultonville Middle School (Montgomery), Queensbury Middle School (Warren), Maplewood-Colonie Common School (Albany), Saratoga Springs High School (Saratoga), The Doane Stuart School (Albany), Mohonasen High School (Schenectady), Waterford-Halfmoon High School (Saratoga) and Philip Livingston Magnet Academy (Albany).
The National Science Foundation ("NSF") projects the U.S. will need over two million nanotechnology-savvy workers by 2014, with 20 percent expected to be scientists, and the remaining 80 percent consisting of highly skilled engineers, technicians, business leaders, economists and others. The nanotechnology job market will require expertise ranging from two-year associate degrees to doctoral degrees, according to NSF.
The daylong event included introductory presentations by CNSE professors Ernest Levine and Vincent LaBella related to the emerging science of nanotechnology and the career opportunities it offers; hands-on, interactive demonstrations provided by CNSE Professors Anand Gadre, Magnus Bergkvist, Nathaniel Cady, Yubing Xie and Research Support Specialist Stephen Stewart; and, tours of CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex, guided by CNSE professor Eric Eisenbraun and Senior Lithography Equipment Engineer Darren Brookhart, along with CNSE students Aaron Mosier, Anh Viet Nguyen, Brian Cohen, Fernando Gomez-Baquero, Lynn Rice, Leonid Yankulin, Mary Viola Graham, Nurazhani Abdul Raof, Waseem Khan Raja and Zachary Rice.
About CNSE
The UAlbany CNSE is the first college in the world dedicated to research, development, education, and deployment in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nanobioscience, and nanoeconomics. In May 2007, it was ranked as the world's number one college for nanotechnology and microtechnology in the Annual College Ranking by Small Times magazine. CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex is the most advanced research facility of its kind at any university in the world: a $4.2 billion, 450,000-square-foot complex that attracts corporate partners from around the world and offers students a one-of-a-kind academic experience. The UAlbany NanoCollege houses the only fully-integrated, 300mm wafer, computer chip pilot prototyping and demonstration line within 65,000 square feet of Class 1 capable cleanrooms. More than 1,800 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty work on site at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex, including IBM, AMD, SONY, Toshiba, Qimonda, Honeywell, ASML, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Freescale. An expansion currently underway will increase the size of CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex to over 750,000 square feet, including over 80,000 square feet of Class 1 cleanroom space, to house over 2,000 scientists, researchers, engineers, students, and faculty by the end of 2008. For more information, visit http://www.cnse.albany.edu/.

Source: CNSE