Given the increasing protest from U.S. voters over the growing problem of “pork” spending by Congress, it behooves us in the nanotech field to develop criteria for nanotech projects. Here’s an example from the May 2006 Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report (similar report in Milwaukee Business Journal): “Department of Commerce Funding: Chippewa Valley Technical College Funding Announced:… Continue reading Wise nanoeducation investment or nano-pork?
Here at Foresight we get continual requests from students for advice on which schools to attend to pursue nanotechnology. Small Times has generously posted their second annual survey of U.S. universities’ abilities in nano and micro work. (Or, download the whole May/June issue in pdf, 5.5 MB — this is easier to read.) It’s a… Continue reading Top nanotech universities in U.S. named
From Popular Science, an article by Sarah Webb on a humorous educational nanotech video called When Things Get Small, “an irreverant, madcap, comically corny romp into the world of things ‘nano’ “: “The 30-minute flick—a collaboration between physicist Ivan Schuller of the University of California at San Diego and producer Rich Wargo—is a corny romp… Continue reading $400K federally-funded nano-comedy film available
The IEEE Virtual Museum, targeted at the general public, has opened its nanotech exhibit. An excerpt: “Even with these real-world applications, the current uses of nanotechnology (other than nano-size particles of various materials) remain very limited…However, researchers are rapidly making progress toward what some think of as true nanotechnologies—self-assembling, molecule size machines to perform all… Continue reading Nanotech exhibit opens at IEEE Virtual Museum
The UK-based Institute of Nanotechnology has posted 17 lectures from their December 2005 meeting on Nanoeducation and training, including turning ideas into business opportunities, public perception, and ethics. The one I’m most interested to see explains how to become an “International Master in Nanotechnologies.” Note: to see the speaker names and talk titles, you must… Continue reading Free webcast: nanoeducation, business, ethics
An article in InformationWeek, while focused primarily on information technology, has lessons for nanotech as well (emphasis added): “U.S. universities need to recognize they’re in a global showdown for research dollars. But sometimes they’re their own worst enemies in landing such funding. The culprit: The conflict over who gets the right to collect royalties on… Continue reading Growing conflict over nanotech intellectual property
The term nanochemistry has always seemed a bit confusing to me. Since a typical atomic diameter is a third of a nanometer, wouldn’t most chemistry be nanoscale? I am not the only one confused: the current top entry on Google for nanochemistry is for chemistry taking place in very small volumes. Be that as it… Continue reading If you're serious about learning nanochemistry…
Whether to have an undergrad major in nanotechnology is controversial, but many students are interested. To those wanting to get started now, we say, “Go north, young man or woman, to University of Waterloo”: “The Nanotechnology Engineering honours undergraduate degree program at UW is designed to provide a practical education in key areas of nanotechnology,… Continue reading Nanotech Engineering for undergrads
As we enter 2006 our thoughts turn to the future: what can we expect from nanotechnology as it reaches its full potential? For a quick introduction, check out Productive nanosystems: the physics of molecular fabrication (pdf, 0.6 MB) by K. Eric Drexler, published in Physics Education. It gets quite technical, but even the less technical… Continue reading Intro to productive nanosystems
Many Nanodot readers would like to move their careers in the direction of molecular modeling and design, with the longer term goal of designing molecular nanosystems. But many cannot take time out to go back to school full time. What to do? Consider Molecular Conceptor: multimedia courseware claimed to be the equivalent of 70 hours… Continue reading Free demo: Molecular design courseware
