Nanotechnology Fellows Program: Preparing Undergraduate Students for Careers in Nanotechnology

Saniya Leblanc; Steffi A Renninger; Ekundayo Shittu

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Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session I
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/p.27328
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/27328
Download Count: 602

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Paper Authors

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Saniya Leblanc The George Washington University

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Dr. Saniya LeBlanc obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering with a minor in materials science at Stanford University. She earned her BS with highest honors from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master's of Philosophy in Engineering from Cambridge University as a Churchill Scholar. Dr. LeBlanc has received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Sandia National Labs, and Stanford's Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence program. With a strong commitment to educational equity, she served in Teach For America as a high school math and physics teacher in Washington, D.C., and she was co-founder of the American Society for Engineering Education's Stanford chapter. Dr. LeBlanc joined GWU from Alphabet Energy, a San Francisco Bay Area startup company, where she created research, development, and manufacturing characterization solutions for thermoelectric technologies and evaluated the potential of new power generation materials. Dr. LeBlanc's research goals are to utilize nano- and micro-structuring techniques to improve energy systems. She uses scalable manufacturing techniques to create nanostructured materials for energy and thermal management applications and creates techno-economic models for emerging energy technologies.

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Steffi A Renninger George Washington University

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Steffi Renninger is currently a doctoral candidate in Applied Social Psychology at George Washington University. Steffi's general research interests are in examining how health communications influence or promote health behaviors, particularly physical activity and vaccination uptake.

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Ekundayo Shittu George Washington University

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Ekundayo (Dayo) Shittu is an assistant professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at George Washington University. Professor Shittu conducts basic and applied research that take a systems approach to address the different dimensions of decision making under multiple and sequential uncertainties. His focus is on the economics and management of energy technologies, the design and impacts of climate change response policies, sustainability efforts, corporate social responsibility, and patterns of consumer behavior in energy consumption in the emerging era of smart grid technologies.

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Abstract

From microscopy to materials synthesis, the demand for expertise in nanotechnology spans multiple disciplines and encompasses a variety of jobs. The requisite education and training typically occur at the graduate level which limits undergraduates’ access to cutting-edge jobs and many companies’ workforce options. Meaningful nanotechnology undergraduate education is difficult to achieve because: (1) science and engineering curricula are already full; (2) practical, hands-on experiences require extensive training on complex, expensive equipment; and (3) necessary fundamental concepts and knowledge – if taught at the undergraduate level at all – are taught late junior and senior years. We tackle these challenges with an undergraduate Nanotechnology Fellows Program. The program uses an interdisciplinary practicum approach to prepare undergraduates for careers in emerging technologies.

The Nanotechnology Fellows Program includes a summer program with tutorials and hands-on training, in-person and online seminar courses during the academic year, long-term, interdisciplinary research projects, nanotechnology equipment specialization projects, and mentorship and training with graduate students, professors, research scientists, and equipment vendors. The program creates cohorts of nanotechology ambassadors who communicate their work and learning to the university, local, and grades 6-12 educational communities. Key features make the program effective. The program targets freshmen and sophomores to influence students early in their academic careers, establish program longevity, and enable scaffolded learning. The program is highly interdisciplinary with students and professors from multiple departments and schools across the university; topics include fabrication, characterization, and commercialization. The program uses the university’s nanotechnology teaching laboratory which is designated exclusively for student teaching and training purposes. The fellows program is integrated into the nanotechnology teaching and research facilities’ staffing and mission thus demonstrating a deep level of commitment from the university administration. The curricular requirements are minimal. They do not overburden students during the academic year, and they integrate nanotechnology examples directly into students’ core (major) curricula, thus linking emerging technologies to fundamental concepts. In each of its components, the program uses scaffolding as well as active, problem- and project-based, and peer learning to make graduate-level knowledge and skills accessible to undergraduate students.

The program components are designed to work individually or in tandem, so other universities, and even high schools, can implement one or multiple aspects at their own sites. The program evaluation tools track the program’s impact on students’ choice of major, career interests, and confidence in master of nanotechnology knowledge and skills. Nanotechnology experts (research scientists, professors, industry scientists and engineers, and graduate students) evaluate portfolios of students’ work to assess the program efficacy.

Citation
Format

Leblanc, S., & Renninger, S. A., & Shittu, E. (2016, June), Nanotechnology Fellows Program: Preparing Undergraduate Students for Careers in Nanotechnology Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27328

TY - CPAPER
AB - From microscopy to materials synthesis, the demand for expertise in nanotechnology spans multiple disciplines and encompasses a variety of jobs. The requisite education and training typically occur at the graduate level which limits undergraduates’ access to cutting-edge jobs and many companies’ workforce options. Meaningful nanotechnology undergraduate education is difficult to achieve because: (1) science and engineering curricula are already full; (2) practical, hands-on experiences require extensive training on complex, expensive equipment; and (3) necessary fundamental concepts and knowledge – if taught at the undergraduate level at all – are taught late junior and senior years. We tackle these challenges with an undergraduate Nanotechnology Fellows Program. The program uses an interdisciplinary practicum approach to prepare undergraduates for careers in emerging technologies.

The Nanotechnology Fellows Program includes a summer program with tutorials and hands-on training, in-person and online seminar courses during the academic year, long-term, interdisciplinary research projects, nanotechnology equipment specialization projects, and mentorship and training with graduate students, professors, research scientists, and equipment vendors. The program creates cohorts of nanotechology ambassadors who communicate their work and learning to the university, local, and grades 6-12 educational communities. Key features make the program effective. The program targets freshmen and sophomores to influence students early in their academic careers, establish program longevity, and enable scaffolded learning. The program is highly interdisciplinary with students and professors from multiple departments and schools across the university; topics include fabrication, characterization, and commercialization. The program uses the university’s nanotechnology teaching laboratory which is designated exclusively for student teaching and training purposes. The fellows program is integrated into the nanotechnology teaching and research facilities’ staffing and mission thus demonstrating a deep level of commitment from the university administration. The curricular requirements are minimal. They do not overburden students during the academic year, and they integrate nanotechnology examples directly into students’ core (major) curricula, thus linking emerging technologies to fundamental concepts. In each of its components, the program uses scaffolding as well as active, problem- and project-based, and peer learning to make graduate-level knowledge and skills accessible to undergraduate students.

The program components are designed to work individually or in tandem, so other universities, and even high schools, can implement one or multiple aspects at their own sites. The program evaluation tools track the program’s impact on students’ choice of major, career interests, and confidence in master of nanotechnology knowledge and skills. Nanotechnology experts (research scientists, professors, industry scientists and engineers, and graduate students) evaluate portfolios of students’ work to assess the program efficacy.
AU - Saniya Leblanc
AU - Steffi A Renninger
AU - Ekundayo Shittu
CY - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA - 2016/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Nanotechnology Fellows Program: Preparing Undergraduate Students for Careers in Nanotechnology
UR - https://peer.asee.org/27328
DO - 10.18260/p.27328
ER -