Achievement

We taught our first IGERT course: Nanoscience: Where Science & Engineering Intersect. This 3-credit class was designed for both upper level undergraduate and first-year graduate students across all areas of campus. It was taught IGERT faculty (18 lecturers, each in their specialty). Topics included the history of nanoscience (Feynman’s lecture: “There’s Plenty of room at the Bottom” and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope), nanotechnology fundamental and applications, and approaches/challenges to commercialization. The graduate section of the course also focused on developing critical thinking skills via an additional bi-weekly session: “Critical Review of Scientific papers.” Discussion sessions were held with small teams (3-4 students) assigned nanoscience research articles by the Course Master (PI Porter) to evaluate and discuss. A closeout session was also held that on professional skills (e.g., manuscript/presentation preparation and job interviews.