Priscilla J. Hill (PI)
Brenda Kirkland
Yaroslav Koshka
Tonya Stone
Rani Sullivan
A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Nanotechnology
Education Program with Integrated Laboratory Experience
Need
Instruction in nanotechnology created as a result of a
previous NUE grant included new discipline specific
nanotechnology courses and new course modules, but
lacked experiential learning through hands-on laboratory
activities and simulations. This program addresses this
deficiency by adding novel laboratory experiences and
computer simulations. This program benefits students
from multiple science and engineering departments at
MSU.
Goals
1. Support faculty in new nanotechnology course and
course module development coordinated between 5
departments and across 2 colleges
2. Provide undergraduate students tailored depth of
knowledge using lecture, experiential, and applied
problem-based learning,
3. Include students from underrepresented minorities in
the courses
4. Illustrate the concepts and potential impacts of
nanotechnology to the general public
5. Assess the short- and long-term merits and outcomes of
the coursework and certification program including
outreach and dissemination efforts.
Approach
The specific objectives are being met for Goals 1) and 2)
by offering the freshman seminar and teaching new
nanotechnology modules in Microelectronics Process
Design and Vibrations courses, and teaching the Bio-nanoelectronics elective course; for Goal 3) by including
students from underrepresented minorities in these classes;
for Goal 4) by performing outreach to K-12 students
through a Nano Club, and by setting up the group web
page on nanoHUB; and for Goal 5) by assessing the merits
and outcomes of this program.
Aerospace Engineering Course Module
Vibrations Course, Fall 2014
• Excerpts from a review article about the vibration
properties and behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
were assigned
• Extra credit assignment – 39 students participated
• 60% of the students reported an increase in their
knowledge level regarding nanoparticles and their
composites.
• 22% of the students reported an increase in interest
regarding nanotechnology.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2015
www.PosterPresentations.com
New Courses
Bio-nano-electronics, Spring 2014
Electrical/electronics engineering for the biomedical
field
• Overview of the human cell structure, nerve cells and
neuron signaling
• Latest developments in nano-fabrication, bio-sensors,
nano-medicine, and neuro-electronic interfacing
• Taught Spring 2014
Nanotechnology laboratory in chemical engineering
• Course has not been offered yet
• Performed preliminary testing
of experiments to synthesize
silver nanoprism dispersions
Electrical Engineering - New Course
Modules
Microelectronics Process Design, Fall 2014
• Novel top-down and self-assembly techniques were
added (covered in 1.5 lectures).
• Overview of modern trends of fabrication of submicron transistors (covered in 1 lecture)
• A new laboratory module was tested by the graduate
students enrolled during the Fall 2014 semester. It
covered simulation of various semiconductor
processing steps using Sentaurus Process simulation
software.
Nano-electronics course, Spring 2015
• Medici 2D Device Simulator from Synopsis was used
to develop for modeling performance of micro-/nanoelectronic devices.
• A transition was initiated to Sentaurus Device
Simulator tool by Synopsis (tested by undergraduate
students in this split-level class).
Solid State Electronics, Spring 2015
• Medici 2D Device Simulator was used to develop the
first group of simulation homework assignments.
• The scope of the 1st group of assignments included
analysis of the energy band diagram of a
semiconductor and its changes with doping,
simulation of the drift and diffusion current, energy
band diagrams of pn-junction diodes.
Geosciences - New Course Modules
2014
• Preliminary work resulted in nanometer-scale
textures that can be compared to textures found in
nature including in stromatolites, arterial
calcification, or Martian meteorite ALH 84001.
• Resulting materials will be used for observation of
textures, and comparison of laboratory-generated
samples with nature.
Introduction to Earth Science I, 2015
Goals:
1.Introduce students to nanometer scale features in
nature
2. Give students an opportunity to participate in
research.
Module:
• Lesson on scale, nanometer-scale features in nature
• Hands-on participation exercise: Students compared
images of laboratory-generated nanometer-scale
textures to images from nature, including Martian
meteorite, calcified arterial tissue, and hot spring
deposits.
Students: The students in this introductory class are
predominantly taking it as a science elective and are not
majoring in a STEM field.
NanoExposed! – New Course Modules
Fall 2015
• Introductory freshman seminar course
• Co-taught (Hill, Kirkland, Koshka, Stone) for the
sixth time
• New demonstrations were developed and
implemented by Dr. Stone
• Effect of increasing surface area was demonstrated by
adding the same amount of colored water to two
graduated cylinders, and then adding a whole antacid
tablet to one cylinder and a crushed tablet to the other
cylinder. The result was that the level in the cylinder
with the crushed tablet was significantly higher that
the level in the cylinder with the whole tablet,
demonstrating the effect of increased surface area.
NSF NUE:
Nanotechnology
Undergraduate
Education
K-12 Outreach
Goal: To expose
underrepresented K-12
students to STEM activities
in a fun, nurturing
environment in an effort to
increase their participation in
engineering fields of study.
Nano Club student leaders Pat King
(left) and BreAnna Pittman (right)
with the student members during the
crime scene investigation activity.
NanoClub: 5th-7th Grade
• Meets afterschool semi-monthly at the local Boys and
Girls Club for 2 hours
• 14 female/7 male African-American students
• Examples of activities:
• having the students measure and compare their
heights in nanometers
• exploring the size of a single string of human hair
• conducting a crime scene investigation using
microscopes to study hair and fingerprint analyses
NanoCamp: k-12th Grade
• Two days of Extended Nano Club during the summer
June 17-18, 2015
• 40 African-American students
• Field trip to MSU’s I2AT for demonstrations of the
electron microscopes
Current updates on the Nano Club outreach program are
available on Facebook (Starkville NanoClub) and
Instagram (@starkville_nanoclub).
Broader Impacts
Students impacted by these courses are from a variety of
academic majors, and include students from
underrepresented minorities.
Table 1. Summary of 2014 nanotechnology course enrollment and
demographics.
Course
NanoExposed!
UG
46
African
Other
Total
G Male Female White American Minorities Enrolled
0
40
6
37
3
6
46
Bio-nanoelectronics
14
3
13
4
15
1
1
17
Microelectronics
Process Design
16
1
16
1
15
0
2
17
Vibrations
39
0
34
5
28
4
7
39
TOTAL
115
4
103
16
95
8
16
119
Acknowledgment
This material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1343708.