Taking Nanotechnology to the Next Generation
DURHAM, N.H. – Addressing the need to engage those who have a great impact on our school children with some of the brightest in the field, this past Wednesday, April 4, 2007, the University of New Hampshire hosted its third annual nanotechnology conference for New Hampshire based K-12 teachers. Six workshops plus a keynote address given by Christopher J. Bosso, professor and director of the Nanotechnology and Society Research Group at Northeastern University provided 48 teachers who drove from across the state in uncertain weather conditions, the macro synergy sought after on this atomic-level nano subject.
Karsten Pohl, Assistant Professor of Physics and the Material Science, University of New Hampshire, shared with his group that, “Nanotechnology is one-atom-at-a-time machines or building structures defined by the diameter of an atom. To give you an idea of the size we are talking about, a human hair grows five nanometers (nm) per second. That same human hair requires 10,000 nm to measure its diameter.” To make it possible for scientists to build in the nanoworld they have created amazing microscopes and have also gained a little help from nature. Pohl taught how paying attention to nature has helped scientists more efficiently manipulate atoms into self-assembled patterns, making end products much more practical.
Jim Harper, Professor of Physics, Director of the Materials Science Program, University of New Hampshire, brainstormed with his group the many devices we use daily that have thin film coatings from nanotechnology that improve their properties. Devices discussed were lenses in eyeglasses, binoculars, window coatings, jewelry, drill bits, silicon chips, and flat panel displays. Professor Harper divided his audience into small groups with the assignment to discuss and predict the changes that occur in the aforementioned list when enhanced at the nano level. It was an engaging discussion that Harper summarized with the idea that, “with identified defects are opportunities in nanotechnology to control bonds at the atomic level to eliminate those defects and create a much more viable end product.”
Additional workshops included nanotechnology and literature, environmental impacts of nanotechnology, using chemical bonds to manipulate nanotechnology, and an overview of the Nanotechnology Outreach Program from the Museum of Science in Boston. Lisa Tores, Chemistry teacher at Lebanon High School, said “it was well worth the two-hour trip and I’m looking forward to taking what I’ve learned back to the classroom.
The keynote address given by Christopher Boss, of Northeastern University, informed the group that “nanotechnology is unparalleled in its promise to revolutionize technologies, ranging from consumer electronics to medical sensing devices, energy storage to new types of coatings. While some popular press treatments of nanotechnology have focused on sensational, but largely low probability outcomes, the types of applications we expect to see fairly soon are raising very real, yet very familiar, dilemmas for citizens and public policymakers alike.”
Considering nanotubes are more lightweight than aluminum, stronger than steel and more flexible than plastic; nanotechnology is indeed a revolutionary technology with potential limited only by one’s imagination. Bill Emerson of Seacoast School of Technology is a repeat nanotechnology conference attendee. At the conclusion of the conference he remarked that, “Nanotechnology is an important topic and one we need to educate the general public about. I like to come and pick up the latest lingo as well as the synergistic energy that is present during this conference, and then take it back to my students.” The National Science Foundation predicts that new nanotechnologies will add two million jobs and one trillion dollars per year to the world’s economy by 2015.
For additional information on nanotechnology at the University of New Hampshire, visit the Nano Group website at www.nano.unh.edu.