SKOKIE, IL--(Marketwire - November 15, 2010) - NanoProfessor™, a division of NanoInk, Inc.® focused on delivering hands-on nanotechnology education, is pleased to announce that it will showcase its Nanoscience Education Program at the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) "Nanotechnology Innovation Summit," held December 8 - 10 at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The NNI's Nanotechnology Innovation Summit brings together the nation's leaders in nanotechnology research, development, implementation, policy and finance, along with a showcase of the top nanotechnology technologies generated through NNI support over the past ten years.
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to expand hands-on nanotechnology education from the cleanrooms of research-based universities to undergraduate classrooms and is especially well-suited to nanotechnology educational initiatives at the community college, technical institute, and undergraduate university level. The program alternates between classroom lectures and hands-on lab work and includes a 275-page textbook authored by leading nanotechnology experts covering the topics of Nanotechnology Basics, NanoPhysics, NanoChemistry, NanoBiology and Environmental, Health, and Safety perspectives on nanotechnology. During the hands-on lab experiments, students learn the fundamentals for building custom-engineered, nanoscale structures while working with state-of-the-art equipment including NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, a student-friendly atomic force microscope (AFM), an advanced fluorescence microscope, and various chemical and biological materials used today within current and emerging nanotechnology applications.
"NanoInk's NLP 2000 desktop nanofabrication system and the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program exemplify what can happen when American scientific ingenuity is supported by government funding and strong financial investment by industry," said Dean Hart, executive vice president of NanoInk. "The NLP 2000 utilizes the powerful and flexible nanofabrication technique called Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®), which was invented by renowned American nanotechnology scientist and member of President Obama's PCAST, Dr. Chad Mirkin, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. The NNI's involvement began in 2003 and came via a three-phase grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to assist NanoInk in the early development of the NLP 2000 as a desktop nanofabrication instrument."
"I believe that nanotechnology will be a critical force for economic growth and job creation in the 21st Century," said Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3). "But in order to ensure it fulfills that promise, we need to educate and train the next generation of innovators. Preparing undergraduates for careers or further study in nanotechnology through both classroom and lab work is exactly what we ought to be doing. America can't afford to fall behind in this extraordinarily promising field."
NanoInk will be hosting two booths at the Nanotechnology Innovation Summit located in the Technology Showcase area of the summit. At the NanoProfessor Booth, visitors can see firsthand the instruments and curriculum of the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program including the NLP 2000. At NanoInk's NanoFabrication Systems' booth, corporate representatives will be discussing new patterning applications for biological materials. The bioengineering market including tissue engineering and biosensors are benefitting from the unique ability of NanoInk to deposit multiple biological materials in the size range from 50 nm to 10 microns, under ambient conditions to specific user defined locations. This capability has applications in writing to tissue scaffolds or sensor devices, which include nano-wires, micro pillars and membranes. Hours for the Technology Showcase are from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8 and from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 9.
About the NanoProfessor™ Nanoscience Education Program
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to advance the field of nanoscience and address the growing need for a skilled workforce of nanotechnologists. The NanoProfessor Program, including instruments, an expert-driven curriculum, and student/teacher support materials, is available for community colleges, technical institutes, and universities worldwide. More information is available at www.NanoProfessor.net. Please also follow NanoProfessor on Facebook® at http://www.facebook.com/pages/NanoProfessorTM/367787368082.
About the National Nanotechnology Initiative
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a program that was established in the fiscal year 2001 to coordinate Federal nanotechnology research and development. The NNI provides a vision of the long-term opportunities and benefits of nanotechnology. By serving as a central locus for communication, cooperation, and collaboration for all Federal agencies that wish to participate, the NNI brings together the expertise needed to guide and support the advancement of this broad and complex field. The NNI creates a framework for a comprehensive nanotechnology R&D program by establishing shared goals, priorities, and strategies, and it provides avenues for each individual agency to leverage the resources of all participating agencies. More information is available at http://www.nano.gov/. For more information on the NNI Summit visit: http://www.nsti.org/events/NNI/.
About NanoInk
NanoInk, Inc. is an emerging growth technology company specializing in nanometer-scale manufacturing and applications development for the life sciences, engineering, pharmaceutical, and education industries. Using Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®), a patented and proprietary nanofabrication technology, scientists are enabled to rapidly and easily create micro-and nanoscale structures from a variety of materials on a range of substrates. This low cost, easy to use and scalable technique brings sophisticated nanofabrication to the laboratory desktop.
Headquartered in the Illinois Science + Technology Park, north of Chicago, NanoInk currently has over 250 patents and applications filed worldwide and licensing agreements with Northwestern University, Stanford University, University of Strathclyde, University of Liverpool, California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For more information on products and services offered by NanoInk, Inc., visit www.nanoink.net.
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