Forsyth Tech Expands Nanotechnology Educational Leadership in North Carolina Through NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program

SKOKIE, IL--(Marketwire - Jun 4, 2012) - NanoProfessor®, a division of NanoInk, Inc.® focused on nanotechnology education, announced today that Forsyth Technical Community College (Forsyth Tech) is expanding its nanotechnology educational leadership in North Carolina by integrating the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program into its current nanotechnology curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to work with NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, the first desktop nanofabrication system allowing students to quickly and easily build custom-engineered nanoscale structures with a wide variety of materials from biomolecules to metal nanoparticles using NanoInk's proprietary Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®).

Forsyth Tech's two-year Associate of Applied Science in Nanotechnology degree is the only one of its kind with graduates in the American Southeast. Classes are held in the rapidly expanding Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. The college is also home to one of the largest biotechnology programs in the state.

"The NanoProfessor Program will not only enhance our existing nanotechnology curriculum, but it will enable students to conduct new, exciting hands-on lab experiments with NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop Nanofabrication System," said Kevin Conley, Program Coordinator of Nanotechnology Education at Forsyth Tech. "By expanding the skills and experience of our students as they work at the nanoscale, we will provide them with a competitive advantage for the rapidly growing number of nanobiotechnology jobs in North Carolina."

"We are extremely pleased that Forsyth Tech, a recognized leader in nanotechnology education, has selected the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program to complement its already impressive nanotech curriculum," said Dean Hart, Chief Commercial Officer at NanoInk. "By training a nano savvy workforce, Forsyth Tech will not only help the state of North Carolina accomplish its mission of being a global leader in nanotechnology, but will also help the U.S. maintain leadership in the growing global nanotech market."

"Forsyth Tech and NanoProfessor are globally recognized for their pioneering work in nanotech education," said Griffith A. Kundahl, Executive Director of the Center of Innovation of Nanobiotechnology. "This announcement is great news for North Carolina which depends on an educated nanotech workforce to maintain its position as one of the strongest nano clusters in the world."

The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to expand hands-on nanotechnology education from the cleanrooms of research-based universities to the classrooms of undergraduate institutions, and is especially well-suited to nanotechnology educational initiatives at the community college, technical institute, and undergraduate university level. Alternating between classroom lectures and hands-on labs, the NanoProfessor Program provides students with the opportunity to 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, an advanced fluorescence microscope, a nanoparticle characterization instrument, and various chemical and biological materials used today within current and emerging nanotechnology applications.

Forsyth Tech, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., is one of the largest community colleges in the state and provides students with exceptional technical education and training, as well as college transfer, adult basic education, and continuing and corporate education programs. The college responds to student, employer, and community needs with innovative, flexible programs and service delivery. The Nanotechnology Degree Program is founded on the six pillars of Nanotechnology: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, as well as Engineering, Economics, and Ethics. Program Coordinator of Nanotechnology Kevin Conley can be reached at kconley@forsythtech.edu or (336)734-7389. More information on the college is available at: www.forsythtech.edu.

Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between approximately one and 100 nanometers (nm), where unique phenomena enable novel applications not feasible when working with bulk materials. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at the nanoscale. A study funded by the National Science Foundation projects that six million nanotechnology workers will be needed worldwide by 2020, with two million of those jobs in the United States. However, as of 2008, there were only 400,000 estimated workers worldwide in the field of nanotechnology, with an estimated 150,000 of those in the United States.

About the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to advance undergraduate nanotechnology education and address the growing need for a skilled, nano-savvy workforce. The NanoProfessor Program, including instruments, an expert-driven curriculum, and student/teacher support materials, is available for high schools, community colleges, technical institutes, and universities worldwide. More information is available at www.NanoProfessor.net or (847)679-NANO (6266). You can also like NanoProfessor on Facebook® at www.facebook.com/NanoProfessor1 and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nanoprofessor1.

NanoInk, NanoProfessor, the NanoProfessor logo, Dip Pen Nanolithography, and DPN are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoInk, Inc.