Southern Connecticut State University Expands Leadership in Nanoscience Education With NanoProfessor Program

SKOKIE, IL--(Marketwire - Sep 24, 2012) - NanoProfessor®, the global leader in hands-on undergraduate nanotechnology education, announced today that Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) will expand its leadership in nanotechnology education by implementing the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program. This advance was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) supporting the Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP), a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Yale University and SCSU. NanoProfessor's curriculum and NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System will be housed within the newly established Connecticut State University System Nanotechnology Center located in the Physics Department at SCSU.

"We are excited for the opportunity to enhance our students' understanding of the nanoscale through hands-on work with NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop Nanofabrication System, which operates without the need for a cleanroom and allows students to quickly and easily build custom-engineered nanoscale structures using Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®)," said Christine Caragianis Broadbridge, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Physics at SCSU and Education Director for CRISP. "NanoProfessor's curriculum will complement our existing curriculum by engaging students with cutting-edge, hands-on, nano-focused experiments designed to teach them important scientific concepts about the nanoscale."

"We are delighted to have Southern Connecticut State University be the first college in the Northeast to implement our NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program into its curriculum," said Dean Hart, Chief Commercial Officer of NanoProfessor. "SCSU is a recognized leader in nanotechnology education and research and we are honored that it has chosen the NanoProfessor Program to broaden its students' understanding and experience in working at the nanoscale." 

Southern Connecticut State University is a flourishing community of more than 11,000 students located less than three miles from downtown New Haven. Founded as a teachers college in 1893, SCSU has evolved into a comprehensive university offering 114 graduate and undergraduate programs. More than 1,000 faculty members lead students through a wide range of studies and research specialties. More information on Southern Connecticut State University is available at: www.southernct.edu.

In just over 24 months, the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program has been chosen to serve as the foundation for undergraduate, hands-on nanotechnology education by over 20 educational programs in five countries. The NanoProfessor Program alternates between classroom lectures and exciting, hands-on nanoscale lab work. The NanoProfessor curriculum includes a textbook authored by leading nanotechnology experts and educators covering the topics of Nanotechnology Instrumentation, Imaging and Nanofabrication techniques, Nanophysics, Nanochemistry, Nanobiology, and perspectives on Environmental, Health, and Safety within nanotechnology. In conducting the hands-on lab experiments, students learn the fundamentals for building custom-engineered nanoscale structures while working with state-of-the-art, nano-centric instrumentation including NanoInk's NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, a student-friendly atomic force microscope (AFM), a best-of-class fluorescence microscope, and an advanced nanoparticle characterization instrument.

Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between approximately one and 100 nanometers (nm), where unique phenomena enable novel applications which are 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 state-of-the-art 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.

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