2012 12th IEEE Intemational Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE- NANO)

The Intemational Conference Centre Birmingham

20-23 August 20112, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Nanotechnology: A Platform for Education Change

Deb M. Newberry Dakota County Technical College, Rosemount, MN 55068

Email: deb.newberry@dctc.edu

Abstract Nanotechnology, as an enabling technology, has aspects which support multiple engineering disciplines. Nanoscale demonstrations, activities and experiments have been used to illustrate nanoscale principles as they apply to biological, electrical, material and chemical aspects of engineering topics. The emerging field of nanoscience offers state of the art applications and conceptual development appropriate for multiple levels of engineering education which may enhance learning and student retention.

Index Terms - Nanotechnology, engineering,

education, critical thinking, content, multi­

disciplinary.

I. INTRODUCTION

Students in elementary school are taught that everything is made up of molecules and that molecules are made up of atoms. They are also taught that there are a certain number of atoms and many different ways of arranging them into a multitude of molecular types. Later on, students are taught that the type of molecule will determine the specific properties of the item made of those molecules. The process continues when students realize that the specific type of molecules and the atoms that comprise them as well as the arrangement of those atoms and molecules will determine the physical, electrical and biological properties of any material. Classic examples of these relationships are familiar to many; the fact that charcoal and a diamond are both made out of the same element carbon, but have different arrangements of thos� carbon atoms, results in the distinctly different physical and optical properties of those two materials. Similarly, if the same physical arrangement of atoms is used, say a trestle bridge type arrangement, that structure will have

significantly different properties if it is made out of sodium versus aluminum or iron.

Scientists and engineers have been aware of these relationships, the impact on properties and the significance of structure composition for hundreds if not thousands of years, but it has only been within the last several decades that material structure and composition has been understood at the molecular and atomic scale - the nanoscale.

Because of this new ability to observe, measure and understand materials at the nanoscale, the opportunity to enhance, integrate and expand the content and impact of engineering education has come about.

The opportunity now exists to enhance student understanding and lifelong learning skills by applying some of the educational content that has been developed in the nanotechnology arena to engineering education curricula.

II. THE EDUCATIONAL PIECES

Any educational program will have three major pieces: 1) the content that needs to be taught and learned, 2) the method or vehicle for that learning and 3) the expected outcomes. For many of the engineering disciplines this process is based on decades of experience - both in the teaching of engineering principles and concepts as well as the correlation and coordination with the needs of the industry segment that hire the program graduates. Courses and content are taught in a specific order, with a defined manner, because, through years of educational research and well as trial and error the best approach has been determined. Occasionall; the approach may be modified based on changes in technology and/or customer requirements. Often the onus of keeping up with technology is placed up the authors of textbooks and their publishers. This process and the pieces are shown in Figure 1.

r - - -Outcomes

Testing & I Employer I Assessment

I Criteria I Expectations

I Needs

I - - - ..

Selected Textbook ..I Figure 1. Traditional segments and process flow for engineering education.

Nanotechnology education has taken a similar path have changed significantly. Employers are still

with some differences. In the late 1990's the looking for employees that know the standard or

National Science Foundation was asking working

group participants "Is nanotechnology different and

are there concepts unique to the nanoscale which

need to be taught?" After a few years of discussion,

the answer was determined to be "yes" and a set of

"Big Ideas of Nanotechnology" was developed and

documented [1]. These ideas or concepts represented

areas where the world at the nanoscale was different

that the familiar macroscale and even the microscale.

Nanotechnology educators then took these concepts,

applied the traditional teaching tools and defined,

with the help of industry, a set of desired outcomes

for nanotechnology program graduates. In due time

mUltiple nanoscience books were created for students

with many different levels of education (novice to

PhD). This process was very similar to that shown in

Figure 1, with the exception that change in content

was usually accomplished at nano educational "hot

spots" and with face to face interactions.

III. TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION AND

INDUSTRY REQUIREMENTS

The rapid change, growth and improvement

of the technology embodied in high speed computers,

the internet and wireless communication has

impacted the traditional approach charted in Figure 1.

Without commenting of the future of traditional

classroom textbooks, it is clear that educators have

many more options for defming, teaching and

assessing student knowledge.

In addition, because of the significant change in

technology, the expectations and needs of employers

classical equations and methods to solve standard,

traditional problems. For example, the approach for

performing thermal analysis and the equations that

govern thermal transfer at the macro/micro level have

not changed for the last 50 years, but the method,

granularity and time signature of what can be

performed has changed dramatically in recent years

based on improvement in computing power.

Another area of change for employer expectations

has been in the area of "soft skills". Soft skills used

to refer to the ability to get along with other people,

work in teams, lead or follow as necessary and ability

to communicate verbally or in writing. The category

of soft skills has been expanded over the last decade

to include the ability to solve problems

independently, analyze and interpret data, be a

lifelong learner and most importantly it includes the

ability to think critically. Companies need their

employees to be able to think on their feet, fmd and

learn new information and solve problems

independently [2], [3]. This change in the "customer"

needs is not something that can easily be addressed

by a new textbook edition or by adding more

problems to homework assignments. It is an aspect

that must be addressed in the classroom and lab

activities and be implemented by the course

instructor.

At the same time this above technology influence

was impacting traditional and existing courses,

nanotechnology educators were realizing that

nanoscience could not just be taught only at the

nanoscale. Correlation to micro and macro level

science and applications has been shown anecdotally

to impact student learning in a positive manner [4].

Also, because the exact interaction or predominant

mechanism for observed phenomena at the nanoscale

is not well understood (for example, thermal transfer)

increased problem solving, rhetorical conversations

and critical thinking needs to be brought into the

teaching environment. The very nature of

nanotechnology; observing, measuring and creating

at the molecular and atomic level and the newness of

the field lead to an emphasis on critical thinking,

problem solving and interdisciplinary collaboration.

IV. A CRITICAL JUNCTURE

The confluence of the items discussed above

have resulted in the potential for an opportunity to

impact engineering education and the students

involved in engineering programs. The integration of

nanotechnology concepts and pedagogical tools into

and engineering discipline provides; 1) new ways to

teach traditional concepts, 2) the introduction of new

and recent discoveries into classroom work, and 3)

the capability to enhance student experience in

critical thinking and other soft skills.

This concept is shown graphically in Figure 2 which

shows the areas of the process steps; concepts, tools,

scale, educational areas and outcomes. Along the top

portion of the figure the gray columns designate the

steps that have been the focus of or approach for

nanotechnology education.

Nanotechnology education usually starts with the list

of major concepts of nanotechnology. Then,

depending on faculty expertise, industry needs and

available facilities each nanotechnology education

program selects the tools for use. A library of

standard nanoscience textbooks, complete with all the

supplemental data, created for different levels of

students does not exist and therefore individual

versions of lecture material, problems, test, demos

and so on must be developed. Experiments can vary

greatly dependent upon equipment availability. A

common set of lab activities with standard variations

has evolved over the last decade and are in use at

multiple institutions. Nanoscale education, almost by

default places a great deal of emphasis on the

implications of scale often leading students through

the considerations of a phenomenon at the macro

level, then micro and finally the nanoscale. Electrical

resistance is a good example of a

phenomena/property that can be viewed from a

different perspective at different size scales. Finally,

nanoscale programs focus on industry driven

outcomes. The outcomes include understanding of

the hard facts and equations, and often include

preparing students to be lifelong learners, adaptable

to changing technology and strong thinking skills.

Nanoscale Education Programs

Nanoscale

Concepts

Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Forces and Interactions

Molecular Structure

Material Properties

Self Assembly

Computational SimlJation

Other

Educational Tools

Lecture

Problems

Demos

Activities

ExperimerWs

Videos/Animations

Other

Educational Tools

Implications of Scale

Macro

Micro

Nano

Implications of Scale

Mechanical

Manufacturer

Electrical

Biomedical

Geo

Civil

Other

Engineering

Education Area

Engineering Education Programs

Outcomes

Hard facts/Equations

Innovation/Applications

Problem Solving

Critical Thinking

Computational Processes

Metrology

Data Analysis/Presentation

Outcomes

Figure 2. Process steps within Nanoscale and Engineering education programs.

The gray columns in the lower portions show those

steps that are the focus of engineering education

programs. The discussion and attention paid to the

"Implications of Scale" step will depend on the

specific engineering area. Similar to the nanoscale

education programs, engineering program will assess

which tools are best to convey the required

information. This information is determined by the

specific area of engineering being addressed as are

the outcomes for the class or program.

The occurring confluence allows the integration of

these five steps (concepts, tools, implications of

scale, engineering education and outcomes). This

integration enhances aspects of both of the program

areas. For nanoscience programs, the correlation of

concepts to specific engineering disciplines and

applications provides students with a {career}

pathway for the use of the knowledge they are

learning. For students in engineering programs, the

integration of state of the art research and topics can

energize program classes and make graduates a more

valuable asset in the marketplace. The activities

which have been developed to teach at the nanoscale

provide new methods and opportunities for introduce

new concepts and soft skills. The nanoscale activities

also provide a different approach to understanding,

explaining or applying traditional science concepts.

An example: Forces and Interactions

One of the most profound aspects of the nanoscale is

how the priorities of forces and interactions vary

significantly from what they may be at the familiar

macro scale. For example, at the macro scale, the

force of gravity has a large impact on the actions and

interactions between objects. This is because the

force of gravity is dependent upon the mass of

objects and at the macroscale; objects will have

substantial mass - like planets and stars. Therefore at

the macroscale, gravity is usually the highest priority

force, over electromagnetic forces for example and

interactions such as friction, Brownian motion and

thermal vibration. If a person jumps into the air, they

will land back on the ground because the force of

gravity is stronger than all other perhaps

counteracting force or interaction - such as the

frictional resistance of the air on their body as the

"fall" to earth after the jump. However, as objects

become smaller and smaller, mass diminishes and the

force which results from the dependency on mass

decreases. Other forces and interactions have a

chance to become the predominant driver of the

influence of one object on another. For example, van

der Waals forces, which are due to molecular

interactions caused by the non uniform charge

distribution in the molecules in the seta on a geckos

foot and the molecules in a sheet of glass, is a

nanoscale interaction, but it overcomes the force due

to gravity to allow the gecko to move up a sheet of

glass.

This priority of forces and interactions at different

size scales is a critical aspect of understanding many

of the observed nanoscale phenomena. Also

important is the consideration of which of the forces

active at that scale in a given system have the highest

priority. For example, the reason that salt dissolves

in water is because the adhesive forces between one

or more water molecules and a sodium or chloride

ion is stronger than the ionic bond between the atoms

in the salt crystal. More salt will dissolve in hot

water than cold, because the heat causes vibrational

energy that breaks the hydrogen bonds between the

water molecules. Once the molecule is free of the

hydrogen bond to another water molecule it can

interact with one of the salt atoms and remove it from

the salt crystal. More non-hydrogen bonded water

molecules mean more are available to bond with and

remove the ions from the salt crystal.

With this in mind, consider the nanoscale concept of

forces and interactions and the educational tool to be

a student activity. The activity uses cross-linked

polymers and investigates the effect of adding water

to the cross-linked polymer system. The results can

be correlated to various engineering disciplines, with

related outcomes. Figure 3 highlights the portion of

the two educational program steps that will be

covered.

Nanoscale Education Programs

Nanoscale Concepts

Surface Area to Volume Ratio

Forces and Interactions

Moleculal Structure

Material I

Self Assembly

Computational Simulation

Other

Educational Tools

Lecture

Problems

Demos

Experimerts

Acth,ltles

Other

Macro

Micro

Nano

Outcomes

Mechanical Hard facts/Equations

Manufacturer Innovation/Applications

Electrical Problem Solving

Biomedical Critical Thinking

Geo Computational Processes

Civil Metrology

Other Data Analysis/Presentation

Educational Implica ons of I!nglneerlng

Outcomes Tools SCc:uo Education Area

Engineering Education Programs

Figure 3. Path for the cross-linked polymer example

The students initially observe the cross-linked

polymer material. It is white and feels grainy similar

to salt or sand. As the name implies this material

consists of a series of polymer chains comprised

mostly of covalent bonds with often shorter chains of

atoms (links) between the longer polymer chains.

This structure is similar to collagen in skin or

cellulose in plants. There is a defined strength

associated with each of the bonds in this material at a

given temperature. When water is added to this

material it quickly begins to puff up and very soon is

a fluffy, soft, flake like material. What has occurred

is that the water molecule, being a dipole molecule

has associated with particular atoms within the cross­

linked polymer, formed bonds with the atoms. When

the strength of the adhesive bond between the water

molecule and the atom within the polymer is stronger

than the forces (bonds) of the atom within the

polymer, the atom may be removed from the cross­

link polymer structure thus changing the polymer

atomic configuration and in this case, its physical

properties are drastically changed. Figure 4 shows

photographs of the cross-linked polymer in a petri

dish before (top) and after (bottom) absorbing the

water.

Figure 4. Cross-linked polymer before (top) and after

addition of water at room temperature (bottom).

There are many variations that can be included as a

part of this activity. The polymer can be heated or

cooled prior to the addition of the water. Fluids other

than water, such as oils, acetone, soap etc. can be

added. Students can be asked to define, based on

molecular structures, why the observed result

occurred. There are many aspects of force and

interaction, relative strengths, molecular structure

(charge distribution) effects and temperature effects

that can also be investigated and considered. For

example, does it make a difference for the reaction if

hot or cold water is used? If so, why? To answer

these types of questions, students must not only

consider chemical bonds and charge distribution but

also must devise methods of measuring temperature,

volume and time and reaction time with a precision

that can produce meaningful results. Hence students

can learn many aspects of both hard and soft skills.

The fmal stage of this activity can be the introduction

of applications based on the unique properties

observed for this material. Some questions include

"Can it be used to clean up toxic materials?"

(environmental engineering), or "Can it be use in

drug delivery perhaps topically? (bioengineering) or

perhaps "Can this be used as thermal

insulation?"( civil engineering). In answering some of

the application questions, students can be required to

list technology, societal, manufacturing or regulatory

hurdles which will need to be overcome for the

specific application to be realized. The progression

through the stages with some of the variations is

shown in Figure 5.

V. MULTI-DISCIPLINARY LEARNING

One of the most exciting aspects of

nanotechnology is its multi and inter-disciplinary

nature. Nanotechnology has the potential to excite

and energize students about science and potential

careers, create a pathway that includes many

disciplines and interests and breakdown the

stovepipes that tend to exist between the different

disciplines. Several companies such as Motorola and

Hewlett Packard realized almost two decades ago,

that to take advantage of nanotechnology would

require the creation and encouragement for multi­

disciplinary teams [5]. These multi-disciplinary

teams were unique in industry, but led to the

development of significant advantages for the

companies that supported them as nanoscience began

to come of age.

There are many applications using nanotechnology

that can serve as examples of the multidisciplinary

nature of nanotechnology and the need for teamwork

across multiple disciplines. A good example is the

vertical cavity laser used to differentiate between

healthy and unhealthy cells.

Using the tools of nanotechnology, researchers have

discovered that healthy cells will have a different

internal density than unhealthy ( cancer) cells. Being

able to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy

cells quickly and with small sample sizes will

improve biopsy diagnostics as well as surgical

procedures. Because the internal density is different,

a different amount of light will be transmitted

through the different cells. In other cases a different

wavelength shift will be observed. Using the

equipment shown in Figure 6, single cells are moved

through a channel beneath the laser and the change in

wavelength immediately detected and reported.

Thus, a quick determination on cell type is possible.

A group of researchers with diverse backgrounds was

required to create the above system. This included

solid state physicists, material scientists and

engineers.

Forces and Interactions

Relationship between various bond strengths

Activity

Different ...

Engineering Discipline Outcomes & Skills Applications

• Cohesive

• Ionic

• Hydrogen

• Interaction

• Fluid

• Water + all + Acetone • Other

• Temperatures

• Concentrations

• Mechanical

• Materials

• Bio

• Chemical

• Data AnalysiS • Absorbent

• Design of Experiments • Decorative

• Statistical Consideration • Packing

• Thermal

• Insulation

• Drug Delivery

• Coatings

Figure 5. Activity stages and potential variations and results.

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Figure 6. Vertical cavity laser for detecting unhealthy cells by shift in wavelength. (Courtesy of Paul Gourley)

photonics experts, software and hardware engineers,

statistics and test engineers and many others. By

studying examples of this type, students begin to

realize that they probably will not be able to do it on

their own, develop an appreciation for disciplines

other than their chosen field, learn to anticipate

problems or roadblocks, brainstorm solutions and

appreciate the need for team work.

CONCLUSIONS

Engineering education has stood the test of

time, provided the foundation for hundreds of

thousands of employees and defmes an established

and proven pedagogy. Nanotechnology education is

in its infancy and is based on a new enabling

technology. By merging aspects of both educational

disciplines, students, industry, faculty and society

will all benefit.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was funded in part by the

National Science Foundation and Dakota County

Technical College.

REFERENCES

[1] Krajicik J., Stevens, S., & Sutherland L. (2009).

The Big Ideas of Nanoscale Science and

Engineering. NST A Press.

[2] Hart, Dean. Personal Interview. (20 March 2011)

[3] Arney, David, 3M, Personal Interview. (11

October 2011)

[4] Dakota County Technical College Nano Program

Student Comments (December 2011).

[5] Uldrich, J., & Newberry, D. (2003). The next big

thing is really small: How nanotechnology will

change the future of your business. New York:

Crown Publishing Group

978-1-4673-2200-3/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE