1. Why a focus on nanotechnology?

It’s exciting work. Nanotech combines the frontier spirit of a gold rush and the mystical quest of alchemy. It creates precious materials. By better controlling the structure of matter at the smallest scale, it will probably change the very nature of manufacturing. We may even be watching the birth process of a new age.

Tech Valley is a good place to learn more. As a center of government and research, the area offers plenty of opportunities to learn about nanotechnology. Here’s a small sample:

• In its annual ranking of nanotechnology’s hottest regions, Small Times magazine names New York state as # 4. In the research category, it ranks # 2 behind California. The University at Albany is the top of its class nationally in both facilities and industry outreach.
• The Incubator for Nanotechnology Ventures, Emerging Sciences, and Technologies or INVEST at Russell Sage College, a women’s college in Troy, will house businesses that develop products related to nanotechnology. It will give undergraduate women a chance at high-tech internships and make it easier to see women working in scientific fields. Evident Technologies, Inc. a firm that develops nanomaterials used in medical research and other applications, will be the first tenant. INVEST is funded jointly by businesses, state grants and the college.
• Local scientists enrich high school science with hands-on laboratory experiences such as the virtual polymer laboratory web site. It’s part of a Bring Nanotechnology to the Classroom project, coordinated by Rensselaer Professor Chang Ryu.
• The world’s first Molecularium ™ places viewers amid molecules at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology in North Greenbush, NY. For an on-line review of the 25-minute animation see “The lighter side of nano” in Small Times.
• Several two-year community colleges worked with SEMATECH, the non-profit research and development consortium of U.S. semiconductor manufacturers, to develop a two-year semiconductor manufacturing technology (SMT) degree program. Among these are two Tech Valley community colleges, Hudson Valley Community College and a consortium of community colleges in the lower Hudson Valley. They prepare skilled technicians for work in fields such as semiconductor fabrication, micro-electro-mechanical systems and nanotechnology.

Students will have a choice of good jobs.

Nano scale science is just beginning to lead to commercial enterprises that are enabled by new materials or by old materials applied in new ways. At this stage, research institutions and small firms provide most jobs. According to a Business Week cover story, however, “Engineers working at the nano scale have a brand-new tool kit that’s full of wonder and brimming with potential riches. Now it’s time to start cashing in.”

It’s a small world after all

Imagine the world if we meet this Nanotech Challenge (from the Foresight Institute)

1. Meeting global energy needs with clean solutions
2. Providing abundant clean water globally
3. Increasing the health and longevity of human life
4. Maximizing the productivity of agriculture
5. Making powerful information technology available everywhere
6. Enabling the development of space

Nanotech tools are finally starting to affect us all. According to USA Today technology columnist Kevin Maney “Nanotech isn’t just a lab experiment anymore. It’s spreading fast and in some surprising ways. It’s becoming this generation’s plastic, about to spread to every part of our lives.”

Nanotech is also bringing the world to New York’s Tech Valley. The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany works in partnership with NanoQuébec and one of the largest nanoelectronics research laboratories in Europe, as well as research facilities in Mexico, Germany and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx.

The big picture: why science, math and technology matter

They’re essential for everyone. On a practical level, ours is a technology-driven economy with an increasing number of jobs requiring technical skills. But there are other reasons too:

• Learning about technology will mean more opportunities to succeed, whether or not a student wants to work in fields related to math, science and engineering.
• Boosting awareness of the importance of technology increases esteem for jobs and encourages more students to pursue careers in science and engineering.
• Technological literacy can help narrow the wage gap—and related shortage of skills—between salaried workers with higher education and hourly workers without it.
• Technological literacy can provide a tool for dealing with rapid changes. The kind of thinking that comes from engineering (considering risks, benefits, trade-offs) helps us make sense of the world.
• There’s a technical component to most current political, legal and ethical issues, from global warming to protecting privacy in the information age.
• We know that students are more likely to succeed when they see academic knowledge and skills applied in the workplace. With high-tech companies moving to New York’s Capital Region and the workplace changing in fundamental ways, it’s more important than ever to help students meet New York state’s CDOS standards (Learning Standards for Career Development and Occupational Studies).

Good jobs are available at many levels. High-tech fields like nanotechnology depend on a workforce that falls generally into four classifications—scientists, engineers, technicians and operators. Starting on a high tech career path is possible directly after high school. In addition, nanotechnology businesses are more likely to hire technologically literate staff for non-tech positions.

Click here for a print & post High Tech Job Classification Chart, available from High-Tech Careers, A Guide for Counselors.

 

2. Nanotechnology basics

“Nano,” short for nanometer, is one-billionth of a meter. (That’s a thousand million!) A nanometer-sized particle is smaller than a living cell and can be seen only with the most powerful microscopes. The width of a human hair is 20,000 to 80,000 nanometers.

According to “Nanotech’s fascinating future,” it’s a “behind-the-scenes technology, somewhat invisible, like the nanotech devices themselves. Rather than being an industry or sector unto itself, nanotechnology is really just a set of tools that can be used to improve on the manufacturing process of just about any product.”
Nanotechnology involves controlling or manipulating materials on the atomic scale (1-100 nanometers). It means creating or using structures, devices or systems that are so small that they have amazing properties. In nanoscale structures, for example, it is possible to control fundamental characteristics of a material such as its melting point, magnetic properties and even color without changing the material’s chemical composition. The science behind the technology, nanoscience, is where physics, chemistry and biology collide.

While physicist Richard Feynman predicted in 1959 that one day we would have tools just the right size for directly manipulating atoms and molecules, only since the 1990s have these tools led to commercial applications. About 20,000 researchers work in the field today, but by 2020 about 2 million workers will be needed to support nanotechnology industries according to the U. S. government’s National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Nanoscience is becoming such a big field in part because there are new instruments able to see and touch at the nano scale—the scanning tunneling microscope and the atomic force microscope, for example. It’s easy to make a virtual visit to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s research facilities to see these instruments.

Already, the nanoworld is changing the big world. Electronic devices, and the semiconductors that make them possible, are shrinking. Nanosystems and MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) are whole new manufacturing technologies making possible whole new product categories.

What nanotechnology makes possible:

Iron nanoparticles have removed up to 96% of a major contaminant (trichloroethylene) from ground water at an industrial site.

Surgical nanobots will operate from within the human body. Examples such as implantable insulin-dispensing devices and miniature cochlea ear implants already exist.

Electronic ink on paper-thin, flexible electronic paper can display moving text and images.

Synthetic DNA can be used in robotics, cloned life forms and synthetic human organs.

Stuffdust is a nano material used to mark computers and other objects with serial numbers able to be read with an optical microscope but invisible to the naked eye. The new material makes inventory and theft control easier.

Biodegradable implants, made of polymers, function for a specific period of time while the body heals itself and then degrade into non-toxic products. These include sutures and stainless steel implants.

Want to know about careers related to nanotechnology such as a patent specialist or NanoBiotech Manufacturing Associate? Find job profiles by selecting from these four categories:

• Electronic/Semiconductor
• Health Care
• Manufacturing
• Nano Materials

 

3. Nanotechnology in Tech Valley—what's going on?

Solar revolution closer to reality

Solar revolution closer to reality
Anna Dyson, founder of Materialab, a research firm in Troy, NY, leads a team of architects, scientists and engineers in developing a high-tech “photovoltaic façade” using pivoting, nano-sized solar cells. Already able to provide 50% of a building’s requirements for hot water, space heating and air-conditioning, the system is on its way to lowering the cost of solar energy.

New coatings for better travel on earth and beyond
At Rensselaer’s Nanotechnology Center, a joint research project with the University of Florida is developing lubricant coatings for aircraft and spacecraft through a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. “Vehicles that voyage from Earth’s warm and humid environment into the extreme cold vacuum of space require lubricants that can perform under a great range of conditions without fail,” says Linda Schadler who is leading the Rensselaer team on the project.

Next generation of sensors that detect “hot” objects to propel tech company into hot infra-red camera market
Infra-red cameras detect radiation given off in the form of body heat, for example. They are valuable in firefighting, mammography, night vehicle navigation, automotive security and maintenance and military applications, but they are expensive to manufacture. Critical Imaging LLC in Utica collaborated with Professor Bai Xu at Albany Nanotech’s MEMS laboratory to increase the number of sensors that can be placed on a silicon wafer with a huge drop in unit cost. This will dramatically increase the competitiveness of the small technology company. MEMS are micro-electro-mechanical structures, a technology with great commercial promise.

Nanomaterials for sale
Applied NanoWorks in Watervliet, NY, offers high-volume materials designed for research & product development. Their transparent nanoscale zinc oxide particles suspended in a water-based solution, for example, are useful in electronics and the cosmetics industry. Evident Technologies in Troy, NY, sells commercial, nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals, called quantum dots, for solar cells, LEDs, defense and life-sciences applications.

Restoring brain function lost due to disease or trauma focus of Wadsworth Center research scientist
In the interface between biology and nanotechnology, James N. Turner is developing nanofabricated devices intended to restore brain function. His projects are part of the National Science Foundation’s Nano BioTechnology Center in association with Cornell University. According to The Scientist magazine, the Wadsworth Center (a state public health laboratory in Albany, NY) is a Top 10 Place to Work for postdoctoral fellows.

Critical manufacturing problem solved for military Comanche Helicopters
FALA Technologies, Inc. in Kingston, NY specializes in solving engineering and manufacturing problems with a focus on the semiconductor and nanotechnology sectors. For Sikorsky Aircraft, FALA provided prototypes of a transmission clutch able to withstand stress failures that could cause a helicopter to crash.

 

4. Industries and occupations affected by nanotechnology

Health care—Headlines hint at the possibilities:

• “Researchers strike gold in cancer detection”
• “The tiniest test kits: a medical future for carbon nanotubes”
• “Revolutionary nanotechnology illuminates brain cells at work”
• “Robot combined with swallowable camera could give docs a better look inside the small intestine”
• “Clarkson University scientists probing deeper into skin and aging”

It’s hard to not be affected by the National Cancer Institute’s statement that nanotechnology will change the very foundations of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, with a goal of eliminating death and suffering from cancer by 2015. It’s a hot investment market too. A 2005 report “Nanotechnology in Healthcare” is available for US $4,200.

Automotive industries—Nanoprotect® Automotive Glass is already available in the US, along with a clear lacquer that improves scratch resistance on Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles and a nanocomposite bumper developed by Toyota. It’s the “next big thing” although there are few commercial products so far according to Small Times.

Cosmetics—For more than nine years, some lines of moisturizers from L’Oreal have used nanocapsules to deliver vitamin A & E to deeper skin layers. A Small Times product review speculates about why “nanospeak” hasn’t appeared in promotional materials. Nanoscale zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are also used in some brands of cosmetics and sunscreen

Sports—Nanocoated tennis balls (Double Core balls from Wilson) don’t lose their spring or fuzz up as quickly as other balls. They’ve been approved for use by the International Tennis Federation. VS NCT (Nano Carbon Technology) rackets from Babolat are ten times more stiff and thus very springy and powerful, according to a product review by an Inside Tennis columnist.

Cell phones—“Nanotechnology is all about small, light and cheap, and you’re not in the cell phone business if you’re not thinking small, light and cheap—the two are made for each other,” said David Bishop, vice president of research at Lucent’s Bell Labs. Microscopic microphones, liquid lenses, compasses with global positioning system links and faster recharging, intelligent batteries are all being developed.

Construction—Nanogel, a translucent aerogel, will be used in roof inserts that are more energy efficient than traditional glass roof inserts. Natural filtered daylight passes through the inserts. It’s manufactured by a chemical and materials company named Cabot, for a roofing products distributor called Centerpoint Translucent Systems, LLC.

Military & Security— The Watervliet Innovation Center, an incubator for companies working to develop applications for the homeland security industry, has opened at the Watervliet Arsenal. Applied NanoWorks, Inc. is the first tenant in what is expected to be a $170 billion industry nationwide by 2006. Sensors, communication devices, smart ammunition and textiles using nanotechnology all have military applications.

Nanotechno Fine Arts—This eBay online store sells signed and unframed limited edition prints based on molecular engineering. Creator Jack Mason plans to incorporate his images into video and sculpture in collaboration with other artists.
Science Journalism—Small Times is a great place to start to see the possibilities for combining expertise in nanotechnology and communications.

Nano news from other industries—For applications in aerospace, agriculture, energy, and textiles, check out the Jobs by Industry categories at the Working in Nanotechnology site. For a window into the gold rush atmosphere, visit the site promoting Nano Science and Technology Institute’s (NSTI) annual conference and trade show. Represented there are the food, display & optics, design & modeling and environmental industries.

 

5. Voices from the high-tech workforce

“I really look forward tremendously to the day when we can point to people—I want to know their names, their faces—who have been cured with nanoshell-asisted cancer therapy.”
“Nanoshells are injected into the mouse bloodstream, and as they circulate through the blood, they can uptake naturally at a tumor site. Once they’re in place, infrared light is shined through the skin and down into the tumor site. It’s a very simple handheld laser, and it’s only for three minutes. Nanoshells absorb light and convert it to heat extremely efficiently, and three minutes is sufficient to kill the cells in the tumor.

I get contacted quite a bit about nanoshell cancer therapy, ranging from someone’s spouse who is in critical condition to someone’s nine-year-old kitty who has a lot of tumors. I try whenever I can to reply to people who do make contact with me, [even though] there are no human trials currently. I really look forward tremendously to the day when we can point to people—I want to know their names, their faces—who have been cured with nanoshell-asisted cancer therapy.

The idea of nanoshells has been around for more than 50 years. But no one was able to actually make a particle until several advances in the mid to late 90’s in nanofabrication chemistry came along, all independent of each other. We were able to put all the different steps together, based on all sorts of different breakthrough ideas that were just beginning to happen in nanotechnology.

We can think of nanoshells in a similar light to the laser, where there was quite a bit of celebrity regarding its invention but it took years, in fact decades, until practical technologies were based on lasers. Now you can’t buy something in a supermarket, make a long-distance phone call, or record something on your computer without using a laser, But between its invention and technology using it was almost 40 years. I have been very, very eager that nanoshells not have this long developmental period between invention and use. So we’re very aggressively examining what types of applications nanoshells might be food for very, very early on.

One interesting definition that I’ve encountered about what an engineer is [holds that] an engineer expands human capabilities. We wouldn’t be able to fly if it wasn’t for engineers. We wouldn’t be able to capture moving images if it wasn’t for engineers. That’s a very, very humanistic description of what people normally consider a rather non-humanistic endeavor. So I think putting a human face on what one does in engineering is something that is very important to me personally, and it’s something that I hope that I can [do for] nanoshells.

At one point in my life, I thought that my meandering path in my education, starting in music and going to chemistry and physics and laser science was quite a liability. But for the kind of work we do, it has turned our to be a tremendous asset. To have a background that is very broad and diverse has enabled me to able to talk to people in many different disciplines and have enough expertise within each of these disciplines that we can develop intelligent and focused collaborations.”

Naomi Halas, who formed Nanospectra Biosciences with Rice University bioengineer Jennifer West. The company seeks to commercialize nanoshell-based life-science applications, particularly cancer treatment.

 

"In order to understand environmental change, we need to be able to monitor it effectively. The products of nanoscience and nanotechnology will be very important tools to help us do that."
“I study nanometer-sized particles and microorganisms and their impact on the environment rather than the creations produced in most nanotechnology laboratories.

Nanoparticles are the basis for the growth of clouds and are also the initial solids formed in water, soils and sediments. It is likely that nanoparticles exert a disproportionately large, but as yet incompletely defined, influence on environmental geochemistry.
Knowing what goes on in the natural nanoworld could enable us to safely exploit nanoparticle and microbial processes and characteristics for greener manufacturing and energy production. For example bioleaching is an alternative to smelting, bioextraction is an alternative to electrochemistry, biosynthesis of polymers is an alternative to petroleum processing, and biomineralization is an alternative to machine-based manufacturing.

In order to understand environmental change, we need to be able to monitor it effectively. The products of nanoscience and nanotechnology will be very important tools to help us do that.”

Jill Banfield, who teaches Earth and Planetary Science studies as part of the Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute, University of California.

 

More:
Tinytechjobs.com is dedicated to nanotechnology jobs in addition to updated industry news.

The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center features profiles and typical day descriptions of over 400 individuals who work in engineering, mathematics or the physical sciences.

Getthatgig.com features great interviews with individuals who work in thirteen career clusters.

Career Cruising is a service available for a free three-month trial subscription at your school. Call the Center for Innovation in Career Development (CICD) for details.

For a taste of high tech employment opportunities that might be in your students’ future, check Monster.com, classified ads in the Capital Region’s Tech Valley Times, newspaper business sections and the Business Review. News releases and other communications from area colleges often feature interviews with students, faculty members and graduates about the work they do. Regular visits to college web sites are a great way to for students to get into a high tech mindset.

 

6. Helping Tech Valley students get a head start in nanotechnology

Why a head start?

U.S. students need a boost. They are behind their peers in other industrialized countries. (For a trade association's sobering review of the situation, look at the 2004 report “Losing the Competitive Advantage”) In the school setting, no one is more important than counselors in sending the message: science, math and technology matter.

Get involved

Create a high tech news display in the guidance department by adapting the banner, headers and layout suggestions from NOVA ScienceNOW . High tech is hot and it's a great way to let students know. Science, math, technology, graphic design and journalism teachers may be willing to recommend students who are willing to help.

A display might also include the practical Pre-College Career Planning guide for students interested in engineering, mathematics or the physical sciences.

The task of building an educated, creative workforce is made easier by local businesses with terrific web sites. Visit Evident Technologies, Inc. to see “Quantum Dots Explained.” It’s illustrated, animated, and helps us understand the unseen nanoworld. It might even appeal to BOTH students interested in the arts and their parents, interested in helping their children prepare for secure employment in high tech industry.

The Tri-Sci Club, named by young women from three rural school districts, refers to the three districts and three subjects--math, science and engineering. For help starting a club, contact the club sponsor, the Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC) at Cornell University.

Also check the Resources section for a printable listing of opportunities such as the Tech Valley Summer Camp for middle school students, a joint initiative of QUESTAR III and Capital Region BOCES.

 

Learn about what's hot in nanotechnology

Duckboy in Nanoland: Austin Powers-meets Candy Land is how the Small Times reviewer describes this video game developed for the Science Museum in London. The online version teaches kids how quantum and classical physics affect the nanoscale world. (Much of the engaging exhibit is available online too.)

Tour the Micropolitan Museum of microscopic art forms (proudly presented by the Institute for the Promotion of the Less than One Millimeter). “For several centuries artists have depicted the human figure, still-lifes, landscapes or non-figurative motives. One subject has been widely neglected all those years: Micro organisms!”

“In the case of Prey, I was interested in knowing where three trends might be going—distributed programming, biotechnology and nanotechnology, ” said author Michael Crichton. Read the interview on the publisher’s website.

Basement nanolabs? Read in Small Times about home-brew scanning tunneling microscopes. STMs have a sharp-tipped stylus rather than the lens of an optical microscope.

Nanohype would make a great research paper topic.

• Read Tech Valley author Bill McKibben’s Enough and a critical review in Small Times.
• Examine the claims of protesters who removed their clothes in an Eddie Bauer store in Chicago in opposition to the selling of khaki pants made with stain-resistant Nanotex fibers.
• Follow the work of a blogger with a National Science Foundation grant to examine the societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology. He posts monthly NANOHYPE awards.
• The Lally School of Management at RPI has a project to study the socioeconomic implications of nanotechnology.
• Other key sources: The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) and Foresight (Advancing Beneficial Nanotechnology)

To advance the science literacy of the general public, Cornell University’s Nano Bio Technology Center has established Main Street Science (hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities) and Nano U offering summer internships for high school students and summer research opportunities through the National Society of Black Engineers.

Check to see if Howard Lovy’s Nanoblog is back in action. Lots of lively postings are still available.

“The Incredible Shrunken Kids,” NanoKids® and Nanoscience Screensavers are all described in the K-12 student section of the National Nanotechnology Initiative web site.

Learn about the first textbook for Nano Science Grades 1-6 (available from Lehigh University, along with an online nanolab.) There’s also a Nano for People e-newsletter. Check out the Nanotechnology Center for Learning and Teaching, a clearinghouse intended to relay concepts into relevant daily activities for students by working with scientist-educators.

 

See Getting a head start in the Resources section for more.