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While not long ago nanotechnology was confined to university research laboratories, nanotechnology techniques are today becoming integrated into mainstream industries. A sharp increase is predicted in the number of industries and processes that will use different nanotechnology approaches for their products in the near future. In fact, the NSF predicts that nanotech innovations will create a $1 trillion business within the next 10 to 15 years. 1 This will create a demand for a large workforce of highly qualified and trained technicians and technologists to run the processes needed, to troubleshoot this expensive equipment and to assist in the development of products using nanotechnology approaches. At the present time, universities have approached nanotechnology from the research and development side, producing highly qualified researchers in the field. The majority of the existent educational programs, if not all, have been at the graduate level. This creates an unbalance between the current and future need of technicians trained in the nanotechnology field. The number of qualified individuals will continue to grow at a more rapid pace; demand will outgrow supply. To respond to this demand, the Commonwealth College at Penn State University has developed a unique associate degree in Nanotechnology Manufacturing Technology that was started at four campuses in the Fall 2003 semester. This program is a unique and pioneering two-year program, with two different tracks: the engineering technology option (ET) and science option (SC). Both of these options converge in a hands-on capstone semester that all of the students take at the multi-million dollar Nanofabrication Manufacturing facility at the University Park campus of Penn State. The goal of this paper is to describe this innovative program as well as to share the authors’ experiences in developing a cutting-edge degree in engineering technology.

Planning For The Future: Development Of An Associate Degree In Nanotechnology Manufacturing Technology At Penn State