Introduction Of Nanotechnology Into Fundamental Engineering Classes: How To Think Small In A Good Way!

Calls for engineering curriculum review to increase effectiveness and relevance have been made by both industry and university communities over the past decade. When considering the fundamental engineering courses in Statics, Dynamics and Mechanics of Materials it is important that the traditions long associated with these courses do not stand in the way of improving their relevance by inclusion of technological advances. This paper will discuss an approach and propose some examples that can be utilized to introduce the latest arena of technological research, nanotechnology, into one of these foundation courses, Statics. Using constructivist theory, this paper will discuss ways to facilitate intellectual development of new college students as they reanalyze their world in ways that open connections to the submicroscopic world. This multiscale engineering approach will be set in the framework of a Statics course utilizing existing physical and intellectual resources and activities in innovative fashions to impact the thought process of undergraduate engineering students. This will be done in such a manner, through the application of creative modules, as to allow these students to easily move up or down the size continuum, tackling problems at the microor nano-scales as easily as “full-size” problems. The efforts will be facilitated by using the simulation capabilities of Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) as well as the analysis capabilities of Finite Element Modeling (FEM).