Nanotechnology Fellows Program: Integrating Interdisciplinary Education, Professional Development, and Outreach

An undergraduate Nanotechnology Fellows Program was established to addresses key problems in implementing nanotechnology education: (1) science and engineering curricula are already full; (2) practical, hands-on experiences require extensive training on complex, expensive equipment; and (3) necessary fundamental concepts and knowledge span multiple disciplines and are rarely taught at the undergraduate level. This work reports on the program evolution over the course of three years as well as the shortand long-term impacts on students’ academic and professional careers. The evaluation results from the first year indicated the most profound impact came from integrating the interdisciplinary education, professional development, and outreach components to develop students’ career and leadership skills. The nanotechnology education outcomes were secondary to the career and leadership development even though nanotechnology education and training was the primary program goal. Program modifications were made in the second and third years to capitalize on these initial results. The summative survey results for all three cohorts demonstrate the impact of these changes. The results point to the use of this integrated program approach as a tool for improving engineering education.