IEEE Spectrum
FOR THE TECHNOLOGY INSIDER

Topics

AerospaceArtificial IntelligenceBiomedicalComputingConsumer ElectronicsEnergyHistory of TechnologyRoboticsSemiconductorsSensorsTelecommunicationsTransportation

Sections

FeaturesNewsOpinionCareersDIYThe Big PictureEngineering Resources

More

Special ReportsCollectionsExplainersPodcastsVideosNewslettersTop Programming LanguagesRobots Guide

For IEEE Members

Current IssueMagazine ArchiveThe InstituteTI Archive

For IEEE Members

Current IssueMagazine ArchiveThe InstituteTI Archive

IEEE Spectrum

About UsContact UsReprints & PermissionsAdvertising

Follow IEEE Spectrum

Support IEEE Spectrum

IEEE Spectrum is the flagship publication of the IEEE — the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences. Our articles, podcasts, and infographics inform our readers about developments in technology, engineering, and science.
Join IEEE
Subscribe
JOIN IEEESIGN IN
Close

Special offer: Join IEEE now for 2023 and save 50%!

IEEE Members receive 12 print issues of IEEE Spectrum and enjoy PDF downloads, full access to our archive with thousands of in-depth articles, and other exclusive content and features. Join IEEE today for 2023 and save 50%!

SemiconductorsNewsTypeTopic

Nanotechnology Training Available to Slum Kids of Colombia

How will the US train one million "nanotechnologists" in five years when the entire world currently has about 20,000?

1 min read
Nanotechnology Training Available to Slum Kids of Colombia
nanotechnologyeducationmanufacturing

After recovering from a bit of wince from the idea of connecting the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s recent urgings in the area of nanomanufacturing  to desktop nanofabs, this article presented some interesting information on the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program developed by NanoInk.

According to Tom Levesque, General Manager of NanoInk in the Americas, he visited a school  in Bogota, Colombia where about 350 teenagers in conjunction with the NanoProfessor curriculum work with atomic force microscopes and end up with better training than many receive at private universities in the country.

“The setting is that these children come down from these virtual slums behind the school, they go through these programs, and emerge out of the front of the building into society with an education that is not even available at some of the best private schools in Bogota,” Levesque is quoted in the article as saying.

While making available an AFM for 350 kids seems almost as incredible as the idea that these kids have a better education than those at the best private schools, one has to wonder why this program has taken off in foreign countries and has not fared as well in the United States.

Professor Deb Newberry, who sits on the Advisory Board of the NanoProfessor, has been using the training program as part of her curriculum with students at Dakota County Technical College in Minneapolis says that her students do enjoy it. 

Not sure if this means that the program is more effective than other curriculums, but you can listen to the the entire interviews with Levesque and Newberry on the ScienceNews Radio Network talk program, the Promise of Tomorrow with Colonel Mason to find out.

nanotechnologyeducationmanufacturing
The Conversation (0)
This photograph of the exhibition floor shows a large number of people moving about and visiting booths set up by IBM and Sony, among many other companies.
History of TechnologyTopicMagazineTypeFeatureComputing

The Do-or-Die Moments That Determined the Fate of the Internet

10 min read
a rendering of the earth covered in blue circles and criss-crossing green lines
AerospaceTopicTypeNewsTelecommunications

CubeSat Operators Launch an IoT Space Race

3 min read
Photo of a man in glasses and jacket sitting in front of semiconductor wafers.
SemiconductorsTopicMagazineTypeFeature

Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide Fight for Green Tech Domination

15 min read