New at Penn State
Penn State Intercom......October 25, 2001

Nanotechnology Center
offers students degree options

The new Center for Manufacturing Education in Nanofabrication on the University Park campus will offer Pennsylvania students the opportunity to obtain bachelor's and associate degrees in nanofabrication.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and the state, the center will service students from universities in the state system of higher education, as well as 14 community colleges from around the Commonwealth. Students will have the option of obtaining a bachelor's degree or associate degree in nanofabrication. A key part of this new center is the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility.

Students will enroll in nanofabrication programs and take classes at their respective institutions. The students will then come to the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility for their "capstone semester," 18 credits of intensive work in the facility's advanced clean rooms and laboratories before graduating from their "home" institution.

The new center builds on an already strong history of nanotechnology work at the University. The Nanofabrication Facility, which is part of the College of Engineering, was originally started in 1994 as one of five charter NSF National Nanofabrication Users Network sites which serve as a resource for academics and industry researchers.

In addition to the associate degree program, the Nanofabrication Facility runs professional development workshops for faculty, secondary school teachers and industry personnel from around the state, and summer "chip camps" for middle- and high-school students.

Officials say they hope to have the baccalaureate programs in place by next year.

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