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Project Objective
Integrate nanotechnology into the fabric
of three important undergraduate engineering courses. Curricular
changes for sophomore engineering students will focus on introducing
nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing concepts as well as on
communicating the excitement and future potential of nanotechnology.
The third courses is a junior-level materials and manufacturing
course offered by the Mechanical Engineering department but
available to all students who have taken the prerequisites.
The fourth course is an elective course available to all engineering
and science students who have completed the prerequisite courses.
In the course, students will learn about manufacturing of
nanoscale components and integration of nanoscale components
into micro and macro-scale devices through lectures and extensive
laboratory sessions in research labs.
Project Participants
Sophomore Course: ENGR 213 Principles of
Materials Engineering
ENGR 213 Principles of Materials Engineering
is a sophomore-level course required for the following majors:
aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering,
mechanical engineering, and petroleum engineering. The goal
of the NUE project was to generate two
modules for the course, each corresponding to one hour
of lecture material. Given the breadth of nanotechnology material
and the very limited time, the project team faced a difficult
challenge of deciding which topics to include. One of the
guiding principles was to focus on topics that were likely
to continue to be relevant and applicable for several years
in this rapidly changing area. After much discussion, the
team decided to focus on why behavior of materials may be
so different at the nanoscale and approaches to manufacturing
at the nanoscale. In the first module two basic ideas underlie
differences at the nanoscale: scaling and granularity. The
second module features two different approaches to nanoscale
manufacturing: top-down (use existing techniques to fabricate
smaller and smaller features) and bottom-up (start with atoms
or molecules and assemble larger units). Both topics mesh
well with the overall conception of an introductory course
on materials and both provide students with a foundation for
future study of nanotechnology.
Junior Course: MEEN 360 Materials and Manufacturing
MEEN 360 Materials and Manufacturing Selection
in Design is a required course for mechanical engineering
majors. It is taught both semesters, offered to about 200
students each year, and includes a laboratory component. Like
ENGR 213 the project introduced two
one-hour modules on nanoscale manufacturing: one on micro
and nanoscale lithography and another on nanoparticle processes
for bulk materials. In addition, the project introduced one
laboratory experiment that would be performed by all students.
The two modules in MEEN 360 have three goals:
- Introduce nanoscale manufacturing as an emerging field
that might affect your career
- Visualize nanoscale issues in manufacturing
- Provide background information for the new senior elective
course MEMA 489 Nanoscale Issues in Manufacturing to be
offered in the spring semester of the 2003-04 academic year.
Elective Course: MEMA 489 Nanoscale Issues
in Manufacturing
The senior elective course, MEMA
489 Nanoscale Issues in Manufacturing, is open to both
science and engineering students who have the necessary prerequisites.
It has both lecture and laboratory components. Since it covers
a broad sweep of topics on nanoscale manufacturing, three
members of the project team, Ibrahim Karaman (Mechanical Engineering),
Winfried Teizer (Physics) and Terry Creasy (Mechanical Engineering),
team taught the first version of the course that was offered
in the spring semester of the 2003-04 academic year. Each
faculty member developed lecture materials and laboratory
experiments for about one-third of the course. After the team
prepared the initial draft of the course materials, Terry
Creasy taught the second iteration of the course in fall semester
of the 2004-05 academic year. The course had three themes.
- Theme 1: Methods and Techniques for Nanostructure Fabrication
- Theme 2: Fabrication of Bulk Materials through Nanoparticle
Consolidation
- Theme 3: Design and Assembly of Devices and Multifunctional
Materials Using Nanoscale Components
Acknowledgement
This project was supported by the Division
of Engineering Education and Centers of the National Science
Foundation under grant number EEC-0304049. Any opinions, findings,
and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the National
Science Foundation.
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