NUE: Teaching Nanosystems Engineering to Early College Students with Active Learning Experiences

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This Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NUE) award to Louisiana Tech University supports Dr. Hisham Hegab, Mechanical Engineering Program, for his work to teach fundamental concepts of nanosystems engineering to engineering and science students within the College of Engineering & Science at Louisiana Tech University and to invigorate interest in science and engineering through demonstrations to local high schools in northern Louisiana. The project investigators will create a series of hands-on active learning modules targeted for different educational levels (e.g, high school students, freshman undergraduates, sophomore undergraduates) to teach fundamental concepts in nanotechnology such as nanostructures, scanning probe methods, nanofabrication techniques, and fundamental phenomena in nanoscale materials. These learning modules will be incorporated into existing curricula through courses at the freshman level and by the development of a new sophomore-level course entitled "Fundamentals of Nanosystems Engineering". The course materials developed for this project will also be made available through a web-based online set of manuals and through the National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NSDL) so that they may be used by other institutions across the nation. The project investigators will also perform outreach demonstrations using some of the modules to regional secondary schools around Louisiana Tech and at University sponsored outreach events.The proposal for this award was received in response to the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education announcement, NSF 03-044, category NUE and was jointly funded by the Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation (DMII) and the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) both in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG).