Developing Globally Aware Engineers and Scientists in Nanotechnology

摘要

The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) is a NSF-funded program which supports nanoscience researchers by providing state-of-the-art facilities and resources at 14 U.S. universities. (http://www.nnin.org). The NNIN has an education and outreach program with a mission to address the explosive growth of nanotechnology and its growing need for a skilled workforce. One of our goals is to encourage and develop talented students (undergraduate and graduate students) to become future leaders in nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). We have developed and implemented three programs that we hope will lead to globally aware scientists; these include the NNIN international Research Experience for Undergraduates program (iREU), the international Research Experience for Graduate students (iREG), and the international Winter Schools for Graduate Students (iWSG). This paper describes these three distinctly different programs and the outcomes we have determined through surveys of participants.