Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
problems.with.nanoscale.solutions..Nanobiotechnology,.as.a.subield.of.nanotechnology,.
requires.the.same.strong.interdisciplinary.relationship.between.members.of.what.are.tra-
ditionally.deined.areas.of.science.and.engineering.
29.3.2 existing u.S. Higher education Nanotechnology Programs
In. a. 2009. study. by. the. John. J.. Heldrich. Center. for. Workforce. Development,. Van. Horn.
et.al..identiied.49.degree.programs.awarded.by.38.institutions.in.the.United.States.that.
used. “nano”. in. the. degree. program. title.. (The. authors. did. not. consider. minors,. spe-
cializations,. or. concentrations. in. nanoscience. in. their. analysis.). Of. these. 49. programs,.
32. were. Associate's. degree. level,. 1. was. at. the. Bachelor's. level,. 8. were. at. the. Master's,.
and.8.were.at.the.doctoral.level..An.examination.of.the.geographic.distribution.of.these.
programs. revealed. that. 33. of. the. 49. degree. programs. are. located. in. just. four. states:.
Pennsylvania,.New.York,.Texas,.and.Minnesota..Pennsylvania.alone.had.18.Associate's.
level.programs.in.2009.
Nanowerk.com.maintains.an.online.database.of.higher.education.programs.relating.to.
nanoscale. science,. technology,. or. engineering.. In. addition,. the. Nanowerk. site. provides.
news.and.information.dedicated.to.nanotechnology..Although.Nanowerk.does.not.pub-
lish.a.methodology.for.listing.programs.in.its.database,.recently.added.degree.programs.
are.represented.on.the.site.at.the.time.of.this.analysis.suggesting.it.is.a.good.resource.for.
students,.faculty,.administrators,.and.researchers.interested.in.NSE.degree.programs.
The. Nanowerk. database. shows. that,. worldwide,. there. are. over. 275. higher. education.
programs. that. have. some. version. of. “nano”. in. their. titles. (http://www.nanowerk.com/
nanotechnology/nanotechnology_degrees.php,.captured.August.17,.2011)..Many.programs.
are. engineering. or. material. science. programs. with. an. emphasis. in. nanotechnology. or.
nanoscience,.but.about.70%.of.the.PhD.programs.listed.are.dedicated.NSE.programs..Three.
U.S..institutions.introduced.bachelor's.degree.programs.in.nanoscale.systems,.nanoscale.
science,. or. nanoengineering. in. 2010,. increasing. the. total. number. of. U.S.. baccalaureate.
programs.to.four..Four.additional.institutions.have.physics.or.engineering.programs.with.
concentrations/specializations.in.nanotechnology.or.nanoscale.physics.
Currently,.there.are.12.universities.with.Master.of.Science.programs.in.NSE.ields,.up.
from. eight. programs. in. 2009.. Three. other. universities. have. programs. in. engineering. or.
material.science.with.a.concentration.or.emphasis.on.nanotechnology.or.nanomaterials..
There.are.now.10.universities.with.PhD.programs.in.nanoscience.ields.(i.e.,.nanoscience,.
nanoengineering,. nanophotonics,. and. nanomedicine).. Five. universities. have. engineer-
ing.or.other.programs.with.concentrations.or.specializations.in.nanoscience..Finally,.the.
CNSE.at.the.University.at.Albany.has.recently.announced.a.joint.MD/PhD.program.with.
the.State.University.of.New.York.Downstate.Medical.College.
29.3.3 Postsecondary education in Nanotechnology
This. brief. overview. of. NSE. programs. in. the. United. States. shows. the. growth. in. the.
number. of. total. programs. focusing. on. nanotechnology. over. the. past. 2. years.. The. total.
number. of. dedicated. NSE. programs. is. still. small. compared. with. long-established.
programs. in. biology,. chemistry,. engineering,. and. physics;. but. this. investigation. reveals.
that. many. of. these. graduate. programs. are. adding. NSE. components. and. coursework. to.
their.curricula..Technical.training.programs.(associate.degree.level).that.have.for.the.past.
5-10.years.supplied.high-skilled.technicians.to.employers.in.the.semiconductor.and.other.
nanotechnology-related.industries.are.strongly.represented.(Figure.29.2).
