Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A. central. theme. in. this. chapter. is. the. importance. of. cross-communication. and. cross-
fertilization.of.ideas.and.concepts.among.the.NSE.areas.of.concentration..Deppert.et.al..
(2008).outline.two.basic.models.for.delivering.NSE.content:.the.T.model.and.the.inverted.
T.model..The.T.model.is.similar.to.the.traditional.silo.approach.where.students.start.with.
basic.courses.in.one.main.area.of.science.and.follow.a.straight-line.progression.to.more.
advanced.courses.and.content..In.their.inal.years,.the.T.model.students.take.NSE-focused.
advanced.level.courses.and.work.on.guided.research.projects.that.introduce.them.to.NSE.
tools.and.techniques..The.authors.note.that.this.method.is.the.most.common.and.easiest.
model.to.implement.because.it.requires.only.minor.administrative.intervention.
The. second. model. discussed. in. Deppert. et. al.. (2008). is. the. inverted. T. (⊥). model. that.
focuses. much. more. attention. on. interdisciplinary. instruction. in. the. irst. 2. years. with.
extension,.specialization,.or.concerted.action.in.the.inal.years.of.the.program..Extension.
refers.to.the.continuation.of.basic.science.courses.to.the.advanced.level.in.each.of.the.vari-
ous.disciplines,.specialization.refers.to.students.focusing.on.one.or.two.areas.of.interest,.
and. concerted. action. refers. to. advanced. coursework. that. interacts. extensively. to. avoid.
redundancy.
Deppert.et.al..(2008).among.others.caution.that.a.poorly.executed.inverted.T.model.could.
leave. students. with. a. broad. but. shallow. education;. “a. kilometer. wide. but. a. nanometer.
deep. (Matyi. and. Geer. 2009).”. One. way. to. avoid. this. problem. is. to. introduce. internship.
and.capstone.experiences.in.the.inal.semesters.of.an.NSE.bachelor's.program..Internships.
and.capstone.experiences.allow.students.to.propose,.elaborate,.and.conduct.experiments.
or.design.projects.with.the.objective.of.integrating.knowledge.from.across.the.curriculum.
(Matyi.and.Geer.2009)..The.NSF.Research.Experience.for.Undergraduates.internship.pro-
gram.has.been.particularly.helpful.with.exposing.undergraduates.to.the.tools.and.tech-
nology.of.nanoscale.science.(Murday.2009).
29.3.6 graduate Degree Level Programs in NSe Fields
Early.investment.in.NSE.education.took.place.at.the.graduate.level.and.has.expanded.to.
undergraduate,.K-12,.and.public.education.throughout.the.past.decade.(Murday.et.al..2010)..
One.of.the.original.goals.of.the.NNI.in.2000.was.to.expand.both.the.physical.and.intel-
lectual. infrastructure. to. propel. NSE. know-how. in. the. United. States.. “Since. 2000,. about.
100.national.centers.and.networks.and.about.50.other.research.organizations.focused.on.
advanced.R&D.have.been.built.or.repurposed,.together.constituting.a.strong.nanotechnol-
ogy.experimental.infrastructure.in.the.United.States.(Murday.et.al..2010).”.Dedicated.NSE.
PhD.and.Master's.programs.have.been.instrumental.in.stafing.these.centers.as.well.as.the.
start-up.businesses.and.established.irms.utilizing.nanotechnology.
Each.graduate.program.has.its.own.set.of.foundations.and.unique.characteristics.that.
make.describing.them.a.challenge..Instead,.an.example.of.a.PhD.program.from.the.CNSE.
at.the.University.at.Albany.in.New.York.is.presented.to.give.the.reader.a.sense.of.the.basic.
framework.
The.CNSE.is.located.in.Albany,.New.York.and.is.built.on.the.Albany.NanoTech.Complex.
which.covers.approximately.800,000.ft
2
.of.territory.and.includes.over.80,000.ft
2
.on.indus-
trial. scale. clean. room. space.. In. addition. to. the. college,. the. Albany. NanoTech. complex.
houses.the.most.advanced.infrastructure.available.in.the.world.for.the.study.and.develop-
ment.of.nanotechnology,.nanoengineering,.and.nanobioscience..The.CNSE.has.corporate.
partners. who. include. Applied. Materials,. ASML,. IBM,. Intel,. International. SEMATECH,.
and. TEL.. The. entire. complex. employs. approximately. 2700. research. and. development.
