Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
.professionals.in.addition.to.the.faculty,.staff,.and.students.at.the.CNSE..Industrial.partners.
are.key.sounding.boards.for.curricular.development.
The.CNSE.conferred.its.irst.PhD.in.Nanoscale.Science.in.December.2004.and.currently.
has.153.PhD.and.MS.students.working.toward.degrees.in.two.tracks,.Nanoscale.Science.
and. Nanoscale. Engineering.. These. two. programs. provide. students. foundations. in. biol-
ogy,.chemistry,.economics,.mathematics,.and.physics.through.an.interdisciplinary.frame-
work..The.framework.itself.develops.directly.from.the.College's.academic.structure,.which.
is.made.up.of.four.overlapping.constellations;.nanoscale.science,.nanoscale.engineering,.
nanbioscience,.and.nanoeconomics.
Entering.students.are.required.to.take.foundation.courses.in.areas.that.supplement.their.
previous.educational.or.professional.experience.and.expand.their.breadth.of.knowledge..
The. four. “Foundations. of. Nanotechnology”. courses. are. made. up. of. a. series. of. 8. week.
modules.that.allow.faculty.advisors.to.tailor.coursework.to.ill.crucial.gaps.in.a.student's.
knowledge. (http://cnse.albany.edu/PioneeringAcademics/GraduatePrograms/Found-
ationsofNanotechnology.aspx).. Students. complete. 12. credits. within. the. four. foundation.
courses,. nine. credits. of. advanced. level. coursework. in. their. area. of. specialization,. nine.
credits. of. seminars. or. external. work,. and. research. credits. to. complete. 60. credits. total..
Students. also. interact. with. scientists. from. many. of. our. partner. irms. while. performing.
their.research.and.completing.internships.
29.3.7 Nanobiotechnology education Programs
Kim.(2007:.p..360).noted.that.“the.structure.of.nanobiotechnology.education.in.the.United.
States.remains.for.the.most.part.a.combination.of.broad-based.coursework.in.the.physi-
cal. and. biological. sciences. followed. by. focused. laboratory. training.”. In. large. measure,.
this. statement.is.still.true.today;. however,. a.number.of.new.educational. programs.have.
developed.since.2007..In.the.following.sections,.the.number.of.programs.and.the.type.of.
training.that.students.receive.in.nanobiotechnology.programs.are.discussed.
29.3.8 Nanobiotechnology Components in existing u.S. NSe Programs
In.order.to.get.a.sense.of.the.impact.that.nanobiotechnology.has.on.degree.programs.in.
the. United. States,. the. Nanowerk. degree. program. database. was. utilized. to. explore. col-
lege.or.university.websites.to.obtain.a.rough.estimate.of.the.number.of.courses.and.more.
importantly,.the.number.of.faculty.dedicated.to.nanobiotechnology.ields..Of.the.15.PhD-
granting.institutions.that.have.“nano”.programs,.there.were.on.average.six.or.more.fac-
ulty.members.dedicated.to.nanobiotechnology.in.one.fashion.or.another..These.programs.
offered.approximately.ive.or.more.courses.during.the.graduate.level.training.program..
Many.of.the.doctoral.programs.examined.here.were.developed.through.NSF.Integrative.
Graduate. Education. and. Research. Traineeship. (IGERT). grants.. Being. heavily. interdisci-
plinary,.nanoscience.and.nanotechnology.programs.are.a.good.it.with.the.IGERT.goals.
(Vogel.and.Campbell.2002)..These.results.indicate.that.nanobiotechnology.faculty.mem-
bers.play.an.important.role.in.the.implementation.and.development.of.nanoscience,.nano-
engineering,.and.nanotechnology.degree.programs.in.general.
As. argued. earlier,. in. this. early. stage. in. the. history. of. nanobiotechnology,. advanced.
level.Master's.and.doctoral.programs.will.provide.the.research.and.development.momen-
tum. that. drives. downstream. commercialization. and. manufacturing. of. nanobiotechnol-
ogy.products..This.review.of.the.doctoral.programs.in.nanoscience.indicates.that.faculty.
