Nanotechnology Careers

Presented by Presented by

Morton M. Sternheim

July, 2013July, 2013

STEM CareersCurrently, there are 14 million people unemployed people in the U.S. and 3 million unfilled STEM jobs -- There is a STEM skills gap!

U.S. News & World Report STEM Solutions 2012 Leadership Summit: http://usnewsstemsolutions.com/ June 27-29, 2012

STEM Skills- Mathematical literacy- Ability to apply STEM knowledge to real-world

situations- There are many technician-level jobs- Need many STEM-skilled people for

sophisticated jobs in manufacturing- Typically, students are not aware of the types of

jobs a STEM education can lead to

Science DOI: 10.1126/science.caredit.a1200076 Michael Price July 6, 2012

STEM EmploymentSTEM employment grew over 3 x faster than the

total workforce between 1950 and 2007 (NSF, 2010)STEM employment is expected to continue to grow

faster in the next decade than the overall workforce (U.S. Department of Labor, 2009)

Growth in STEM degrees has not kept pace with the overall demand, and the gap has been filled by foreign-born scientists and engineers

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/

STEM Employment, cont.The U.S. is expected to face

a serious shortage of skilled workers in STEM fields over the next twenty years (NAS, 2007; ACT, 2006).

Depending on one’s definition, 60 to 80% of the 30 fastest growing occupations are STEM or IT related. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010)

Educating a Nanotech Workforce

National Nanotechnology Initiative "Small Wonders" (2001)

A need for 2 million nanotechnology workers worldwide by 2015.

Lux Research report “Hiring Nanotech Talent” (2007)

Nanotech teams are poised to grow 74% by 2008. 60% of companies surveyed feel a shortage of nanotech talent.

Scientists on development teams will shrink to 40%, as engineering grows to 25% and sales and marketing to 22% of future hires.

CaveatThe forecasts have limitations. The Labor

Department's macroeconomic model works on two noteworthy assumptions—that the economy will rebound to long-term growth and that there won't be any more big shocks like the 2007-2008 recession. Thus its forecasts don't predict the big job-market swings or sudden changes in the supply of workers that can easily happen in a volatile economy.

Caveat, cont.That means you could pick a job from the Labor

Department's "fastest-growing" list when you enter college, only to find the field in a slump by the time you graduate. For example, a 2006 high-school graduate eyeing the government's 2004-2014 forecast for nursing at that time would have read about excellent job prospects, with "thousands of job openings" predicted because experienced nurses were expected to retire.

Wall Street Journal, 2010

Nanotechnology is an example ofInterdisciplinary Collaboration at work

People from diverse fields working together -- more rapidly solving important problems in our society

PhysicsChemistryBiologyMaterials SciencePolymer ScienceElectrical EngineeringChemical EngineeringMechanical EngineeringMedicine And others

ReferencesNSF, 2010. Science and Engineering Indicators

2010, http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind10US Department of Labor, 2009. Occupational

employment projections to 2018. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/11/art5full.pdf

NAS, 2007. Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Washington, D.C., The National Academies Press.

References, cont.ACT, 2006. Developing the STEM Education

Pipeline. Washington, D.C., ACTU.S. Department of Labor, 2010.Employment

Projections Program. http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_103.htm

Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2010http://online.wsj.com/article/

SB10001424052748704026204575266342935418962.html

What are nano careers and fields that might appeal to your students?Subject Groups discuss career ideasList 5-10 ideas~ 5 minutesReport on Moodle