PNPA - a Transformative Approach for Learning and Practicing Nanoengineering

Robert D. Cormia

Foothill College

Training for Success

• Workplace effectiveness

• Extensible careers

• Supporting innovation

• Learning platform

• PNPA - nanomaterials engineering framework

Bill Mansfield, a technician at the New Jersey Nanotechnology Center at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., holds a reflective 8-inch MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) disk in a "clean" room of the nanofabrication lab at Bell

Labs.

SRI/Boeing Study

• What do technicians do?• What do technicians know?• What don’t they know how to do?• Need relevant experience• Solve relevant problems

Nanotechnology, Education and Workforce Development - AIAA Technical Conference 2007 Vivian T. Dang, Michael C. Richey, John H. Belk (Boeing), Robert Cormia (Foothill College), Nora Sabelli (SRI), Sean Stevens, Denise Drane, Tom Mason and …NCLT and Northwestern University

Nanotechnician Competencies

• Measurements

• Fabrication / process

• Modeling / simulation

• Knowledge of nanoscale

• Work in teams (SETM)

Deb Newberry Dakota County Technical College – University of Minnesota

Nanomaterials Engineering

• Challenging applications– Novel properties– Novel structures– New processes

• New structure – property relationships

http://tam.mech.northwestern.edu/joswald/

Scenario Based Instruction• Industry context

– Energy– Medicine– Information storage– Biotechnology– Transportation

• What are the problems?

• What are the materials?

• What are the processes?

Ten Key Nanostructures

• Thin film and amorphous silicon (PV) – solar energy

• Carbon nanotubes (CNT) / carbon composite materials (aerospace & transportation)

• Surface coatings and SAMs (Self Assembled Monolayers) Sensors and bionanotechnology

• Nitinol (biomedical stents) / electropolished alloys

• Thin film and plasma coatings (polyester film) / high performance glazing

• Particles (coated particles) biomedicine / powder metallurgy (lithium batteries)

• Dendrimers (nanochemistry) – biomedical drug delivery

• Polymers and composites / nanoparticle filler - lightweight automotive and aircraft materials

• Silicon materials Micro Electro Mechanical Systems - (MEMS), Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC), DNA microarrays

• Ceramics and electro ceramics / fuel cells - (stationary / mobile power)

PNPA Rubric• Application driven process

(A)

• Properties (P)

• Nanostructures (N)

• Fabrication (P)

• Characterization (N-P)

• The ‘Nanoengineering Method’

A Rubric for Post-Secondary Degree Programs in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

PNPA Rubric as a Compass

• As you work, as you learn, as you read:– What are the applications? (A)– What properties are needed? (P)– What are the (nano)structures? (N)– How do you fabricate / process it? (P)

• Use characterization tools to develop structure property relationships (N-P)

• Fine tune process (P) to fine tune (N-P)

PNPA / 4-D Compass

Properties (P)

Applications (A)

Process (P)

Nanostructure (N)

Deeper Learning Outcomes

• Can PNPA help students learn better?– Understand / consider application needs– Visualize structures / properties together– Ask how a material is made / processed?– Think about methods / tools to characterize

• Use PNPA to ‘connect’ topics in the four-course series – from A to PNPA

• Can PNPA help technicians work better?

Augmented Transition Network' (ATN) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_transition_network

Four Course Nano Program

• NANO51 – Survey of Nanotechnology (A)

• NANO52 – Nanostructures (N-P, N-P)

• NANO53 – Nanocharacterization (N-P)

• NANO54 – Nanofabrication (P, N-P)

• Internship – practice PNPA / industry

P = PropertiesN = StructuresP = ProcessingA = Applications

N-P = Structure-PropertiesN-P = Structure-Processing

PNPA Rubric - Applied

• In the workplace…– Think broadly about devices / applications– Visualize structures and their properties– Understand fabrication / processing– Think about characterization – constantly

• Are structure-properties characterized?

• Can structure-processing be improved?

• Apply PNPA in every ‘working discussion’

SETM – Extensible Technicians

• We don’t train for multidimensional thinking required in a workplace– Scientific knowledge

– Engineering process

– Technology know-how

– Manufacturing competencies

• Technicians need to think from all four corners of SETM – just like PNPA (rubric)

SETM / 4-D Technicians

Engineering (E)

Science (S)

Manufacturing (M)

Technology (T)

NSF Project 2010-2012

• Develop a four course program

• Rewrite curriculum using PNPA

• Integrate scenario / contextual purpose

• Develop Linked Learning Outcomes (LLO)– A dozen key nanostructures and themes

• Train and test how this affects technicians– NanoNoteBook® Semantic Wiki course journal– Employer interviews – did PNPA matter?

PNPA – Example Curriculum

• Self Assembled Monolayers (SAM)

• Surface coatings

• Surface properties

• Derivatized surface structure

• SAMs structure / wetting

• Coating process and XPS characterization

• Correlate spectroscopy with performancePartner – Asemblon http://asemblon.com/

Biomimicry – PNPA 2.0?

Summary

• PNPA – nanoengineering method– Train technicians for multidimensional work

• Four course nanoengineering program

• PNPA - LLO with structures and context

• Create a course notebook (Semantic Wiki)

• Test for deep learning / working outcomes

• Develop the ‘extensible technician’ SETM

Acknowledgements• George Bodner• Neha Choksi• Vivian Dang• Denise Drane• Mark Hersam• Gregory Light• Tom Mason• Michael Richey• Nora Sabelli• Shawn Stevens

• Boeing Corporation• Evans Analytical Group• NASA-Ames Res. Center• NCLT – National Center for

Learning Technologies• Northwestern University• Purdue University• SRI International• Stanford University• University of Michigan