INTEGRATION OF NANOMANUFACTURING RESEARCH INTO CURRICULAR EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Research in nanoscience, nanotechnology and nanomaterials has grown in leaps and bounds worldwide over the last decade. A well-trained workforce with a strong grounding in nanomaterials and nanotechnology is a strong national competitive advantage. Research funding from multiple sources has enabled the authors. lab to work with nanomaterials for diverse applications including the electronic, magnetic and, starting recently, biomaterials sector. Processes that continue to be investigated include the pulsed laser deposition process and the magnetron beam sputtering process. Materials are fabricated in the form of thin-film composites, multilayered structures and nanowires. Materials under investigation include Ni magnetic nanoparticles, Ni-TiN-Ni multilayered structures, and TiN nanowires. These materials have been characterized by advanced structural and property characterization techniques including X-Ray diffraction, field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Physical Properties Measurement Systems. Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars have always been trained and mentored. Careful planning and grant-writing has enabled leveraging of this research work for deployment into curricular education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Beyond extending classroom lectures to hands-on participation opportunities and demonstrations in the authors. labs, the students have been afforded the opportunity to experiences a day of touring at a world-renowned national research lab as well as to explore career opportunities. Further, multi-level outreach activities that have been successfully organized utilizing the lab's resources have benefited a large number of the community and other institutions. These include talented young students from community high schools, middle and high school teachers, and community college students and teachers. The paper will survey the innovative approaches, with specific examples, used to enliven the content as well as encourage active participation and discovery-based learning at all levels of learning.