School system puts students on cutting edge
Though at present nanotechnology exists almost exclusively in the laboratory, Warren County Schools officials are hoping that by joining an area initiative to study the emerging technology they can help prepare local students, and the county’s work force, for the next industrial revolution.
“This is as much of an economic initiative as it is an education initiative,” said school system vocational director Jerry Stubblefield. “Nanotechnology could save manufacturing in this country and it’s coming whether we’re ready or not. We need to be proactive if we want to be ready.”
Put simply, nanotechnology is the ability to control or manipulate very, very small things, often with very, very small machines. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (by contrast, the width of an average human hair is approximately 80,000 nanometers). At this level, everything is reduced to fundamental interactions between atoms and molecules.
It is the aim of nanotechnology to manipulate these particles to create novel structures with unique properties. It is thought nanotechnology will bring about revolutionary changes in the fields of manufacturing, biomedicine and computing.
So convinced is the federal government that nanotechnology is the wave of the future, it increased its investment in nanotechnology research and development from $116 million in fiscal year 1997 to $849 million in the current fiscal year.
The National Science Foundation estimates that two million workers will be needed to support nanotechnology industries worldwide within 15 years.
To prepare Middle Tennessee for these jobs, the local initiative, which also includes Giles, Maury and Williamson County Schools, Columbia State and Motlow State Community Colleges and Tennessee Tech, will focus first on training small groups of students in the field of nanotechnology.
Stubblefield said the local program will likely begin in earnest with the 2005-2006 freshman class. Using the Kuder career assessment test, approximately 30 students from the class with an aptitude for math and physics will be chosen to participate. Over their high school careers these students will take their math, science and English classes together, with all of the classes having an emphasis on nanotechnology. The students will also attend a nanotechnology summer camp at Tennessee Tech.
“And the cost to us is zero,” said Stubblefield, who noted Tennessee Tech will train local teachers in a nanotechnology curriculum and provide the student summer camp, and that Motlow will likely provide a portable biotech lab for student use.
“We are very excited to have this opportunity which we feel will lead to better opportunities for our students,” said Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale. “This is a very new field and we are hopeful we can do our part to help develop it.”