Nanotechnology, which gives us the ability to manipulate and interrogate physical systems on a length scale of nanometers to microns, has become pervasive in many fields of scientific inquiry and engineering. Access to basic nanotechnology tools has therefore become increasingly important, not only for so-called nanotechnologists but for scientists and engineers from many academic disciplines and from industry. The Montana Nanotechnology Facility (MONT), a NNCI site at Montana State University, promotes discovery, education and outreach related to nanotechnology by providing access to shared-use instruments, expert training on their safe and effective use, and broad-based education about nanoscale science and technology for learners at all levels who come from diverse communities. The MONT site serves both regional users in the northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains and users from across the U.S. who need the specific expertise and equipment found at Montana State University. Those users are pursuing diverse objectives related to advances in health care diagnostics and surgical solutions, sources of clean energy, remediation strategies for contaminated soils, and technologies related to optical telecommunications, imaging systems and advanced computing. By enhancing our service to external users and building on its unique fabrication and characterization strengths MONT will help to meet a national need for access to nanotechnology, for training of the workforce that will develop the nanotechnology of the future, and for education and outreach that engages and informs students and teachers from kindergarten to graduate school, industrial users and the general public.
MONT helps meet the growing need faced by regional and national researchers for access to nanofabrication tools and processes at the interdisciplinary frontiers, with local expertise related to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS), microfluidics, nanostructured materials with unique optical, mechanical or thermal properties, ceramic materials, bio-inspired and bio-derived nanostructures, and bacteria or bacterial biofilms incorporated into micro- or nano-engineered substrates. he goals of the MONT site are: (i) to increase the number of external users served; (ii) to increase the collective research output of MONT users; (iii) to enhance the MONT site's capabilities in the areas of its research strengths through heavily leveraged capital investment; and (iv) to create best-in-class educational opportunities for facility users, STEM educators and the general public. These goals are accomplished through specific initiatives that will add laboratory personnel to enhance training, assistance and advocacy for external users, establish a user grant program for external users to help address costs of facility use as well as local housing, invest in new tools and capabilities, and expand both on-site and web-based instructional and outreach activities related to nano-fabrication, nano-characterization and the ethics and societal impacts of nanotechnology. The project specifically improves access to nanotechnology infrastructure in the northern Rockies/Great Plains region, and it promotes discovery, education and outreach in emerging fields where nanotechnology is impacting the life sciences, health care, energy, the environment, and a number of important technology sectors.
