The goal of this Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program at the University of New Mexico, entitled "NUE: An Integrated Multidisicplinary Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education Progarm at the University of New Mexico", under the direction of Dr. Zayd C. Leseman, is to educate undergraduate students at UNM about the history and current state of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NS&NT) via hands-on approaches in order to produce an informed citizenry and competitive work force for the 21st century. To achieve this goal four new courses will be developed and three new modules on nanotechnology will be introduced into existing courses. This project will institutionalize nanotechnology into UNM-SOE's curriculum by creating a concentration in this area.
Between the two UNM departments leading this effort, Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), more than 328 undergraduate students will be exposed to the NS&NT material including a significant number of Hispanic and Native Americans students. In addition, K-12 Shareable Content Objects (SCOs) will be developed and presented by the minority undergraduate students who constructed them and the co-PIs' will present components of the NS&NT material developed at 2 to 4 STEM Educator Workshops per year and show the participants how to adapt these into STEM high school courses. The co-PIs also plan to impact approximately 100 teachers over the course of this program who in turn will impact several hundred students at local/rural public schools and from New Mexico's Native American Reservations.
." First, the co-PIs aimed to create a Nano Science and Nano Technology (NS&NT) Program for undergraduate students at the University of New Mexico. Second, the co-PI’s proposed to institutionalize NS&NT into the UNM School of Engineering by creating certificate programs in the individual departments to be awarded upon completion of set of courses all at the undergraduate level. Finally, the co-PIs planned to fuse NS&NT education with research from the co-PIs NS&NT research with a special emphasis towards minority students. According to the external evaluations, attached at the end of this report, all goals were achieved. In order to achieve the first goal the co-PIs developed educational material centered on the theme of nanomaterials. The co-PIs developed nanomaterials modules and courses to this end. One example of the educational material that was developed is the ‘Atomic’ Straw Experiment shown in Fig. 1. A close packed array of drinking straws is compressed by a section of PVC pipe. As the straws are compressed features that mimic atomic movement of atoms is witnessed such as slip lines and dislocations. For the second goal, PI Leseman proposed a concentration in NS&NT to be issued by each department for students who have completed a pre-determined set of courses that cover NS&NT topics such as those being developed previously and currently by the co-PIs. The path to implementation began at each department’s undergraduate committee level with a proposal. The Mechanical Engineering Department’s proposal was approved by the department and by the dean’s office and is currently awaiting final authorization from UNM’s Faculty Senate. Electrical Computer Engineering’s concentration will be pursued during the 2014 calendar year. Goal three was to involve undergraduates in the co-PIs’ research laboratories and research. The co-PIs hired several undergraduate students leading to publications, which included the students’ names, on the publications. It is noteworthy to mention that more than ½ of the students come from underrepresented groups, specifically Hispanic, Native American, and females. A few examples of different projects that undergraduate students at UNM worked on are contained in Fig. 2. Each caption contains a brief description of the project that was undertaken.
