Stephen J. Fonash - US grants

9411842 Tittmann The Research Equipment Grant will make it possible for the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Pennsylvania State University to purchase Atomic Force Microscopy equipment which will be dedicated to the formation of an Engineering Nano Characterization (ENC) Center to support research and education in engineering. The equipment will be used for various research projects including; characterization of thermo-mechanical damage in gas turbine materials, in-situ evaluation of surface corrosion on A1 and Mg alloys, optimization of surface engineering and coating technology, surface diagnostics for nanofabrication of Micro Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMS) and characterization of grain boundary microstructure in semi solid A1 alloys for metal working. The ENC Center will be used by faculty and graduate students for research and for laboratory education of both undergraduate and graduate students in NDE and Failure Analysis Prevention courses. An estimated 30 students and 10 faculty per year will use the ENC Center Facilities. ***

0090393
Wormley

This award is to The Pennsylvania State University to support the activity described below for 24 months. The proposal was submitted in response to the Partnerships for Innovation Program Solicitation (NSF 0082).

Partners
The partners for this award include the Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology Partnership, which includes the Pennsylvania State University, industry in Pennsylvania, 14 Community Colleges, and several public school districts.

Proposed Activities
The activities for this award include formation of an associates degree to train associate degree workforce in nanotechnology, biology, and medicine for the biomedical industry; assessment of the needs of industry for their workforce; curriculum development; research for industry.

Proposed Innovation
The innovation goals for the program include training a well-qualified workforce for the emerging nanotechnology field (biological and medically related). The range of academe involved goes from high school to community colleges to the Pennsylvania State University. The proposed effort should stimulate economic activity in the private sector creating jobs and economic well being in the state.

Potential Economic Impact
The potential economic outcomes include a trained workforce to attract and enable biotech industry; research infusion to provide technical assistance to new and emerging companies; state-of-the-art facilities for research and education.

Potential Societal Impact
The potential benefits to society include creation of new high tech jobs for all levels and all classes of people in the state and general economic well being in the state in emerging biotechnology and biomedical fields.

The Regional Center has resulted in associate degree programs in nanofabrication at 20 institutions across Pennsylvania including every Pennsylvania community college. To provide opportunities for associate degree graduates, the Center has supported baccalaureate-level nanotechnology programs at eight Pennsylvania public universities including Penn State, with articulated 2+2 pathways. The Center also offers professional development programs for educators and industry personnel, and outreach programs for secondary school students. Key features of the Center are its broad approach to education in all nanotechnology application areas, and its emphasis on the hands-on laboratory experience provided at the Penn State site of the NSF sponsored National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network (NNIN).

Evaluation and oversight of Center programs and activities have taken place continuously during the four years of operation. External evaluators including the Western Michigan University and the Center's formal evaluator, Professor Melvin M. Mark, as well as Center staff, have assessed the Center. The NSF National Visiting Committee and a separate industrial advisory board also provide oversight and guidance for the Center. Activities for the renewal period are based on findings from these evaluations and oversight bodies. The activities are:

Curriculum Improvement: Because of the Center's broad approach, nanotechnology is being incorporated into a widening range of degree programs at Center partner institutions, including biology, chemistry, physics, and industrial technology. The Center is continuously updating nanofabrication curricula to accommodate students from increasingly diverse fields.

Development of New Learning Tools: As nanotechnology permeates more areas of education and industry and thereby generates more interest, the limits of the Center's "centralized facility" model are becoming apparent. To augment this model, the Center is developing, piloting, and refining hands-on nanotechnology learning activities and instructional materials that can be delivered in classrooms across the state, incorporating web-based remote equipment access.

Outreach and Student Recruitment: Outreach to female and disadvantaged minority communities is ongoing. The Center website is continuously maintained and upgraded, and additional promotional videos are being produced and disseminated. The Center's outreach programs reach large numbers of female and minority secondary students. These students are encouraged toward a goal of increased matriculation into associate degree programs.

Industry Outreach: The Center is expanding efforts to identify Pennsylvania companies using nanotechnology and promote Center students as potential workers for these companies. Further, the Center is undertaking a research effort to improve understanding of employment trends and emerging job opportunities in nanotechnology, and using this information to support outreach and student recruitment efforts.

The intellectual merit of this renewal proposal lies in its potential to contribute to improved understanding in a number of education-related issue areas such as higher education collaboration, student participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, educator professional development, and others. The proposal will have broad impact because it further develops a proven program addressing the growing need for nanofabrication workers.

This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 01-157, category NIRT. The Penn State team proposes a new nanomanufacturing technology that utilizes carefully designed nanoreactor systems to align, bond, and assemble oriented nanomaterials as they are produced, rather than trying to manipulate them afterwards. This approach to manufacturing with nanoscale control is based on the combined use of (1) nano-fabricated chemical reactors and (2) nanoscale material assemblers. An integral part of this approach will be the use of high resolution probes to guide, test, and confirm the product and structure development. With the attainment of controlled alignment, nanomaterials with novel properties and functions can be assembled into usable materials that will play a critical role in advancing future technologies. These include wires, tapes, sheets, composites, and circuits with tailored characteristics. The production of these materials requires innovative architectural methods to position, stitch, weave, coil, or connect nanomaterials with precise control of alignment, composition, and phase on the nanoscale. The principal tasks to be carried out during this NIRT grant period are as follows: (a) fabrication of integrated nanochannel reactor/processing systems that perform polymerization, transport, alignment, and assembly, (b) production of aligned composite polymer fibers, tapes, and bundles using initiator-based polymerization reactor systems, (c) production of polymeric nanofibers and hollow tubes using anchored-catalyst systems, and (d) conversion of oriented polyacetylene nanomaterials into carbon tubes, conducting wires, and electronic devices.

To realize the full potential of nanoscience, nanostructured materials must be produced in requisite quantities with reproducible orientations, dimensions and properties by cost effective means. They must be produced in a manner conducive to them being further manufactured into usable, macroscale materials. Although the pace of nanoscientific discoveries continues to increase, nanomaterials process and manufacturing engineering - a key enabling science - have received little attention. If this situation persists, nanoscience will remain a laboratory curiosity and will not be transferred into a real technology benefiting society. To address this problem, the Penn State team will try to develop nanomanufacturing methodologies that can quickly be converted to mass-production technologies. The realization of this approach will lead to mass production of ordered polymeric nano-composite materials that cannot be made in any other way, and fast, reproducible fabrication of nano-electronics devices. Cross-training of students in the diverse fields required to carry out this research will expand our nation's future capabilities in nano-science and engineering.

Attention to the development of interdisciplinary education programs that engage the interest of students of all ages, but especially at the undergraduate level, is critical to ensure leadership in the area of nanotechnology. The NSF Workshop on Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education is jointly supported by the Division of Chemistry and the Division of Materials Research in the Directorate of Mathematics and Physical Science, and the Directorate of Engineering. The workshop focuses on new examples of introductory undergraduate courses that are presented through the development of text, software, laboratory and demonstration experiments, and web-based resources; the development and dissemination of new teaching modules for nanoscale science and engineering that can be used in existing undergraduate courses; and the incorporation of undergraduate research opportunities based on nanoscale science and engineering into the curriculum at any level, particularly during first and second year studies. The workshop will involve participants from various scientific disciplines involved in nanotechnology and from all levels of undergraduate education to present and discuss ways to enhance the education and training of undergraduate students.

In addition, the workshop is driven for the demand for nanotechnology workers in at least three industrial sectors. First are the established industries that traditionally use micro- and nanotechnology, such as microelectronics, information storage, optoelectronics, and others. Second are the industries that have been newly created by this technology, among which are the micro-electromechanical industries and the emerging nanobiotechnology and nanoelectronics start-ups. The third driving sector is composed of the major industries that have never used this technology but are now actively embracing it. Among these are giants such as the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The emergence of nanobiotechnology, the application of the tools and processes developed for micro and nanofabrication to create devices to explore biology, may have a greater impact than has already been realized in the electronics industry. In addition to these product-producing industry sectors, there is a growing workforce demand coming from micro- and nanotechnology research centers housed in industry, universities, and national laboratories that are advancing understanding of this new field of science and engineering.

The workshop will also discuss the need for outreach activities to promote nanotechnology education and career opportunities at the K-12 level, and to provide professional development opportunities in nanotechnology for educators at all levels, including pre-service teachers. Meeting the need for a skilled nanotechnology workforce will thus require that larger numbers of K-12 students in general pursue science, mathematics, engineering and technology education, especially students from traditionally underrepresented groups.

AST-0138235
Ge, Jian

Silicon immersion gratings for astronomical applications in the infrared for wavelengths between 1 and 10-microns will be developed for telescope projects requiring spectral resolutions between 1,000 and 100,000. Immersing the grating in Silicon, which as an index of refraction of 3.4 in the infrared will enable much higher solid-angle throughput or etendu than is now possible for an instrument of smaller volume and mass. Spectrographs used on telescopes must be moved during the observations; either swinging through the sky at a Cassegrain or equivalent focus or rotating at a Nysmyth platform (to compensate for rotating field during exposure). Large heavy instruments present serious engineering challenges for cryogenic operation. Use of silicon immersion gratings will enable lighter-weight higher-performance instruments for cutting edge scientific research. The first astronomical observations will be on the Lick 3-meter telescope.
***

This Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) program entitled, "Creating Baccalaureate Level Nanotechnology Minors with Pathways From Existing Associate Degree Programs in Nanofabrication," at Pennsylvania State University, under the direction of Dr. Stephen J. Fonash, is jointly funded by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Electrical and Communications Systems (ECS) and Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). The project will build upon the Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) Partnership initiated in 1998 by the state of Pennsylvania. The objective of this program is create baccalaureate degree pathways for students holding community college associate degrees in nanofabrication and to give PSU undergraduate students the opportunity to fashion nanotechnology minors or concentrations in their last two years. An integrated effort is proposed to develop laboratory-intensive, upper division undergraduate courses to support options, minors, or concentrations in nanotechnology within existing baccalaureate degree programs at PSU and other baccalaureate degree granting institutions participating in the NMT Partnership. This effort will be achieved by engaging faculty members and administrators within PSU and other institutions in a process for joint development of upper division NUE courses; jointly design upper level undergraduate nanotechnolgoy courses with significant hands-on laboratory components to be offered within PSU and by other participating institutions; and create a "two-plus-three" bacalaureate degree program through which qualified gradutes of community college associated degree programs in nanofabrication can complete a Penn State B.S. in engineering with a minor in nanotechnology in three years.

Over the past decade, microfabrication has been combined with nanofabrication, and it is estimated that the United States will need between 800,000 and 1 million new nanofabrication workers in the next 10 years. Several industry sectors are driving this workforce need. First are the established industries that traditionally use micro- and nanotechnology, such as microelectronics, information storage, optoelectronics, and others. Second are industries that have been newly created by this technology, such the MEMS, NEMs, nanobiotechnology, and nanoelectronics start-ups. A third driving sector is composed of existing major industries that previously have never used micro- and nanotechnology but are now actively embracing it. Among these are giants such as the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and even more traditional industries like clay and glass.

Employees with skills in micro- and nanofabrication are needed at all levels. At the more advanced levels (engineers and above), workers are needed with specialized skills. At the technician level, however, where the majority of new nanofabrication jobs will be, a generic skill set is needed. The skill set needed at the technician level is identical for companies using micro- and nanotechnology whether they are producing electronic, electromechanical, biological, chemical, or any other kind of system. With this single skill set approach, students are given a background that allows them to move back and forth across industry sectors, as micro- and nanotechnology evolves and new opportunities arise. By educating students across the broad spectrum of nanofabrication applications, we develop a workforce that is more versatile and less vulnerable to the business cycles of specific industries.

Curriculum addressing the generic skill set needed for technician-level micro- and nanofabrication workers has already been developed and is being continuously improved by the existing NSF Regional Center for Manufacturing Education in Nanofabrication. This hands-on curriculum leverages the Penn State site of the NSF NNUN to support the nation's first associate degree programs in nanofabrication offered at community colleges and other institutions across Pennsylvania, as well as professional development workshops for educators and industry personnel, and summer chip camps for secondary schools students.

The purpose of this planning project is to explore the feasibility of leveraging the existing NSF Regional Center for Manufacturing Education in Nanofabrication and other programs and resources to establish a national ATE center for micro-and nanofabrication duration. The project is identifying and engaging industry partners, educational institutions and resources, and micro- and nanofabrication user facilities interested in such a national effort, identifying best practice alternatives to the centralized facility approach to nanofabrication technician education, and assessing the feasibility of one, unifying national center addressing micro- and nanofabrication skills.

PROJECT SUMMARY
To meet the expanding need for nanotechnology workers, new nanotechnology education
programs, courses, and course modules must be developed and delivered to students at all
levels. There is a particular need for secondary science teachers to receive hands-on
nanotechnology training and research experience so that they are equipped to incorporate
nanotechnology principles and concepts into science curriculum. This proposed
Research Experience for Teachers (RET) project will provide a three-day hands-
nanotechnology training and research experience to 20 high school science teachers from
Virginia at the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility during late March or early April 2003.
This project will build upon prior investments by the state of Pennsylvania and the NSF
in nanotechnology education in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania NMT (Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology) Partnership was
initiated in 1998 by the state of Pennsylvania. It involves more than 30 colleges and
universities, secondary schools including vocational-technical schools, and private
industry. The NMT Partnership leverages the $26 million Penn State Nanofabrication
Facility, part of the NSF National Nanofabrication Users Network (NNUN), to provide
semester-long, hands-on nanofabrication education to students enrolled in associate
degree programs in nanofabrication at community colleges and other institutions across
Pennsylvania. The NMT Partnership also provides professional development workshops
for educators and industry personnel, and summer iunano campsln secondary school
students. The NMT Partnership is also a NSF Advanced Technology Education Center.
The NMT Partnership first began offering professional development workshops for
educators at the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility in 1999. To date, 169 educators and
industry personnel have attended these workshops. This proposed project builds upon
and expands the components of the Pennsylvania NMT Partnership associated with
professional development of educators, and will take the NMT Partnership beyond the
boundaries of Pennsylvania through an alliance with the Initiative for Nanotechnology in
Virginia (INanoVA). INanoVA is a statewide initiative involving higher education,
national laboraties, state and local education and economic development organization,
and private industry. INanoVA aims to promote collaborative nanotechnology research,
commercialization, and workforce education. The University of Virginia provides
leadership for InanoVA.
The University of Virginia will coordinate recruitment of 20 secondary science teachers
from Virginia for the proposed RET workshop, ensuring balanced geographic
representation across the state. Penn State will deliver the three-day nanotechnology
training and research experience at the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility. The project
will be managed by Penn State. The project has clear intellectual merit, as evidenced by
the role of the PI in leading the Penn State site of the NSF NNUN, the NSF Center for
Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education, the September 11-12, 2002 NSF Workshop
on Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE), and other nanotechnology research
and education activities. The project is expected to have broad impact on the science and
engineering workforce of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the nation.

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) award provides funding for the exploration of a new approach towards manufacturing of ordered nano structures. The Step-Place-Grow Assembly approach will utilize a reusable template to create nano stuctures that can be either totally grown in place, or assembled in place from previously made nano-powders, tubes, wires, rods, and fibers. Initial work will focus on growing polyanline nano-wires with height and width dimensions of less than 100 nm. Polymer nano-wires are of considerable interest for electronics and sensor applications and the process offers the ability to create contacted nano-wires for these applications in a single integrated step. Issues such as template materials release from the grown structure and precise filling of the nano channels prior to growth will be further addressed here building on our experience with polyaniline. Manufacturing issues related to large volume production such as working across large area substrates, applicability to multi-level structures, and dealing with manufacturing variation and non uniformity will be explored. Additionally manufacturing issues such as process parameters and control to address process variability, repeatable quality and process yields will be explored.

If successful, the Step-Place-Grow Assembly approach has the potential to be a viable and economical production process due to the following: the elimination of pick and place, elimination of the need for the repeated building and etching removal of templates, short process chain, applicability to wide range of materials, applicability to large areas, control of nano-structure containment, and potential to build large arrays of structures of dissimilar materials and disconnected regions. Additionally, this approach is environmentally conscious since it offers an pathway to the building of structures involving nanoparticles and nanowires, in which the nano-elements are contained and made only in the required number, while using shorter process chains. The approach also provides a generalized solution to the problem of positioning nano elements.

This project for a National ATE Center for Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge (NACK) builds upon the current Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education. The Regional Center was established in 2001 and is dedicated to meeting Pennsylvania industry needs for skilled technician level workers across the full range of micro- and nanofabrication applications. The Pennsylvania Regional Center has pioneered methods for delivering nanotechnology educational experiences to community and technical college students anywhere in the nation. In 2006 the Regional Center established a teaching cleanroom in order to analyze the costs and capabilities of such a facility. As a result, the costs are well understood, and curriculum for use in such a facility has been developed. The teaching cleanroom site model is available for transfer to other regions of the country.

There is clear evidence of strong and growing demand for workers with micro- and nanofabrication skills. Virtually all of the graduates of existing associate degree micro- and nanofabrication programs who are not pursuing further education are employed by micro- and nanotechnology companies. Numerous recent U.S. regional and international studies document strong demand for these workers.

The Penn State Regional Center has assisted 30 Pennsylvania institutions to develop nanotechnology education programs and has also been a source of assistance to community and technical colleges, universities, and other partners across the nation seeking to establish nanotechnology education programs. Since 2005, the Regional Center has assisted more than 100 community colleges in other states with program development efforts. Micro- and nanotechnology education programs are now beginning to proliferate at community and technical colleges across the nation.

In late 2006, leaders of the Pennsylvania Regional Center began consulting with counterpart leaders of micro- and nanofabrication education efforts taking place across the country with regard to the planned NACK Center proposal. Based on these discussions, the core mission of the proposed NACK Center is to provide national coordination and dissemination of micro- and nanofabrication workforce development programs and activities. Ten complementary and essential activities have been identified to be undertaken by the NACK Center to achieve this mission.

The intellectual merit of the NACK Center is imbedded in the hands-on experience with advanced nanofabrication and characterization equipment that community and technical college students receive, and in the curriculum which incorporates advanced nanoscale science and engineering research underway at partner research intensive universities. Profound broad impacts are expected from NACK Center on the quality and diversity of the nation's science and engineering workforce, and on the global competitiveness of U.S. industry.

The management plan for the NACK Center is modeled on the structure of the successful Pennsylvania Regional Center. The NACK Center is managed by the Principal Investigator and the Co-Principal Investigators with guidance from eight oversight committees addressing all major activities of the Center. Each oversight committee is chaired by a representative of a community or technical college, giving these institutions clear roles in the management of the Center.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)


This Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) project--a Type III: (C: A) partnership between Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg (PSH), an institution new to the PFI Program (defined as one that has never been a PFI grantee) and Pennsylvania State University-University Park (PSUP), an NSF PFI graduate (0090393) seeks to overcome the industry/university cultural chasm by forging new partnerships for innovation between universities and businesses in South Central Pennsylvania. Newly formed partnerships will advance innovative technologies as a result of breadth and depth of expertise, sharing of intellectual and physical resources, and rigorous internal and external evaluation procedures. The project builds on prior knowledge about partnerships for innovation from relevant research literature and in lessons learned from the efforts of the PSUP graduated PFI. The proposed model is based on the literature on links between innovation and technology-based economic development for the types of institutions involved. The project goals are based on a three-phase approach of awareness, skill training, and implementation presented. The project will advance discovery via teaching and training in the region, in multiple, targeted business sectors and related academic disciplines.

The broader impacts of the project include removing regional industry/university collaboration barriers; outreach to thousands of faculty and tens of thousands of students, multiple dissemination strategies; and broad participation by smaller academic institutions, small businesses, and underrepresented groups.

Partners at the inception of the project are Academic Institutions: Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg (PSH) (lead institution), Pennsylvania State University-University Park (PSUP), Dickinson College, Franklin and Marshall College, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Elizabethtown College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Messiah College, Millersville University, and Shippensburg University; Private Sector Partners: Gannett Fleming, Mission Research, Die Tech, Keystone BioFuels, Material Sensing and Instrumentation; and Economic Development Partners: Lancaster Keystone Innovation Zone, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, Ben Franklin Venture Investment Forum, Capital Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC), Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central PA, Technology Council of Central PA/Tech Quest, Innovation Transfer Network (ITN).

The National ATE Center for Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge (NACK) is creating the "NACK Network", a designation that reflects the philosophy, structure, and operation to be developed across the U.S. The objectives are enhanced national coordination and dissemination of micro-nanofabrication workforce educational resources, programs, and activities, and enhanced growth of the US nanotechnology workforce. The methods to be employed include pressing forward the NACK approaches of (1) resource sharing among community colleges as well as among community colleges and research universities; (2) providing course materials that deliver a core set of industry-recommended nanotechnology skills; (3) stressing broad student preparation for careers in any industry utilizing micro- or nanotechnology; and (4) developing economically viable, quality nanotechnology education across the U.S. NACK Network methods also include further expansion of its alliance of community college/university and community college/community college resource-sharing hubs, including the addition of virtual hubs.

To support this network and all U.S. community college nanotechnology education efforts, the Network offers up-dated and free-of-charge core skills course lecture and lab materials, recruiting materials, retention and completion approaches, web-accessible equipment capability, and faculty development workshop curricula at its web site www.nano4me.org. In addition the NACK Network is developing and disseminating an assessment rubric for its core skill course lecture and lab materials, and continues to work with industry to have its core skills institutionalized into industry standards. The NACK Network continues to offer its well-received faculty development workshops and is further expanding its dissemination methodologies at www.nano4me.org with enhanced functionality and the further enhancement of social networking tools. Recruitment, retention, and education completion are key NACK Network-wide endeavors and include new tasks addressing these issues as they impact veterans, Hispanics, African-Americans, and women.

Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of NACK's activities lies in their addressing, researching, experimenting with, and evaluating effective-practice approaches for (1) motivating students from across the U.S. social and geographic spectrum to consider careers in nanotechnology; (2) enhancing student retention, completion, and future career opportunities; (3) defining and evolving a model nanotechnology workforce education program, and (4) helping to develop economically sustainable nanotechnology workforce programs in colleges. Based on positive feedback on the intellectual content of its products and services, the continuation has a clear vision of what the community values and needs.

Broader Impacts: The NACK Network materials, practices and services are having a broad impact across the US. Their ready-availability at www.nano4me.org is strengthening secondary and community college education, in particular, and STEM education, in general. NACK workshops bring faculty and administrators together from across the country and have resulted in a better national understanding of nanotechnology education demands and requirements, approaches, resources, and sustainability issues. In addition, NACK's partnering/resource-sharing approach is a model for all aspects of science and technology education. The NACK Network establishes a nation-wide experiential basis for effective, working, community college/community college and community college/research university resource sharing relationships.

In their totality, the intellectual merit and broad impact of the NACK Network activities are profoundly important to the nation's nanotechnology workforce, and to the global competitiveness of U.S. industry.