Post by title1parent on Feb 4, 2009 6:17:02 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1411906,2_1_AU04_NANOTECH_S1.article
Nanotechnology: Growing interest in small matters
February 4, 2009
By LINDA GIRARDI For The Beacon News
ST. CHARLES -- Biology teacher Ryan Conboy had no idea how the Internet would change his life when he sent his first e-mail as a teenager out of high school.
"The Internet revolution was happening right under my nose and I had no idea. I questioned why my school did not let me know it was coming," the St. Charles East High School teacher said.
Conboy and physics teacher Carole Neville believe another breakthrough is around the corner that their students should know about -- nanotechnology.
Scientists in the field are exploring how materials dropped to scales of a billionth of a meter can change properties. They say that when material is broken down to such a small size, even the simplest, best-known materials can take on surprising new properties. Strength, adhesion and absorption can all be multiplied many times over at the right nanoscale.
Conboy and Neville invited educators from the University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMM Center) to give an interactive presentation about the coming nanotechnology revolution.
Nanotechnology involves the manufacture of items using incredibly small particles -- at the atomic level -- with potential to revolutionize telecommunications, computers, biotechnology and medical treatment.
It is considered the next "disruptive technology" due to its potential to change how people live. Nanotechnology has been compared to the arrival of the first automobile.
The "in-house" field trips at the Norris Cultural Arts Center piqued the students' imaginations with such possibilities as being able to change the color of their car with a touch of a button or to have a cell phone that rolls out of a pen. Television sets could be replaced with a form of wallpaper to broadcast your favorite show, the presenters said.
"This is exciting because it is new and nobody really knows what can happen next," St. Charles East sophomore Ieva Astrauskaite said.
"I'll probably tell my friends that this is science on a really small (scale) that can change our everyday world."
Neville, who worked in the field of product development for 20 years as an electrical engineer before coming to the classroom, said "real moving research" is generally 10 years ahead of secondary education.
"This may inspire students to be more serious about what they are studying because they know it has such an exciting future. The kids are already talking about it in the halls," the teacher said.
Nanotechnology: Growing interest in small matters
February 4, 2009
By LINDA GIRARDI For The Beacon News
ST. CHARLES -- Biology teacher Ryan Conboy had no idea how the Internet would change his life when he sent his first e-mail as a teenager out of high school.
"The Internet revolution was happening right under my nose and I had no idea. I questioned why my school did not let me know it was coming," the St. Charles East High School teacher said.
Conboy and physics teacher Carole Neville believe another breakthrough is around the corner that their students should know about -- nanotechnology.
Scientists in the field are exploring how materials dropped to scales of a billionth of a meter can change properties. They say that when material is broken down to such a small size, even the simplest, best-known materials can take on surprising new properties. Strength, adhesion and absorption can all be multiplied many times over at the right nanoscale.
Conboy and Neville invited educators from the University of Illinois Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMM Center) to give an interactive presentation about the coming nanotechnology revolution.
Nanotechnology involves the manufacture of items using incredibly small particles -- at the atomic level -- with potential to revolutionize telecommunications, computers, biotechnology and medical treatment.
It is considered the next "disruptive technology" due to its potential to change how people live. Nanotechnology has been compared to the arrival of the first automobile.
The "in-house" field trips at the Norris Cultural Arts Center piqued the students' imaginations with such possibilities as being able to change the color of their car with a touch of a button or to have a cell phone that rolls out of a pen. Television sets could be replaced with a form of wallpaper to broadcast your favorite show, the presenters said.
"This is exciting because it is new and nobody really knows what can happen next," St. Charles East sophomore Ieva Astrauskaite said.
"I'll probably tell my friends that this is science on a really small (scale) that can change our everyday world."
Neville, who worked in the field of product development for 20 years as an electrical engineer before coming to the classroom, said "real moving research" is generally 10 years ahead of secondary education.
"This may inspire students to be more serious about what they are studying because they know it has such an exciting future. The kids are already talking about it in the halls," the teacher said.