Large freshman class probes nanotech world of the very, very small

By Briana Collins '03

When Emmanuel Giannelis asked junior and senior engineering students two years ago what they thought would be a good topic for a freshman introductory course, he never expected their suggestion to be such a huge hit.

"I didn't expect this turnout," said Giannelis, the Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering. "I thought it would be 50 people, and I would have been very happy if it was 80."

Emmanuel Giannelis, right, professor of materials science and engineering, lectures to his popular freshman introductory course, Engineering 111: Nanotechnology, in B11 Kimball Hall, Oct. 25. Charles Harrington/University Photography

Giannelis could not have been more wrong. This semester his Engineering 111: Nanotechnology class is filled to capacity, with 170 students.

The freshman engineering course in nanotechnology began in 2001 as a basic-level introductory course to teach the science and engineering of manipulating materials and devices at the nano scale (a nanometer is the width of three silicon atoms, or about one-thousandth the width of a hair).

Why nanotechnology? "Nanotechnology is the only field of study that is relatively new compared to other advances in technology ... it is the fastest growing field in the field of engineering," said class member Ajay Vasudevan, an electrical and computer engineering major.

Indeed, students who only a few months ago were in high school are now learning about such state-of-the-art subjects as photonics, magnetics, nanoprobes and nanobiotechnology.

But these topics are not the only incentives for students to enroll. "The part that is most interesting about the class, believe it or not, is the professor," said Vasudevan. "His sense of humor keeps me awake and attentive."

Giannelis also keeps up the tempo by regularly inviting guest lecturers to speak about the evolution of their specialized fields into the nano world. One recent guest, Karen Downey, a graduate student in materials science and engineering (MSE), spoke to the class about nanomagnetics, a technology that one day will make possible the shrinking of the entire contents of the Library of Congress into a storage device the size of a sugar cube. Another guest, Alison Shull, lecturer in MSE, discussed her experience in transforming the telecom industry using new photonics technology.

Giannelis' students also quickly discover that nanotechnology opens the doors to many other possibilities. Building upon one atom at a time, for example, scientists can combine properties to make devices that are minuscule but with high storage densities and are strong, yet lightweight.

Nano devices can be both economically and environmentally beneficial, the students learn. As one example, car bodies and components of the future might be created from lightweight materials called nanocomposites that could be economically and environmentally beneficial because the vehicles would use less gasoline, thus lowering pollution levels. Another example suggested by Giannelis is the creation of flame-resistant materials that could be used to build airplanes and automobiles.

In fact, both ethical and moral questions about this technology of the future have surfaced. (Would inserting tiny robots into the human body as therapeutic agents interfere with genes?) But in his class, Giannelis emphasizes the importance of using nanotechnology to improve society. "Any technology can be used and abused," he said. "I don't think that nanotechnology is any different from that. I think society needs to use it to its advantage."

The final project for the students in the nanotech class is a group presentation of varied topics, including nanophotonics, nanostructures/devices, nanomedicine and nanoelectronics.

"I always like a class to be hands on," said Giannelis. He said he hopes that group projects will help students get a closer, more intimate look at how technology in each topic has evolved, what the future limits are, how the technology could be used and the impact this use could have on society.

"This is a topic that has permeated society," noted Giannelis. And with Engineering 111, it looks like it also has permeated the freshman engineering curriculum.