The interdisciplinary program in nanotechnology is open to all students, although it is geared towards students in engineering and science fields who seek specialization in the science and technology of processes, systems, and phenomena that occur at the nanometer size scale. The significant disciplinary overlap of these topics and issues makes it important for students studying these specialized areas to gain an interdisciplinary perspective, which can be used to complement theirknowledge and skills in their major field of study.
The objective of the interdisciplinary nanotechnology minor is to provide students with skills and experiences that will help them better apply the knowledge gained in their majors to specialized problems in science and engineering, whose roots are found at the nanometer scale.
Nanotechnology serves as an intellectual nexus between many fields of science and engineering, and therefore makes an ideal common ground for interdisciplinary work. To work effectively in these specialized areas, students will develop interdisciplinary perspectives by satisfying the required distribution of courses for this minor.
Students are required to design a plan of study for this minor (i.e., their selection of courses satisfying the above requirements) and submit the plan for approval by an advisor from their major program, and the nanotechnology minor program. This plan of study is designed to help ensure that students receive appropriate advising, and therefore must be approved at least two semesters prior to graduation.
The coursework requirements for the nanotechnology minor are as follows:
A minimum of 18 credits of coursework from the below list must be completed. Substitutions for courses on this list (example: a similar Special Topics course) must be approved by the chair of the Nanotechnology minor program.
Of the 18 credits, a minimum of 9 credits must be in upper-division courses, and approved by the chair of the Nanotechnology minor program.
A minimum of 6 credits must be taken from outside the student's major's course offerings. Example: for a physics student, a minimum of 6 credits must be in courses other than PHYS courses.
A maximum of 6 credits may be included from the student’s major’s explicitly named (required) course list. This maximum does not apply to electives, as they are not explicitly named.
Elective courses (not explicitly named on the major’s course list) may be used to simultaneously satisfy the major and minor requirements.
A minimum of one course must be taken from the following grouping on Properties & Characterization: MSE 415, MSE 416, MSE 433, PHYS 423, PHYS 461.
A minimum of one course must be taken from the following grouping on Synthesis, Processing, and Fabrication: CHE 406, CHE 415, CHE 440, EE 423, MSE 430, and MSE 440.
Eligible Courses for Nanotechnology Minor:
- BME 401 - Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
- CHE 373 - Transport Phenomena I
- CHE 374 - Transport Phenomena II
- CHE 406 - Introduction to Polymer Science and Engineering
- CHE 415 - Introduction to Particle Technology
- CHE 416 - Molecular Simulation
- CHE 440 - Chemical Reactor Design
- CHEM 341 - Organic Chemistry for Scientists and Professionals I
- CHEM 342 - Organic Chemistry for Scientists and Professionals II
- CHEM 421 - Physical Chemistry I
- CHEM 422 - Physical Chemistry II
- EE 423 - Integrated Circuit Engineering
- MSE 175 - Nano and Micro Technology: On the Frontiers of Science
- MSE 250 - Elements of Material Science**
- MSE 415 - Materials Characterization
- MSE 416 - X-Ray Diffraction
- MSE 430 - Phase Transformations and Kinetics
- MSE 433 - Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Properties of Materials
- MSE 440 - Nanomaterials Synthesis
- PHYS 182 - Physics for Scientists and Engineers III
- PHYS 182L - Physics for Scientists and Engineers Laboratory III
- PHYS 421R - Quantum Mechanics
- PHYS 422R - Applications of Quantum Mechanics
- PHYS 423 - Advanced Physics Laboratory
- PHYS 425 - Thermal and Statistical Physics
- PHYS 426 - Physics of Solids
- PHYS 427 - Plasma Physics
- PHYS 461 - Modern Optics and Photonics
** MSE 250 is a prerequisite for most of the other MSE courses