Quantcast

Nw Louisiana News

Monday, November 25, 2024

IEEE Nanotechnology Council student chapter uses innovation grant to promote STEM

B5

The Louisiana Tech University  student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers  Nanotechnology Council (IEEE NTC) earned an innovation grant that  provided the opportunity to offer outstanding student engagement and  community outreach throughout the 2021-22 academic year.

 

The organization coordinated industry talks, research seminars, student  research experience talks, study sessions, and socials, and  participated in College-wide outreach.

The talks, which were open to all Louisiana Tech students, faculty,  and staff, featured speakers at different points in their careers.  Internationally recognized distinguished speakers, semiconductor  industry professionals, biological and biomedical engineering  researchers, and students who completed research experiences for  undergraduates shared their nanotechnology experiences with attendees.

The organization has encouraged student engagement through activities  like a “Meet and Greet” event where first-year students could meet and  socialize with other Nanosystems Engineering students.  The IEEE NTC  also participated in organization browses around Tech’s campus,  GumboFest, Tech or Treat, and the Big Event. The Council showed high  school students how to make nano ice cream during the 2022 Engineering  and Science Day at Louisiana Tech in its latest community outreach  success.

The organization also hosts quarterly movie study nights during which students watch movies that showcase nanotechnology, like Ant Man, Ant Man 2, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids, to destress while studying for finals.

Council President and Nanosystems Engineering junior Gabriel Peterman  says that since nanotechnology is interdisciplinary, students from  majors throughout Louisiana Tech, especially those in the Colleges of  Engineering and Science and Applied and Natural Sciences, may find  membership in the organization helpful in understanding facets of their  own majors.

“The Nanotechnology Council opened my eyes to the applications of  nanotechnology. As a freshman, I didn’t understand how broad the usage  of nanotech is, and through the organization, I learned about  nanotechnology and its extensive range of applications across many  fields, including biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as applied  engineering disciplines. Students who join will learn how small  molecules work within the human body, electronics, and technology.”

“The IEEE is the world’s largest professional organization and is  organized in regions and sections,” Dr. Sandra Zivanovic, program chair  of Nanosystems Engineering, professor of Electrical Engineering and  Nanosystems Engineering, and faculty advisor for the Louisiana Tech IEEE  NTC, says. “Our IEEE NTC student chapter belongs to the IEEE Shreveport  section of Region 5 (which is composed of mostly southern and central  states in the US). Gabriel has been such an awesome IEEE NTC student  chapter chair (president) this school year, working relentlessly to  organize interesting and enriching activities and promote our IEEE NTC  student chapter so that even the current IEEE NTC chair of all the  chapters and regional interest groups, Prof. Lan Fu, recognized our  chapter as a very active one nationwide and internationally.”

“Dr. Zivanovic has been extremely helpful in organizing the council  events, helping us facilitate outreach, and making us aware of  opportunities to share nanotechnology and STEM (science, technology,  engineering, and mathematics) projects with the public,” Peterman added.

Using the Innovation Grant, members of the Nanotechnology Council  will take a field trip to Austin to tour nanotechnology companies this  summer. The council plans to tour the Canon company and some businesses  within the biomedical industry to see nanotechnology applications and  see what industries are like for students who want to study atomic,  molecular, and supramolecular scale parts to create medical and  electronic products.

The council organized a similar field trip to Richards, Texas, in  2019 to visit Intelligent Epitaxy Technology, Inc., Zyvex Labs,  Photodigm, Southern Methodist University’s Electrical Engineering  Department cleanroom and grating laboratory, and University of Texas –  Dallas’s Department of Material Science and Engineering.

The organization, which elected new officers May 5, is working on  plans to continue the established events and bring in more speakers and  social events in the fall.

“Our plan for this upcoming year is to provide more  nanotechnology-themed educational activities for the University and to  spread better awareness of the ever-growing field of Nanotechnology,”  incoming council president Timothy Searcy (nanosystems engineering  student from Greenbrier, Tennessee) said.

Other newly elected council officers are Peterman, who will serve as  vice president; Ethan Rachal (electrical engineering student from  Alexandria), who will serve as secretary; Jonathan Tairov (nanosystems  engineering student from Walker), who will serve as treasurer; Jacob  Roberts (nanosystems engineering student from Farmerville), who will  serve as social chair, and Brandon Hubbs (nanosystems engineering  student from Baton Rouge), who will be the 2022-23 graduate advisor for  the club.

The Nanotechnology Council is open to anyone from Louisiana Tech  interested in advancing medicine, electronics, energy, and manufacturing  using atomic and near atomic-scale materials. The organization  currently includes biology majors and nanosystems engineering and  chemical engineering majors.

Learn more about the Nanotechnology Council or the Nanosystems Engineering program at Louisiana Tech, or contact Gabriel Peterman to become a member of the Nanotechnology Council.

Original source can be found here.

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS