[labnetwork] Assistance Needed - Scholarship for students working towards careers in Nanotechnology

Tue Apr 16 18:05:58 EDT 2013

This a very good idea. Young students do not view semiconductor manufacturing as very glamorous until they start hunting for jobs. I agree that it should be aimed at engineering and science majors. Targeting juniors and seniors is a good idea in general but there are some programs like ours at RIT in Microelectronic Engineering that offer specific coursework in this area as soon as the sophomore year.

The amount of course work required will depend on the school and the number of courses offered to undergraduate students. Most schools are lucky to have one or two undergraduate fabrication courses and would then put other related (possibly non lab) courses together to create a four or five course minor. In the case of our BS degree offering we have seven lab-based specific microelectronic engineering courses, two senior design capstone courses and two electives that the student could devote this area of study. I look forward to the announcement of these scholarships.

Robert Pearson
Microelectronic Engineering Programs Director
Rochester Institute of Technology
robert.pearson at rit.edu<mailto:robert.pearson at rit.edu>
(585) 475-2923

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Gupta, Su
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 10:16 AM
To: Tom Britton; labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Cc: jim.blythe at criticalsystemsinc.com
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] Assistance Needed - Scholarship for students working towards careers in Nanotechnology

This sounds like a great idea.

1st questions revolve around who can receive the scholarship.   We'd like to target engineering undergrads that are showing intentions/interest in microelectronics (Nano, MEMS, Semiconductor, Solar PV).  Thinking of targeting Juniors and/or Seniors, since their coursework will reflect elective courses that move into any given area by the time they hit their Jr. year.

 *   Should this be open to engineering and math majors? I would say engineering and science majors

 *   Am I correct in that assumption?

 *   If I'm not correct in that assumption (i.e. - students who are starting their Junior year don't have electives under their belt), then would limiting this to Seniors be the most equitable thing to do? I think Juniors and Seniors would be best

Next question revolves around how to set up a coursework eligibility requirement.   I think something in this realm would be a good, objective means of showing true intent/interest in nanotechnology, microelectronics, etc.

*         Would X number of classroom and/or labwork hours under their belt towards a minor in one of these specialty fields be a fair requirement? Minors have to be set up through the College Dean, so a conversation could be started along those lines

*         If so, how many classroom and/or labwork hours should be required to qualify?   (Again, being mindful of diversity in programs.) I will need to check on that __ I will email the Dean

*         If a "number of hours" type of requirement would not be fair, what might be a suggested eligibility requirement that reflects classroom and or lab work? There are courses that are offered here in Micro-Nanofabrication and Thin film Processing that could be cobbled together to form an eligibility requirement - the minor sounds like the best idea - but it would have to be interdisciplinary here, since MTE, ECE and ChBE all offer multiple courses on this topic.

It might just be easier for me to have a 5 minute conversation with a couple of these folks instead of having them respond in writing.   I'm obviously open to both.

My contact information:

Dr. Su (Subhadra) Gupta
Professor, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
Director UA Microfabrication Facility
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
(205) 348-4272

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu<mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Tom Britton
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 5:34 PM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu<mailto:labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Cc: jim.blythe at criticalsystemsinc.com<mailto:jim.blythe at criticalsystemsinc.com>
Subject: [labnetwork] Assistance Needed - Scholarship for students working towards careers in Nanotechnology

Hello everyone. Can I request your assistance?

We will soon be offering a scholarship for students majoring in Nanotechnology/Microtechnology, and had a few questions regarding who we should target this scholarship towards, and how we should set it up so it goes to a student whose future career is in this industry. Any feedback/advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Below are the question to me from the person at our office who has been tasked with creating this scholarship. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Tom -
Here are my questions re: how to structure the scholarship from an eligibility standpoint.   If you could forward these questions to a couple of your colleagues, that would be most appreciated.  I want to make sure that we're setting this up properly.   Also, I need to keep it general enough to keep things fair, knowing that different programs will be structured differently...

1st questions revolve around who can receive the scholarship.   We'd like to target engineering undergrads that are showing intentions/interest in microelectronics (Nano, MEMS, Semiconductor, Solar PV).  Thinking of targeting Juniors and/or Seniors, since their coursework will reflect elective courses that move into any given area by the time they hit their Jr. year.

 *   Should this be open to engineering and math majors?

 *   Am I correct in that assumption?

 *   If I'm not correct in that assumption (i.e. - students who are starting their Junior year don't have electives under their belt), then would limiting this to Seniors be the most equitable thing to do?

Next question revolves around how to set up a coursework eligibility requirement.   I think something in this realm would be a good, objective means of showing true intent/interest in nanotechnology, microelectronics, etc.

*         Would X number of classroom and/or labwork hours under their belt towards a minor in one of these specialty fields be a fair requirement?

*         If so, how many classroom and/or labwork hours should be required to qualify?   (Again, being mindful of diversity in programs.)

*         If a "number of hours" type of requirement would not be fair, what might be a suggested eligibility requirement that reflects classroom and or lab work?

It might just be easier for me to have a 5 minute conversation with a couple of these folks instead of having them respond in writing.   I'm obviously open to both.

Thanks for passing this along, Tom.

Jim Blythe
208.639.0459 (office)
208.921.0409 (cell)

I appreciate all of your input! Thank you!

Tom Britton
Sales Manager
Critical Systems, Inc.
7000 W. Victory Road
Boise, ID 83709
Direct: 208-890-1417
Shop:   877-572-5515
www.criticalsystemsinc.com<http://www.criticalsystemsinc.com/>

    "World Leader in UHP Reconditioned
 Gas Delivery & Abatement Technologies"

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