Students enrolled in Introduction to Nanotechnology at West Los Angeles College (WLAC) took advantage of a rare opportunity to zoom into the “small world” of the micro- and nanoscales. Twelve students in today’s class had the unique opportunity to learn how to operate a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a powerful microscope used in many modern labs.

The SEM comes with various samples of insects and minerals. However, students are always fascinated when they image their own samples. Students learned how to prepare samples, load them into a special vacuum staging area, and acquire images of their microscopic and nanoscopic details.

We would like to thank the Hitachi Inspire STEM Education Program for lending us the SEM. Without this program, most community college students would not have the opportunity to use such cutting-edge, sophisticated microscopy equipment.

The post Hitachi SEM Microscope Inspires Nanotech Students first appeared on Omni Nano.

It was such a pleasure to return to Alhambra High School today to speak to about 100 students about the exciting possibilities of nanotechnology. We spoke to three classrooms of competitive, smart kids studying Computer Science and Anatomy/Physiology. The Computer Science students were especially fascinated to learn about nanoelectronics and quantum computing. Check out some great student quotes below!

We are grateful to our sponsor, Hitachi Southern California Regional Community Action Committee (SCRCAC), for supporting our innovative programs in STEM education. We are inspired by their mutual mission to inspire the next generation of STEM professionals.

Students are talking!

• I learned about how nanotechnology can change the composition and characteristics of the material without chemically altering the element. My favorite thing was learning and seeing the hydroponic surfaces.
• It was entertaining to learn that nanotechnology can influence the world so much: to cleaning an entire lake to making any object become hydrophobic. Such discoveries make me all the more fascinated for the future of our world, and I feel excited about what the next generation may think up of by progressing along the lines of nanotechnology.
• My favorite thing was the in-depth description of the different properties of nanotechnology and how it can be applied to daily life today.
• This is a good workshop because it teaches kids about the importance of STEM and its increasing relevance in the 21st century.

The post Hitachi Inspires in Alhambra first appeared on Omni Nano.

As one of the only high schools offering courses in nanotechnology, University High School is a diamond in the rough – and always a pleasure to visit. Currently, nanotechnology classes can only be offered every other year. Today, we inspired about 100 students across three classrooms through our Discover Nanotechnology workshops. Moving forward, we are excited to work alongside the hosting teacher to bring a full nanotechnology pathway to the school – including two year-long courses, offered every year. Thank you, Hitachi Southern California Regional Community Action Committee (SCRCAC), for helping us make the difference for these students for years to come!

Students are talking!

• “I don’t like that we don’t learn this in school.”
• “I like how you can solve world problems. You can change the world; you just need dedication.”
• “I got to learn more about nanotechnology and the things involved in it, and it was cool to learn how it could potentially change our lives and everyone else’s lives for the better.”
• “Loved it all. Yeah!!”
• “My favorite thing is learning how nano can help cure cancer as well as kill bacteria. I also liked it when we played with the water and did not wet the paper at all.”
• “I liked how we saw the positive ways many scientist use nanotech to improve our future and the well-being of our electronics.”
• “I liked the example videos that helped further explain what and how nanotechnology is beneficial to the world around us.”
• “My favorite thing was playing with nanotech and learning new things about it.”
• “I loved seeing the ways that nanotech can help the earth.”

The post Hitachi Supports Nano Workshops at University High School first appeared on Omni Nano.

When we first scheduled our Discover Nanotechnology workshops at The Science Academy STEM Magnet, we only planned to visit one classroom – but by the time the big day arrived, 8 classrooms were eager to participate! To accommodate the ~300 students, we presented today’s workshop in the auditorium of the North Hollywood high school for highly gifted students. It then came as no surprise that the students had so many questions, we almost ran passed the school bell.

The host teacher is looking forward to working with Omni Nano to establish a nanotechnology class at The STEM Magnet within the next few years. We are happy to help introduce her students to the fascinating world of nanotechnology. First, future students’ interest is piqued during our workshops. Then, all they need to do is enroll and log into their LAUSD Schoology account to access the full course.

Our sponsor, SoCalGas, is leading the way with its commitment to become the cleanest natural gas utility in North America. By supporting Omni Nano’s innovative STEM education initiatives in the San Fernando Valley, SoCalGas is planting the seed to ensure a robust pipeline of future STEM professionals. Their representatives even helped us out with the presentation – talk about doing double duty!

The post The Science Academy STEM Magnet Discovers Nanotechnology first appeared on Omni Nano.

It’s no secret that schoolchildren love giveaways and prizes. (Don’t we all?) Our super-hydrophobic cloths are no exception – in fact, they’re usually the most popular part of our Discover Nanotechnology workshops! (We commonly hear feedback like, “My favorite part about the workshop was the super-hydrophobic surfaces!”) Best of all, when students can experience nanotechnology in the palm of their hands, they become fascinated with STEM.

Think about it: imagine spilling a drop of water onto a cotton cloth. What happens next?  We all expect the cotton to soak up the droplet, right? Wrong! A special nanotechnology-enabled coating causes the droplet to simply bead on the surface of the cloth, rather than being absorbed into it. Crazy cool!

But it doesn’t stop there; as one workshop attendee noted, the possibilities are endless: “The best part of today’s workshops was learning how nanotechnology has made surfaces ranging from concrete to paper hydrophobic.”

Our sponsors are making the difference for STEM education! Special thanks to Go Graphics & Printing Co. for printing, UltraTech International for coating, and Hitachi and SoCalGas for sponsoring these fun yet vital “freebies.”

The post New Student Giveaways Have Arrived! first appeared on Omni Nano.

The partnership between the Hitachi Southern California Regional Community Action Committee (SCRCAC) and Omni Nano that’s inspiring local students in STEM is now entering its third year. As a company on the bleeding edge of new technologies, Hitachi understands the importance of educating the next-generation workforce. By supporting Omni Nano’s Discover Nanotechnology workshops and other initiatives in STEM education, Hitachi is not only strengthening the community but also training its future employees.

With the generous support of Hitachi, we will be able to inspire hundreds more children in the 2019-20 school year with our workshops and hands-on nanotechnology activities. Thanks to the long-lasting intrigue that our super-hydrophobic cloth giveaways provide, we’re excited to see these new nano learners fall in love with STEM for years to come. You can read all about them here!

The post Partnership with Hitachi Enters Third Year first appeared on Omni Nano.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is second‐largest school district in the nation, serving over half a million students each year. There has been a district‐approved nanotechnology elective course for a number of years. However, it has been difficult to instruct because there were no suitable educational materials available… until now! Enrolled LAUSD students can simply log into their online Schoology portal to start learning nano now.

Our comprehensive package of educational resources (including its customizable syllabus, digital textbook and lecture slides, and hundreds of assessment questions with feedback) has been approved as the first and only standardized curriculum for this class. This will count as a college preparatory elective “G” course (in terms of the UC A‐G requirements) and will appear on students’ transcripts as “NANO TECH AB.”

SoCalGas is leading the way! They have generously donated 200 of our digital textbooks to LAUSD students in the San Fernando Valley. With this donation, SoCalGas is inspiring hundreds of local students to pursue careers of the future as scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

The post LAUSD Adopts Omni Nano’s Digital Textbook first appeared on Omni Nano.

A highly motivated group of students have just completed a Summer Nanotechnology Institute using Omni Nano’s digital textbook and standardized curriculum as well as NanoSchoolBox lab experiments.

Eleventh-grade students at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics and Mathematics in Uralsk, Kazakhstan, were in for a special treat this summer. A joint effort between chemistry teacher Mrs. Mary Joy Bejerano and Omni Nano provided students with the unique opportunity to learn the fundamental concepts underlying nanotechnology.

In just two weeks, the class of about 20 students completed an impressive volume of lessons about what nanotechnology is and how it is shaping our present and future, including a unit dedicated to modern microscopy, an overview of forces at the bulk versus nanoscales, and an introduction to carbon-based and other common nanomaterials.

Omni Nano’s plug-and-play digital curriculum also allowed the school to leverage its NanoSchoolBox kit from Advanced Materials Science, a German company devoted to hands-on education in emerging technologies such as nanotechnology.

Many of the students plan to continue their studies by enrolling in the full, year-long course starting Fall 2019. Over 30 teachers within the network of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools are interested in teaching this cutting-edge course.

See how students reacted to the course — check out the quotes below and the video above!

• I am so grateful for this opportunity to study the course in nanotechnology. This class has been great; we have learned a lot and I hope to use the knowledge we have gained in the future.
• We students need this course, as nanotechnology is our future! I believe it will help fix some worldwide problems such as global warming and starvation. I am therefore very grateful for this course’s educators and creator.
• Teacher Testimonial: The online course provides students with a great opportunity to engage and understand the science behind nanotechnology. It opens their minds to integrate science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”) into one fundamental idea that can give unlimited opportunities.

The post Students React to Summer Nanotechnology Institute first appeared on Omni Nano.

West Los Angeles College (Culver City, CA) has offered, this Spring semester, our nanotechnology course for the third time.
This semester we expanded the hands-on activities to include a lab with an atomic force microscope (AFM).
Although the class meets for just 12 sessions, students have been acquiring specific STEM skills they’ll find useful for the rest of their academic studies and professional carrier.

The post Our nanotechnology course offered for the 3rd time at WLAC first appeared on Omni Nano.

Friday afternoons in North Hollywood are ripe with opportunities to learn, thanks to the weekly Seminar Hour at The Science Academy STEM Magnet. During today’s seminar, Omni Nano presented our Discover Nanotechnology workshop to 70 AP Environmental Science students. It was wonderful to be surrounded by youth who are so passionate about cleaning up our environment and rescuing our planet. The inspired group of students asked insightful questions about how they can use nanotechnology and other cutting-edge STEM technologies to improve the world around them.

Don’t take our word for it – here’s what students had to say:

• “I appreciated was how engaging the lecture was. The speaker took questions often and his explanations were top-notch. Even at the back of the classroom I could hear his voice loud and clear.”
• “I liked how cloaking technology may eventually be able to hide things. I just found cloaking cool.”
• “I liked the actual nanotechnology which was brought into the lecture. It’s an amazing thing to see a piece of revolutionary technology at work in front of you. What amazed me even further is that we got to take some of this technology home with us to show to our friends and family.”
• “I liked the whole workshop.”
• “I loved the fact that nanotechnology is able to be used for diverse applications from cleaning up lakes to killing cancer cells. The explanations were well thought out and was very natural. The workshop highlighted the importance and usefulness of new materials, etc.”
• “I loved the presenter’s slides about becoming a nanotechnologist. It was cool talking with a real nanotechnologist!”
• “I really enjoyed the videos about how nanotechnology works. For me, and especially for things as minuscule as nanotechnology, it is often difficult to visualize how these things would work, but the informational videos greatly helped with that issue.”
• “I think that it was absolutely great and inspiring to all students considering ANY field of STEM as their career and astonished those who may have not have been as interested in a STEM career.”
• “My favorite thing about today’s workshop was seeing how one man utilized nanotechnology in order to clean up a polluted wetland near his hometown.”
• “The speaker and his workshop were very interesting and captivated my attention.”
• “The workshop positively influenced my education and helped me view another way that I can improve Earth’s current status. I would have very much liked more scientific details, especially about the chemical compounds and their methods of action.”

The post STEM Academy Students Love Learning Nano first appeared on Omni Nano.