There is some impression out there that “nanotechnology” (and our Nanotechnology Engineering program) is all very research-oriented, with no practical applications or career prospects yet. Graduates can only look forward to doing lab research or a PhD degree. Those are certainly potential paths, but not the only ones by any means.
Nanotechnology has been around for about 30 years (see it’s history). In many ways, it’s just a specialized way of approaching Materials Science/Engineering, and there are already over 1,500 products on the market that incorporate nanotechnology. Making products requires more than just lab research, and one of the reasons we launched our Nanotechnology Engineering program was in response to industry needs for people with this expertise.
It also seems that the nanotechnology area is one where there is a lot of room for innovation and entrepreneurship by our undergraduate students. Here are a few recent examples (mainly based on senior design projects) that have led to start-up companies:
- Nanotechnology-based ink for counterfeit prevention
- A system for analyzing vitamin levels in the body
- Detection of sun overexposure
- Windshield protection from frost and stones
It’s interesting to see what creative new ways that nanotechnology can be used to make new products or improve existing ones. In my own research lab we are working with companies to develop novel test methods, based on nanotechnology, for detection of water contamination, and this is on the verge of commercialization. Some day soon I’ll finish a post on that topic.
So for a high school student thinking about different career paths, don’t exclude Nanotechnology Engineering if you’re interested in materials and commercial product development. It’s not all theory, lab work, and graduate research.