Nanotechnology
What You'll Study
At Lock Haven University nanotechnology can be incorporated into ANY SCIENCE MAJOR (STEM) and therefore is accessible to all science students. This unique innovative program at LHU is partly supported by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
How it Works:
Lock Haven University’s Nanotechnology Program is embedded into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). You are prepared for a wide range of post-graduate options, from masters programs to career choices. Because the Nanotechnology Program at LHU is interdisciplinary, you have endless possibilities.
If you wish to achieve a degree in Nanotechnology, you have several options. There are currently two bachelor’s degree options in Nano; one in Physics (Applied Physics/Nanotechnology) and one in Chemistry (Nanoscience). Your career and research interests will help you decide which discipline is best for you. We are currently revising both our Associate’s (AAS) and Minor in Nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field. So you can take Nano courses if you are a student in an STEM field. Having an interdisciplinary-type of degree opens a multitude of doors for you. Typically, nearly 50% of our students are placed in graduate programs (M.S. and Ph.D.), most fully supported financially. Others enter the working world where job projections are in the millions.
Four Degree Options:
- BS in Physics – Applied Physics/Nanotechnology
- BS in Chemistry – Nanoscience
- AAS in Nanotechnology (program under revision)
- Minor in Nanotechnology (program under revision)
Program Highlights
- Scholarships: From honorariums to full-tuition waivers, scholarships exist to reward your hard work and dedication to the major. Find more information here.
- Hands-On Research: Hands on research by undergraduates is a trademark of this program that has placed
14 junior students during the last three summers in fully funded research opportunities
in national labs and research universities across the nation.
Students with a GPA greater than 2.7 can engage in a yearlong research project as a junior. Close mentoring between faculty and students leads to opportunities for presentation of their work at national or regional conferences. Typically about 15 national presentations are made annually by our students.
- Interdisciplinary Benefits: The interdisciplinary Nanotechnology faculty offer research projects for undergraduates in diverse research areas such as:
- Material Synthesis
- Device Fabrication
- Submicron Imaging
- Electrical and Optical Characterization.
You will be trained to use our advanced equipment and critically analyze the experimental results. Some topics have included: - Dye-sensitized solar cells
- Nanoparticle platforms for drug delivery systems
- Polymer light-emitting diodes
- Scanning probe studies of graphite surfaces
- Gold nanoparticles as sensors
- DNA self-assembled monolayers.
- Facilities: LHU’s nanotechnology facilities include a cleanroom, research grade instrumentation,
student lounge, computer facility, and classrooms and laboratories housed in the University’s
newly constructed East Campus Science Center. We have imaging and fabrication capability
extending down to the nanoscale structures. Our facilities include:
- Scanning Electron Microscope with elemental and spectral analysis
- Atomic Force and Scanning Tunneling microscopes
- Optical spectroscopies: Raman, Fluorescence, and Absorbance.
- Electrical tests with direct and alternating signal.
- Device preparation in inert glovebox
- Material deposition by Thermal Evaporation, Magnetron Sputtering, and Chemical Vapor
Deposition.
- Internships: Our faculty coordinates student applications for paid summer research internship
positions at national labs and research universities across the country. Recent students
have interned with:
- State Department of Environmental Resources
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Georgia Tech University
- Ames National Laboratory
- Department of Energy National Labs at Iowa University, Lawrence Livermore, Oakridge, and Pacific Northwest
- Harvey Mudd College
- South Dakota School of Mines
- University of Wisconsin
- National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network at Arizona State and Penn State Universities
- Graduate School: Our faculty coordinates graduate school and industry placement applications including
developing job interview skills for our seniors. The program takes pride in placing
nearly 50% of its graduates in graduate schools across the country.
We have an articulation agreement with SUNY Upstate Medical School for placement of one of our students in their summer research program and in their PhD program annually. Presently faculty are engaged in developing several such agreements with other engineering schools.
Recent LHU Nanotechnology/STEM graduates are either attending or have graduated from graduate schools at major universities where they are financially supported by assistantships (except for MD program), such as:
- Bucknell University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Commonwealth Medical College
- City University of New York
- Drexel University
- Georgia Tech University
- Penn State University
- Ross University Medical School
- SUNY Upstate Medical School
- University of Maryland
- University of Southern California
- University of Wyoming
- Careers: Recent Nanotechnology/STEM graduates are working for major companies such as:
- Dow Corning Co
- Intel
- Tyco Electronics
- GlobalFoundries
- CyOptics
- Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc.
- Advanced Powder Products Inc.
- Pfister Energy Corporation
- Celgene/Lifebank
- And in many start-up high tech industries
- Outreach: Twice a year area schools are invited to bring students interested in Nanotechnology
to Lock Haven University. Students interact with Lock Haven University students and
discuss the Nanotechnology program, ask questions, see the equipment, and so much
more. This intimate setting allows high school students the opportunity to hear from
current university students how nanotechnology is impacting their academic career,
and the plans they are making for the future.
During the spring semester, the Lock Haven University Nanotechnology program hosts an “Accepted Student” day. Students who have officially been accepted into the Nanotechnology program have a chance to come onto campus, view the facilities, and see more details of the program.
In addition to the fall Nanotechnology open house and spring “Accepted Student” day, Nanotechnology students man a table at the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association where students also do presentations on their research.
