April 7, 2008 — More than 1,000 children, adults and families throughout New York State’s “Tech Valley” got an up-close look at the world of nanotechnology when the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) held its inaugural Community Day on Saturday, April 5.

The first-ever event was part of Nanotechnology Explorations for Science, Training and Education Promotion (NEXSTEP) spearheaded by CNSE’s NanoEconomics Constellation in partnership with KeyBank. NEXSTEP is a collaborative program that includes educational initiatives designed to promote greater understanding of the region’s changing economic and business environment driven by nanotechnology, with a special emphasis on children, citizens and community.

CNSE’s Community Day featured presentations, booths and interactive demonstrations highlighting the exciting technological breakthroughs being enabled by nanotechnology, including those in the fields of health care, energy, environment, electronics and economics; tours of the cutting-edge cleanroom facilities at CNSE’s $4.2 billion Albany NanoTech, which calls itself “the most advanced research complex in the academic world;” and, a chance for children and adults to participate in hands-on activities that provided greater understanding of the science described by the National Nanotechnology Initiative as “leading to the next Industrial Revolution.”

CNSE’s Community Day was planned in conjunction with the national celebration of NanoDays, a week of community-based educational outreach events held March 29 – April 6, 2008 to raise public awareness of nanoscale science and engineering.