May 21, 2012 – Marketwire — NanoProfessor, a division of NanoInk, Inc. focused on nanotechnology education, partnered with Indian River State College (IRSC) in Fort Pierce, FL in the naming of the NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab within the newly opened Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Similar programs exist in Canada’s University of Calgary and Ibero-America, among other locations. Indian River State College will be the first college in the southeastern US to offer students access to the instrumentation and curriculum provided by the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program.
"We are committed to offering Indian River State College students an education that prepares them for high-tech jobs in the fields of nanotechnology, alternative energy, photonics, nanomaterials, electronics, and more," said Dr. Edwin Massey, president of IRSC. "In accordance with that commitment, we have partnered with NanoProfessor in the NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab. Within this lab, IRSC students will have access to state-of-the-art instruments and an advanced curriculum that has traditionally only been available to graduate students at research universities."
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| Photo: L-R) Ann Decker, Executive Director, Indian River State College (IRSC) Foundation; Dr. Edwin Massey, President, IRSC; Dean Hart, Chief Commercial Officer, NanoInk; Dr. Kevin Cooper, Director of Advanced Technology, IRSC; Jason Fromer, Global Business Development Executive, NanoProfessor, stand in front of the NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab at Indian River State College. |
Dean Hart, chief commercial officer of NanoInk, noted that companies in Florida’s Research Coast are looking for the kind of “talented human capital” being fostered at the Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
IRSC received a $3.9 million Economic Development Administration Grant from the US Department of Commerce to support the economic development of the region through the training of students for high skill/high wage jobs in the new Brown Center.
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program provides IRSC students with access to instrumentation, curriculum, and hands-on labs to expand their knowledge, skills, and real-world experience needed to work in the growing nanotechnology industry. In conducting lab experiments, students learn the fundamentals for building custom-engineered nanoscale structures while working with state-of-the-art equipment including NanoInk’s NLP 2000 Desktop NanoFabrication System, an atomic force microscope (AFM), a nanoparticle characterization instrument, an advanced fluorescence microscope, and various chemical and biological materials used in current and emerging nanotechnology applications.
At the dedication of the NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab, Dean Hart presented Dr. Edwin Massey with a framed image of the smallest IRSC logo in existence — made of 6,500 20nm dots. The logo was printed with NanoInk’s proprietary Dip Pen Nanolithography and measures 10 x 10µm. The framed image of the micron-sized IRSC logo will hang in the NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab.
The Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the IRSC Main Campus in Fort Pierce is a multi-purpose, energy-efficient building containing technologically advanced laboratories designed to develop the skills necessary for hi-tech employment or entrepreneurship. The 65,000sq.ft. building was constructed to Silver LEED standards of environmental design with recycled materials. Indian River State College offers over 150 programs leading to Bachelor’s Degrees, Associate Degrees, Technical Certificates, and Applied Technology Diplomas. More information is available at: www.irsc.edu/default.aspx.
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to advance undergraduate nanotechnology education and address the growing need for a skilled, nano-savvy workforce. More information is available at www.NanoProfessor.net.