In what appears to be a Canadian first, the University of Calgary has purchased a nanotechnology curriculum, NanoProfessor, from a company that also sells nanofabrication products, NanoInk. From the April 11, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,

NanoProfessor™, a division of NanoInk, Inc.® focused on nanotechnology education, announced today that the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada is the first school in Canada to implement the NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program. The University of Calgary’s Nanoscience program aims to provide participants with working knowledge of nanotechnology and valuable exposure to cutting-edge instrumentation used to fabricate nanomaterials. The NanoProfessor Program helps the University of Calgary meet this objective by providing instrumentation, curriculum, and hands-on labs to expand students’ understanding, skills, and real-world experience needed to succeed in the growing nanotechnology industry.

“We are proud to be the first school in Canada to implement the cutting-edge NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program. We are committed to providing our students with a meaningful education based on the principle of learning science by doing science,” said David Cramb, Director of the Nanoscience program at the University of Calgary. “Not only does the NanoProfessor Program enhance our ability to provide students with a practical learning experience, but NanoInk’s NLP 2000 Desktop Nanofabrication System allows us to expand our research capability through the versatility of Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®).”

This reminds me of some of the product placement on television programmes but here the product placement is part of the curriculum. As I recall, Apple pioneered this technology incursion into schools. The idea being that if you give (or sell computers for a good price to schools) so children learn using your equipment they are more likely to purchase it as they look to own it for themselves.

Here’s a bit more about NanoProfessor,

NanoProfessor is an exciting and comprehensive Nanoscience Education Program combining cutting-edge desktop nanofabrication instruments with a stimulating curriculum. Students will be immersed into the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology through real hands-on experience in building custom-engineered nanoscale structures. With an incredible range of new applications from building solar cells to fighting cancer cells, nanotechnology is the future of science and engineering education.

And for more about NanoInk, you can go here.

By the way, I have an interview with David Cramb in my March 8, 2010 posting.