Tag Archives: Kurchatov Institute

RUSTEC holds an international education conference

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November 15-19, 2o10 will see Arizona State University hosting NT-MDT and RUSTEC’s (Russian Technology Science and Education Consortia) first international workshop. I mentioned (in my June 30, 2010 posting about nanoeducation in Colombia, Russia, and Iral) NT-MDT and RUSTEC in the context of their May 2010 nanoeducation conference held in Russia at the Kurchatov Institute.

From the latest news item about NT-MDT and RUSTEC on Nanowerk,

NT-MDT Co. and the first international workshop of RUSTEC, the USA NT-MDT Co. will be sponsor and the official partner of the first international workshop of Russian Science Technology and Educational Consortia (RUSTEC) at Arizona State University (ASU), the USA.

Director-General of the NT-MDT Co. Viktor Bykov will chair the workshop together with Associate Vice-President for Research at ASU Stephen Goodnick and Associate Research Professor at ASU Anatoli Korkin.

The aim of the workshop is collaboration and prospective partnership between American and Russian scientific representatives. It will be a great forum for non-profit organization, companies, universities and research centers of the both countries.

More details about the workshop can be found on this Arizona State University webpage.

As for NT-MDT, it’s a trifle unusual in that it’s both an instrumentation company and it sells products to educators. Here’s their mission statement (from their About page),

Our mission is to enable researchers, engineers and developers to conduct nanoscale research by creating ever more perfect nanotechnology instrumentation. Along the way, we maintain a global perspective, always taking into consideration the needs of student in the classroom, the researcher at the cutting edge in the laboratory, and the practicalities of industrial R&D.

This reminds me a little of Apple which got its MAC computers into schools so that youngsters (who grow into adults) would choose to purchase Macs in the future. In this case, NT-MDT a company which produces equipment for scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is reaching out to educators who need equipment such as SPM’s in the classroom. So the company hosts workshops and conference about nanotechnology and, yes, they have a platform such as NANOEDUCATOR which bundles their SPM’s with software and other materials appropriate for teachers (from the product page),

The emerging field of nanotechnology offers promise in the development of different areas of life – from environmental protection to consumer goods production, from electronics to energetics, from healthcare to aerospace defense.

Thus the application of nanotechnology has a great influence not only on science, but also on daily activity, therefore, mentoring the next generation of researchers in nanoscience by means of thorough hands-on training is an all-important question.

For this purpose we designed NANOEDUCATOR – the scientific training complex with a set of learning aids, accessories for introducing students to nanotechnology and giving them a basic understanding of how work with objects at nanoscale level.

NANOEDUCATOR, student oriented SPM, is your key to the minuscule world, developed for use by even first-time microscope users, it can navigate through the step-by-step operation. This device is designed to capture the students interest in science and train future nanotechnologists using both AFM and STM techniques.

I gather the company sells its standard markets and the education market separately as it encourages brand awareness amongst youngsters.

Nano education in Colombia, in Russia and in Iran

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In the last month there have been three nano education announcements. Dexter Johnson at Nanoclast featured a project with NanoProfessor (a division of NanoInk)  in Colombia. From Dexter’s May 26, 2010 post,

According to Tom Levesque, General Manager of NanoInk in the Americas, he visited a school in Bogota, Colombia where about 350 teenagers in conjunction with the NanoProfessor curriculum work with atomic force microscopes [AFM] and end up with better training than many receive at private universities in the country.

…

While making available an AFM for 350 kids seems almost as incredible as the idea that these kids have a better education than those at the best private schools, one has to wonder why this program has taken off in foreign countries and has not fared as well in the United States.

I too find the idea of an AFM for 350 kids extraordinary and his point about the initiative (or something else like it) not being widely adopted in the US, as I understand it, holds true for Canada.

Meanwhile, the Russians held an international conference on nanoeducation, May 18 – 20, 2010. From the news item on Nanowerk,

On May 18-20th the nanotechnology equipment manufacturer in Russia NT-MDT Co. and one of the main Russian scientific nanocenters the Kurchatov Institute held an international conference “Nanoeducation: the main approaches and perspectives”. The meeting had a unique format – the first educational international conference with trainings on working with nanoeducational equipment for teachers. 185 participants took part in the event, including representatives from Russia, the USA, Europe and CIS. The conference has become an essential part of Russian Government Federal Program.

The main goal of the conference was to overcome the gap between impetuous development of the modern nanoscience and the conservative system of education, especially in schools, where the teachers suffer serious problems in working with new equipment.

I find their direct approach to describing some of the issues quite refreshing. The topics covered were,

… controversial areas as contemporary approaches to nanoeducation, educational process organizing and leading, the newest educational technologies, international university cooperation all over the world concerning personnel trainings for teachers and professors and etc. The discussion has touched all the educational levels at schools as well as in universities.

In Iran, they’re launching a student competition (from the Fars News Agency item),

Iran’s Nanoclub (a club for students that works under the supervision of Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council) plans to hold the first stage of Nanotechnology Olympiad for Students in a number of provincial capitals on June 25.

All students familiar with nanotechnology will compete scientifically in two stages in this scientific competition entitled ‘Nanotechnology Olympiad for Students’ throughout the country. The Olympiad will be held in two stages on June 25 and August 9, 2010.

The test for the first stage will be held in 2010-2011 educational year in 10 capitals of Iranian provinces that are more active in the field of nanotechnology and enjoy more students familiar with nanotechnology, according to statistics.

The Promotion and Public Education Workgroup of Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council will give three 1000-dollar awards to the top three winners of the first Nanotechnology Olympiad for Students.

Very exciting news and if you know of any comparable programmes for children in Canada, please do let me know.