Introducing Nanotechnology

Tiffany Wong
Boca Raton Community High School
Wellington, Florida

Over this past summer, I took part in the Nanotechnology program offered at Florida Atlantic University. Along with my peers, I attended lectures and engaged in Lego building, as well as team and individual projects, about the current breakthroughs that are being made in the field of nanotechnology.

Each day would start with four hours of lecturing about a specific topic, such as quantum dots, and how they will revolutionize computers in the future, making them up to a hundred times faster than the computers we have today. We would break for lunch and then class would resume. Next, we would participate in an activity known as "nano-legos." In this exercise we would use legos to build models of nano-sized structures. Then we were required to give a "team speech" explaining what our model represented and its current use. At the completion of this activity a new lecture would commence, which covered an array of topics, such as the effect of Nanotechnology on the economies of Taiwan and Japan.

However the learning didn't stop there; just like in "regular school" we were given homework which required us to write an essay based on an assigned article. The homework gave us the opportunity to analyze the current breakthroughs that are being made with the use of Nanotechnology and how we foresee this new technology being used in the future. We also had the opportunity to hear guest speakers who informed my class on the various fields that Nanotechnology is quickly penetrating, such as, organic chemistry along with medicine. Our entire course outline consisted of nine classes. Our midterm grade consisted of team and individual projects. For the individual project we were required to read and analyze published research papers from various research groups and inform our peers about what was accomplished, as well as the possible application in the future.

For the team project we had to research and design our own Nanotechnology invention. In essence, we were to research what has been done and build on that. For example my team designed nano-spheres for use in treatment of tumors. These spheres would be comprised of biodegradable nano-spheres covered in a folate molecule that would contain gold nanoparticles. When light is shined on these nanospheres, the gold nanoparticles will absorb the light's energy and release heat, killing the tumor cells. This course was paramount in opening my eyes to the endless possibilities we have with Nanotechnology, and I am eager to learn more about this exciting field as it progresses.

Editor's note: You can find out more about nanotechnology research in NSHSS member Thilini Ariyawansa's award-winning essay about research she conducted in an MIT program, "The Development of Gold Nanoparticles for Simultaneous Fluorescence Imaging & Gene Delivery."