NISE Network Blog

As many of you know, NanoDays is the NISE Network's annual festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering and its potential impact on the future. Each Spring, hundreds of NISE Net partners across the country plan and host local NanoDays events (find out who participated in NanoDays 2011 here). We in the NISE Net ask that partners hosting events let us know about their experiences by filling out an online NanoDays report.

Thanks to partners who have filled out their NanoDays 2011 reports!

Research on publications and patent applications filed by both large and small corporations illustrates the trends in commercialization of nanotechnology -- to what extent and in what fields ideas are turning into commercial products.  Jan Youtie of Georgia Tech presented the following slide at a workshop on Nanotechnology, Business, and Anticipatory Governance organized by the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University today.  I thought you might enjoy seeing it.  (Click on the image to see it full size.)

    The demos and banners have been put away; the thank          

    you notes have gone out, the reports filed, and NanoDays    

    2011 is now a pleasant blur receding into the collective  

    archive of organizational events, while you, perhaps,

Many NISE Net partners planned great NanoDays events at their museums or research centers, but a few went a little further afield. For instance, as part of a comprehensive line-up of events for NanoDays, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University of Albany hosted a series of programs at a local mall!

With many (but not all!) NanoDays events now over, it's time to fill out your reports! The report is available at this link). However, if you're not quite ready to fill out the report just yet but want to read through the questions first, you can download the attached pdf version with all the questions and text from the report.

Looking for an icebreaker for the beginning of a science café? Or trivia to use on social media sites to help promote your NanoDays events?

Sheets of carbon nanotube material 4 yards wide and 100 yards long! Two kilometer spools of carbon nanotube yarn! Mercedes adjustable tint sunroofs! Mobile phone charging shoulder bags. Powerplastic! All of these were featured at NanoDays in Boston today.

Have you forged a great partnership with a couple of local research centers for your NanoDays 2011 festivities? Plan now to keep the relationship alive and growing beyond April, continuing to serve your audiences, your partners and your home team. It’s easy to do, and the benefits could be HUGE.

Get together with your research center liaison and discuss ways of continuing the most rewarding aspects of your outreach activities.

Educators from seven museums in Arkansas recently gathered at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock for a workshop focused on nano education. The attendees came from museums in the Arkansas Discovery Network, a regional network that has been involved with the NISE Network for a number of years.