Nanotech graduate schools?
brarrr writes "I'm a Materials Engineering student and have been interested in everything nanotech for about 4 years, reading about it in my own time and tailoring my coursework in such a manner to prepare me to work and research in the field. I am applying to graduate schools with the intention of studying something nanotech (NEMS, fabrication, materials, biotech), and am looking for any recommendations on schools or any up-and-coming programs that are not publicized yet. I am currently looking at Cornell, RPI, U Washington, JHU, and Northwestern."
November 30th, 2001 at 10:18 AM
Good Luck – You'll Need It
Though 'the media' states that Universities are 'the place' where Nanotech research is going on, the bitter truth is it's nothing more than a sham, used to entice the gullible into thinking that they will actually learn something (even though Nanotech is still only theoretical, and any information gained in a university now, will be obsolete with the next Nanotech discovery.)
My advice to you is instead of wasting your time and money going to a graduate school you won't gain anything from, you should instead go to your public library and Interlibrary Loan as many Nanotech/Biology/Chemistry books you can obtain and read them all until you feel like your head is going to explode.
College is just a means for the 'undisciplined' (in other words, those who do not have the willpower to study on their own without some sort of incentive or reward to do so *i.e. degree; stamp on your ass*) If you're truly an intelligent person (I'm not questioning that) then you don't need this crap.
If you truly wish to do something with Nanotech such as R&D, then the place to do it would be in the private sector…where advances in cloning and genetic engineering are already taking place. But, if you wish to waste another 2-4 years of your life learning censored knowledge, be my guest.
November 30th, 2001 at 11:55 AM
Re:Good Luck – You'll Need It
I do not agree. IMO there are plenty of outstanding colleges and universities offering state of the art programs, and doing groundbreaking research. Just look at this list http://nanotech-now.com/academic.htm, and then contact either the school, or better yet, the individual in charge of the department, and ask questions.
Sure, there is also serious [and perhaps more earth shaking] work being done in the private sector, but don't discount the knowledge you will gain from further study of the independent and interdependent movements: Dry, Wet, and Computational Nanotechnology. Getting your head into these diverse areas will make you more well rounded, and serve you better when the time comes to move into the private sector.
November 30th, 2001 at 11:34 PM
Re:Good Luck – You'll Need It
All you get from higher learning is censored knowledge, so go to the public library system where you will learn Truth!
I bet the Powers That Be are kicking themselves that some renegade free thinker saw through all their disinformation scenarios. Expect a visit from the Men in Black any day now.
You're just jealous, Travis. I guarantee that you will never make one single practical contribution to nanotechnology, apart from as an cautionary example.
I have only just finished first year, so I still know jack shit, but let's test the chemistry knowledge in your dangerously overstuffed cranium. Some nice and easy ones: explain the different mechanisms at work in Sn1 and Sn2 nucleophilic substitution. Which path are methyl halides more likely to follow, and why? Which d- suborbital contains a toroid structure? What is Markovnikov's Rule? If you can't answer those without looking at a book, or thinking so hard you stop chewing your gum, then you've learned nothing. That's one of the big things that tertiary institutions offer: practical experience, without which book learning is useless.
I retired from this forum becuase I thought I should stop flaming you, but I realised that you are the best form of online stress relief I've got. Anyway, I'm giving you expactly what you want ( a masochistic thrill of outraged indignation at being confronted with an 'authority' figure you can rail at ), so what's the harm?
December 1st, 2001 at 9:26 AM
Meta: Flame wars
Please, don't bring your flame wars here. If you two want to have it out, please do so in a private forum (i.e. e-mail) or jump on usenet where you can flame away and no one will care. But let's try to keep the quality a little higher here and focus on discussing ideas rather than who is a silly wiper of other people's bottoms or whose mother was a hamster, okay.
So, stop it or I'll have to break out the spam, bash you two over the head with a parrot, and put you up next to Brian.
Should it be necessary, I may be forced to discuss mollusks, and not their mating habits!
December 1st, 2001 at 6:35 PM
general comment on grad school selection
I'm in applied physics, not materials, however I would say this holds for any Phd program. you want to look at potential advisors, rather than programs as a whole. See what students in their groups typically do, how they might be to work with, how long they typically take to graduate, and wether they like their advisor. I think in the long run, classes and exams and such matter very little to the overall grad experience, and the character of your advisor plays an enourmous role in how much you get out of the whole thing. There are quite a few schools now that are playing the nano hype game, and getting millions of dollars for their efforts. there's nothing wrong with millions of dollars, but make sure you will be working for someone who will be spending their slice of that pie intelligently. Also, you should have at least one acceptable back-up advisor at the school you decide on. I would also like to reply to the fool below here. the private sector may be where some of the large technological breakthroughs are hapening, but I don't think five years of working in the private sector will allow you to gain as broad an array of skills as working in the right academic lab as a grad student. over the last couple years, i have become kind of an expert in e-beam lithography, partly by making some stupid mistakes that a company could not have afforded to pay me to learn about the hard way.
December 1st, 2001 at 9:18 PM
Re:general comment on grad school selection
Okay, I'm a senior bio/chemistry major and I've been interested and reading about nanotech for the last seven or eight years. As such, I've done what I can to tailor my classwork around the field. I'm at a small, but very good, liberal arts college, so that's not very much, but I have tried. Now I'm looking at grad schools… does anyone have suggestions as to good schools/departments/advisors? As is, have had little luck doing direct research into this, and have only been able to follow the media trail (i.e. UW, Rice, Northwestern, RPI, etc.). I'm not interested in working with Smalley, and that's the only personal information I have. Any more concrete suggestions would be helpful… anyone? Deadlines are coming up… help?