Benedict College, USC Offer Nano Classes

February 22, 2008

Columbia, SC --- February 22, 2008 --- Are you a non-techy still wondering what all this talk about nanotechnology and nanoscience means?  How will it change your life?  Or more simply, what is a ´nano'?  Well, imagine heart patients being able to use portable pocket-sized devices to monitor their hearts; or citizens living in rural areas without major medical centers having access to the same technology. And on the other hand, what if the government and private citizens could purchase tiny virtually undetectable surveillance units to place in our environments?  Interesting, but what are the implications?

The implications of nanotechnology and nanoscience are as far reaching as our imaginations. The emergence of Nanotechnology, the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules or in other words, making things very small and very fast  will have an overwhelming impact on society. Furthermore, nanotechnology studies and manipulates matter that is measured in nanometers, one-billionth of a meter.  For example, a water molecule [H2O], is about a third of a nanometer.

Keeping abreast of the forefront in this field, Benedict College, in collaboration with the USC NanoCenter, will offer our third season of the South Carolina Citizens' School of Nanotechnology [SCCSN] for Spring 2008. The Citizens' School of Nanotechnology will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5th through April 23rd on the Benedict College campus. These adults' sessions will meet for eight consecutive Wednesday evenings in the N.A. Jenkins Board Room in Benjamin F. Payton Learning Resource Center, which is located in the heart of the Benedict College campus.  The cost is $30 for the entire SCCSN, but scholarships are available for Benedict College faculty, staff, friends and family. 

"The advancement of nanotechnology and nanoscience is changing many aspects of our daily lives in the areas of healthcare, the economy, and how we view our individual privacy," says Stacey Franklin Jones, D.Sc., Dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Benedict.  "The South Carolina Citizens' School of Nanotechnology is for non-experts and translates ´nano' talk to everyday language so that our citizens can better understand and contribute to the development of nanotechnology policy in our city and throughout South Carolina." 

"Developing at the nanoscale level, which means amongst other things building complex devices that can monitor our bodies that are smaller than a grain of salt, is exciting but also has impact that needs to be understood by those who will be most affected  our citizens." Dr. Jones added.

The SCCSN is a consumer-friendly outreach program in which Benedict and USC faculty, in disciplines ranging from chemistry to philosophy, introduce nanotechnology to nonexperts.  The SCCSN is for people who are curious about nanotech and want a general introduction. Participants do not need to have any expertise in science or engineering.

Seats for the Citizens' Schools are available by contacting Chris Toumey at (803) 777-2221, or via email Toumey@sc.edu.

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Contacts:
Kymm Hunter, Communications and Marketing Director; 803.705.4519 hunterk@benedict.edu
Carolyn Wigfall, Communications and Marketing Manager; 803.705.4366 wigfallc@benedict.edu

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