Accelerated Nanotechnology Training for Undergraduates
The SCENE (Southeast Coalition for Engagement and Exchange in Nanotechnology Education) is an NSF-funded Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence. The SCENE features summer research and mentoring programs to increase students’ knowledge and skills, and to motivate their interest in pursuing nanoscience and engineering. The seven-week experience will feature extensive training in cleanroom operation, followed by a short-term applied activity or project with a paired faculty or partner institute researcher. Student interns complete the full training regimen in the Micron-NSU Nanofabrication Cleanroom, a 6,000 square foot clean-room facility that enables the fabrication of nano-scale optical and electronic devices. The partner research institutes include NASA Langley Research Center (NASA-LaRC), Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory (JLab), Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), etc.
Summer Research Program 2024
Topic: Semiconductor Processing Technology
Date: Jun 3 – 28, 2024
Program Overview:
• Cleanroom Safety
• Sputtering and Deposition Techniques
• Lithography
• Plasma Etching
• Characterization Techniques
• Nanoscale Device Fabrication
Home Institutions of SCENE Participants 2019 - 2021
| State |
Participants |
State |
Participants |
| Alabama |
4 |
Missouri |
3 |
| Arkansas |
8 |
Mississippi |
1 |
| Arizona |
2 |
North Carolina |
27 |
| California |
38 |
New Jersey |
3 |
| Colorado |
4 |
New York |
5 |
| District of Columbia |
3 |
Ohio |
4 |
| Florida |
19 |
Oklahoma |
1 |
| Georgia |
8 |
Pennsylvania |
1 |
| Illinois |
18 |
Puerto Rico |
30 |
| Indiana |
1 |
Rhode Island |
1 |
| Kansas |
1 |
Tennessee |
1 |
| Louisiana |
5 |
Texas |
7 |
| Maryland |
3 |
Virginia |
41 |
| Michigan |
3 |
Virgin Islands |
1 |
| Minnesota |
1 |
West Virginia |
1 |
Student Feedbacks
- “I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the SCENE nanotechnology program, and I am grateful for this opportunity to help me pursue my dreams and career.”
- “I learned a lot from this program, and I hope to continue my education in nanotechnology.”
- “The hands-on projects have been very affirming because they are building on our background knowledge. My confidence about this material is growing.”
2021 Summer Program
• 3-week live-streamed nanotechnology cleanroom training course
• Fully interactive format using teleconferencing
• A dynamic teaching and studying environment
• Program term: Jul 6 – 23, 2021
Nanotechnology Course Topics
• Nanotechnology and Semiconductor Materials and Device Structures
• Vacuum Technologies
• Sputtering and Deposition Techniques
• Optical Lithography
• Plasma Etching
• Micro- and Nanoscale Characterization Techniques
• Cleanroom Safety
Primary Cohort
• 3-wk accelerated nanotechnology cleanroom training course
• $2,000 stipend
• Mailed lab kits facilitate hands on activities
• Culminating online technical conference
• Professional development seminars
• $500 prize poster contest
• Certificate of completion
Participation Cohort
• 3-wk accelerated nanotechnology cleanroom training course
• Culminating online technical conference
• Professional development seminars
• $500 prize poster contest
• Certificate of completion
SCENE 2021 Applicants
SCENE 2021 Participants
• 47 participants from 26 institutions and 13 states across the United States
• 74% were URM students
- 17 Hispanic students, 16 African American students and 2 Vietnamese students among 10 Asian students
- 12 community college students
Live-streamed Lectures
• Lectures were given by professors from Penn State University and Norfolk State University.
• The topics focus on nanotechnology, semiconductors, biomedical applications, and device fabrication process.
• Invited lecture: Dr. Sadegh Yazdi, Research Associate Professor at the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), and the Director of the Facility for Electron Microscopy of Materials (CU FEMM) at the University of Colorado.
Live-streamed Labs
Lithography Hands-on Lab
Thermal Evaporator Hands-on Lab
RIE Hands-on Lab
Microscope and Profilometer Hands-on Lab
Nanoparticle Synthesis Lab
SEM Images of Gold Nanoparticles
At-home Hands-on Experiments
Mask Designs for Lithography
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) Experiment using mailed lab kits
Neural Electrode Fabrication Process
Neural Electrode Design
Neural Electrode Fabrication Process
Neural Electrodes
SCENE 2021 Technical Poster Competition Winners
Chaparro Mata, Joshua - University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez
Rolón Rosa, Astrid - Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
Tojima , Naohiro - University of California, San Diego
Tran, Lynn - Loyola University Chicago
Yarrington, Tara - Tidewater Community College
Zamora, Emmitt - University of Texas at San Antonio
2020 Summer Program
• July 6 – 24, 2020
• 100% on-line and interactive
• Hands on activities by mailed lab kits
• Culminating online Technical Conference
• Professional development seminars
• Invited lectures
Mask design for interdigitated electrodes
Fabrication process at NSU Cleanroom
Microscope images and SEM images of interdigitated electrodes
Electrode Impedance Analysis with PBS as an electrolyte
The procedure of making ruby red colloidal gold was performed at NSU Lab
Gold nanoparticles under SEM
- 3-week live-streamed nanotechnology cleanroom training course
- Fully interactive format using teleconferencing
- A dynamic teaching and studying environment
Live-streamed hands-on experiment from NSU Cleanroom
- 374 applicants
- 303 confirmed applicants from 107 institutions, 31 US states and territories.
- 202 selected participants from 94 institutions, 31 US states and territories.
- 36 participants in the Primary Cohort
- 166 participants in the Participation Cohort
SCENE 2020 Technical Poster Competition Winners
Primary Cohort
Frondarina, Errysteinn - Southwestern College
Jimenez, Robbynn - Tidewater Community College
Torres, Enrique - Miami Dade College
Vorobeva, Mariia - Tidewater Community College
Zheng, Talia - Georgia Institute of Technology
Participation Cohort
Chaparro, Eduardo - University of Puerto Rico - Ponce
Gibbons, Ashley - SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Montoya, Ryne - Northwestern University
Sienko, Lauren - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Vázquez-Rosado, Ephraim - University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
2019 Summer Program
- Program for 4-year college students
- 3-week cleanroom training program: Jun 3 - 21, 2019
- 4-week research program: Jun 24 - Jul 19, 2019
- Cleanroom Training Program for community college students: Jun 24 - Jul 12, 2019
On/Off-line Lectures
Nanotechnology Fabrication Training
Project Activities
Research Project Activities
Student Presentation
Field Trip to Micron Technology, Manassas
Invited Lectures
Prof. J. Shim (University of Leeds, UK) and Prof. N. Gon (Old Dominion University, VA)
