To a Nanotech Engineer, small is not just beautiful. It is powerful. Nanotech Engineers work on a molecular level with nanoparticles that hold a universe of potential to benefit human life and the environment. With numerous and diverse opportunities for innovation, this is a role in which you think big w... Continue Reading
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Explore Career To a Nanotech Engineer, small is not just beautiful. It is powerful. Nanotech Engineers work on a molecular level with nanoparticles that hold a universe of potential to benefit human life and the environment. With numerous and diverse opportunities for innovation, this is a role in which you think big when you feel at the nano level.
What are the typical responsibilities of a Nanotech Engineer?
A Nanotech Engineer would typically need to:
Most Nanotech Engineers work indoors in the controlled environments of laboratories, college research settings, or offices, while some work in the field. They work with the latest technology in scientific equipment, high-tech microscopes, and computers.
You may need to travel to other domestic and foreign laboratories to set up and conduct experiments and tests. You may also travel to attend national or international conferences and meetings. In the lab, you would typically need to wear prescribed protective and safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
You'll typically work a 37-hour week, although you might have to overtime to meet deadlines. In academia, you might have to occasionally work irregular hours due to teaching responsibilities or limitations on equipment access time. Nanotech Engineers in the industry may have to work to fit in with shift patterns or commercial deadlines. Part-time work may be possible.
In academia, you may take up advertised positions or apply speculatively to an established scientist you would like to work with. You have a wide choice of sectors in the industry. Vacancies are advertised via LinkedIn or on specific companies or university websites. Specialist recruitment agencies can also be a useful source of scientific jobs.
Nanotech Engineers are generally employed by:
By becoming a member of a national or international professional organization dedicated to nanotechnology or nanotech engineering, you can demonstrate your commitment to your profession and a level of competency and access professional development and networking opportunities, particularly important in a relatively new and growing field. Depending on your specialism, you may also choose to join relevant associations that focus on biology, chemistry, or physics.
Some employers may expect aspirant Nanotech Engineers to have or be working towards a PhD. You usually need experience working in a laboratory environment. It may help to study for a degree that includes a placement year or a year out to acquire experience in the industry you want to work in. Experience in product development and quantum optics and spectroscopy would be useful.
Internships and work placements related to nanotechnology will help you find out more about the role and start to develop a network of contacts. There may also be some opportunities to undertake a summer internship or a summer research project.
Typically, employers prefer to hire engineers who hold the minimum of bachelor's degrees related to their engineering field. Although engineers may work in nanotechnology, they may hold degrees outside of this field, such as bachelor's degrees in computer engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, or electronics engineering.
Students can opt for nanotech engineering right after high school. Several universities offer nanoengineering majors, material science majors with a focus in nanoengineering, or nanoengineering minors. Some nanotechnology programs also require that students apply to the school in a general engineering pool, and then gain admission into the nanoengineering program based on performance in general engineering coursework.
Relevant postgraduate programs in nanotechnology include nanoscience, physics, chemistry, and materials science. Jobs requiring just a master’s are harder to find and may not pay as well as those given to engineers with PhDs.
Most companies or government agencies prefer a PhD in biophysics, bioengineering, one of the branches of engineering, semiconductor processing, photonics, or quantum technologies.
Certification demonstrates competency in skills, typically through work experience, training, the passage of an examination, or some combination of the three.
Certification from an objective and reputed organization can help you gain professional credibility, stand out in a competitive job market, increase your chances for a promotion, carry a significant salary premium of up to 18 percent, and help a Nanotech Engineer become an independent consultant.
An industrial career begins with hands-on roles to strengthen knowledge and practical skills. You may move into nanotechnology if you are already working in research science, such as a chemist or physicist.
With experience, Nanotech Engineers advance into specialist roles, such as Engineering Manager, involving greater responsibility for projects and supervision of other engineers and staff members. You may then advance to becoming a Project Manager or Technical Director.
A PhD is typically followed by one or more short-term postdoctoral research contracts up to three years long in academia. Academic promotion depends on research achievement, measured by the quality and quantity of original papers published.
You can progress to become a Lecturer and then a Professor with management responsibilities if you secure funding for your research project and group, which depends on time-consuming funding applications. Permanent research posts without teaching or administrative responsibilities are rare and highly sought after.
A willingness to work abroad, at least for limited periods, may increase your job prospects by developing an international network of professionals working in the same field.
Supervisor support is available to Nanotech Engineers employed in research posts during their PhD programs. Additional training is likely to be offered by the employer to develop your PhD and transferable skills. Those employed by a university would have access to postdoctoral training and development at the start of their career.
Most industrial employers may offer training and support to stay current with the latest techniques and research. While you may be sponsored to attend external courses, you would also need to conduct independent research to keep pace with professional developments.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential. Attending conferences gives you opportunities to network with world-class scientists, researchers and business leaders, nanotechnology research centers, global companies, and other prospective employers.
Certain professional development courses may allow Nanotech Engineers to become Specialists and Trainers in the emerging field of nanotechnology and its applications. They may also offer apprentices golden opportunities to take on paid on-the-job training while displaced technical workers may acquire skills for a new career.
Nanotech Engineers may pursue an MBA to take on higher managerial roles or graduate/doctoral degrees in engineering to qualify for executive roles in industry and government.
How Big (Or Small) is a Nanometer?
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or one-millionth of a millimeter, or three to five atoms in width and approximately half the width of a human DNA molecule or 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. About 40,000 nanometers would equal the width of a human hair.
Some History
Interestingly, ancient artifacts such as the Roman Lycurgus Cup and Damascan steel swords used bulk materials that are now known as nanocomposites. The word “nano” is derived from the Greek word for “dwarf.”
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is a new umbrella term that includes all fields of science operating on the nanoscale. Those who work with nanotechnology deal with materials and technologies on a microscopic level to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, electrical conductivity, and chemical reactivity. The general use of the term nanotechnology differs from the more specific sciences that fall under its heading. nanotech engineering nanotech engineering is one of the fields in nanotechnology and a branch of engineering that deals with all aspects of the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures on the nanoscale. It is an interdisciplinary science that concerns itself with manipulating processes that occur on a scale of 1-100 nanometers.
The Fine Line of Difference Between Nanotech Engineering and Nanotechnology
While the term “nanotech engineering” is often used synonymously with the word “nanotechnology,” the former technically focuses more closely on engineering aspects and specific practical applications than the broader science and general technology aspects encompassed by the latter.
Close Cousins - Nanofabrication and Nanomanufacturing
Other closely related terms are “nanofabrication” and “nanomanufacturing.” One way to distinguish between them is to use the criterion of economic viability. Nanomanufacturing is an economic activity with industrial production facilities with more or less fully automated assembly lines. By contrast, nanofabrication is more of a research activity based on developing new materials and processes.
Nanomaterials
Nanometer-sized particles exist in nature, but can also be created to form a subclass called engineered nanomaterials that take on unique electrical, optical, magnetic, and other properties.
Materials that are nanoscale can be produced in one dimension (nanowires, nanorods, and nanotubes), in two sizes (plate-like shapes like nanocoatings, nanolayers, and graphene), or all three dimensions (nanoparticles).
Applications of Nanotech Engineering
By working at the scale of atoms and molecules, nanotech engineering exploits nanomaterials’ unique properties (size, quantum effects, interactions to design and manufacture useful materials, structures, devices, and systems) with entirely new functionality and capabilities.
While not exactly a new science, nanotech engineering has applications in several industries and fields. Nanotech Engineers seek to learn new things and create innovations that can revolutionize science, electronics, energy, environment, health, medicine, and biotechnology on a molecular level.
Medical Field
In the medical field, Nanotech Engineers repair damage at the cellular level, working towards developing more effective and less toxic drugs, cures, treatments, targeted drug delivery, and more efficient medical devices and diagnostic aids such as biosensors.
Those involved with bio-systems create ways to store the tiniest amounts of DNA or other biological fragments for testing and manipulation. An example of natural products fortified with nanoscale materials is the nano-improved tooth-colored enamel that dentists use to fill cavities.
Other Areas
Nanotech Engineers develop new ways to prevent crop failures and new methods to detect contaminants and disease to aid food production and preparation. They also try to improve air, soil, and water quality by creating innovative ways to test for environmental pollutants and improve existing methods of generating energy and developing new ones.
They also work in areas ranging from weapons and communications to the development of super-strong materials. Working with nanoelectronics, they create smaller, more efficient chips, cards, and computer parts to reduce electronic waste.
Why Are Nanomaterial Properties Different?
The properties of nanomaterials can be different for two main reasons. First, nanomaterials have a relatively larger surface area compared to the same mass of material produced in a larger form. It can make materials more chemically reactive (some materials inert in their larger form are reactive in their nanoscale form). Second, quantum effects can begin to dominate the behavior of matter at the nanoscale, affecting the optical, electrical, and magnetic behavior of materials.
Complexities
In addition to nano dimensions that are incompatible with human sensory capabilities, nanoscale objects also often have surfaces unsuited for assembling into ordered structures. Therefore, sophisticated nanotech engineering techniques are needed to fabricate complex nanoarchitectures, the ultimate purpose being industrial applications.
Too minuscule for the human eye to behold, or the human hand to hold, or an ordinary instrument to manipulate...nanoparticles encapsulate a powerhouse of capabilities Nanotech Engineers exploit to help reduce human suffering and make our world better, cleaner, and greener. There’s a lot more to vouch for nanotech engineering than just that waterproof, wrinkle-free, and stain-resistant dress or suit you might wear to your graduation! So, if you are ready to give new meaning to “sweating the small stuff,” then the ever-expanding world of nanotech engineering awaits you.
You can be a chemist, a physicist, or a biologist and still work in the field of nanotechnology. What’s important is that your team members and you harmonize your capabilities to solve the problem at hand. Make sure you learn how to communicate with audiences who don’t understand your jargon!
What makes your baseball bats, tennis rackets, bicycles, motorcycle helmets, automobile parts, and luggage lightweight, durable, and resilient? It’s the nanoscale additives used in the polymer composite materials!
What do Nanotech Engineers do?
A Nanotech Engineer would typically need to:
Accredited
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