Nanovip All things Nanotechnology – Nano Is The Futiure
What do nanotechnology engineers do?
Nanotechnology Engineering applies concepts from biology, chemistry, electrical engineering and quantum physics to build objects through manipulations at the atomic and molecular level. Engineers in this field understand different theories and techniques to model, design, fabricate and characterize nano-engineered structures and devices for sensors, electronics, biosystems, and advanced materials.
What does Waterloo have to offer?
Nano-structures range from 1 to 100 nanometers (billionths of a metre), small enough to interact with cells in biological applications, and can involve clusters, fullerenes, nanotubes, macromolecules, nanorobots, miniature electronics, or engineered materials.
Waterloo provides the only stand-alone nanotechnology engineering program of its kind in Canada. Our program will teach you to apply mathematics, science, and engineering to complete projects using the modern instruments required for such small-scale investigations. This program requires highly specialized equipment, facilities, and expertise so we reserve state-of-the-art laboratories for undergraduate students to use.
In upper years, you’ll double up your co-op work terms so they are longer and you can be involved in larger research and industrial projects that explore the new possibilities of this exciting field.
What average do I need for admission?
For admission to begin school September 2010:
- individual selection from the high 80s
- Find out more about detailed admission requirements
What can I do after graduation?
After you graduate, you’ll be able to apply your knowledge to create advanced materials that can be used in new ways. Work to reduce the weight of materials to increase efficiency and impact the health of the environment by finding new ways to test for pollutants, or work in the medical field using miniature devices that can do things at the molecular level we’ve never seen before.
Areas of Specialization
- Micro and Nanoinstruments: Design miniature instruments for use in chemistry, biochemistry, clinical medicine, detection of biochemical agents, or environmental analysis.
- Nanoelectronics: Design the systems and materials required to improve high-performance microprocessor chips, or the plastic materials for better smart cards or tube-like computers.
- Nano-biosystems: Design processes and miniaturization of devices for measuring or manipulating DNA fragments, peptides, proteins, or cells.
- Nanoengineered Materials: Design advanced materials such as nanocrystalline materials or nanopowders used in electronic and photonic applications, as catalysts in automobiles, in the food and pharmaceutical industries, as membranes for fuel cells, and for industrial-scale polymers
Co-op students at work
- Engineering Assistant, ComDev
- Research Assistant, Albany Nanotech
- Product Development, Xerox Research Centre
For descriptions of these jobs look at our sample co-op jobs.
Sample Careers
- Hardware Engineer, Motorola
- Materials Specialist, DuPont
- Manufacturing Engineer, 3M
- Engineer, BioCrystal Ltd.
More details: Nanotechnology Engineering web site
University of Waterloo
Faculty of Engineering
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567