The University of New Hampshire hosted its 2nd Annual Nanotechnology Conference for New Hampshire-based K-12 teachers on April 5. The event featured eight workshops plus a keynote address by George Kachen, vice-president of Business Development at Triton Systems, a nanotechnology company located in Chelmsford, Mass.

The conference attracted more than 70 teachers from across New Hampshire, making it one of the largest nanotechnology conferences for K-12 teachers held anywhere in the Unites States. Each teacher attended two of eight possible workshops with topics ranging from the science behind nanotechnology to the history of nanotechnology to the societal impacts of nanotechnology.

All of the teachers convened for the keynote address where Kachen described a variety of nanotech-based products that have already been commercialized. These include high-strength, lightweight composites used in car parts, tennis rackets and golf clubs, as well as nanoparticles that used in cosmetics, anti-stain and anti-wetting fabrics, and air purifiers. Kachen also described several up and coming nanotechnologies, including a cancer therapy and a computer memory chip, that are causing a great deal of excitement but have yet to be commercialized.

The National Science Foundation predicts that new nanotechnologies will add two million jobs and one trillion dollars per year to the world’s economy by 2015. “Nanotechnologies will have a profound impact on our lives in the coming decades,” noted Glen Miller, associate director of the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing which hosted the conference. “We are including K-12 teachers in our center’s efforts because they will be impacted as consumers and because their students represent the future nanotech workforce.”

Susan Greenberg, K-12 Outreach Coordinator for the center, organized the conference and noted that it represents one piece of a vibrant K-12 outreach program at UNH. “Scientists have been regularly visiting New Hampshire classrooms to discuss nanotechnology, contacting nearly 900 middle school and high school students this year alone.” Greenberg will follow the nanotechnology conference with a K-12 Teacher Institute to be held between July 24 and July 28 on the UNH campus. Interested teachers can contact Susan Greenberg at susan.greenberg@unh.edu or by visiting the Nano Group Web site at www.nano.unh.edu.