Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at a molecular and atomic scale. Plough through this article to know what it takes to build a career in nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology Courses

“I want to build a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which are manufacturing simultaneously. The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big”, said Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner in Physics. He probably was speaking his mind on nanotechnology. However, contrary to popular belief, all things associated with nanotechnology, practically speaking; do not really have much to do with nanotechnology. For example, the Nano, the cheapest car in the world today and nanotechnology have only one thing in common, and that is the name. This is because nanotechnology, being very true to what it really is, doesn’t really have much to do with Tata Motors’ revolutionary car. In its traditional sense, nanotechnology means building things with atomic prescription from scratch. Nanotechnology or ‘nanotech’ refers to the study of matter and control of the same on a molecular and atomic scale. Nanotechnology, in the broader sense of the term, is generally associated with structures sized between 1 to 100 nanometers. It includes the developing of devices and materials within the limits of this size. Read on to know what it takes to be eligible for courses in nanotechnology, career prospects that lie in the same and the best institutes offering courses in nanotechnology. 

Career In Nanotechnology

Eligibility
Although institutes offer graduate courses in nanotechnology, students still prefer taking up postgraduate courses in the same. To be eligible for a course in nanotechnology, a student or individual will have to be done with a degree in engineering. There are at present a sizeable number of institutes offering post graduate courses in nanotechnology in India as well countries abroad. Courses in nanotechnology come in the ‘variants’ of a masters program and a doctorate level degree. In order to be eligible for an M.Tech in nanotechnology, a student will have to possess a B.Tech. or a B.E. degree in chemical engineering, biotechnology or pharmaceutical technology. Institutes of repute all over the world require students to have at least more than 65% of marks. This requirement in fact has become one of the most important eligibility criterions that students are required to possess. In order to be eligible for a doctoral degree in nanotechnology, a student or individual will have to be done with a masters program in the same.

Course Details
Nanotechnology courses, be it a masters program or a PhD, will endeavor to offer knowledge and training all aspects of nanotechnology. Courses will help students develop, understand and modify devices and materials with atomic and molecular precision. Students will have to do all of this with particles that lie in the size range of 1 to 100 nanometers. Typically, courses in nanotechnology, apart from a large variety of modules, will attempt to enumerate on the following:
  • What is nanotechnology?
  • Advantages of Nanotechnology
  • Improved transportation
  • Atom computers
  • Military applications
  • Soft lithography and nanoscale printing
  • Nano computers
  • Nanotechnology and Life Sciences
  • Nanomedicine
  • Molecular Bodies

Career Prospects
For a student who is done with an M.Tech in nanotechnology or a doctoral degree in the same, the future is paved with a lot of promises and excitement. It will be more than easy for a knowledgeable graduate in nanotechnology to land a plum job in companies associated with the health industry. Companies that thrive in the pharmaceutical industry, agricultural industry and environmental industry will be more than willing to hire the services of a nanotechnologist. Nanotechnologists can also find jobs in academic institutes, government and private institutes, the armed forces of a country, food and beverage companies, research institutes, etc. It is needless to say that nanotechnologists are paid extremely well. 

Some Of The Institutes Offering Courses In Nanotechnology

  • Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
  • Harvard University, United States of America
  • Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
  • Columbia University, United States of America
  • Rice University, United States of America’
  • National Physical Laboratory, Delhi, India
  • Solid State Physics Laboratory, Delhi, India
  • National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India
  • Central Scientific Instruments Organization, Chandigarh, India
  • Defence Materials Store Research & Development Organizations, Kanpur, India
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States of America
  • Indian Institutes of Technology - Kanpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Delhi and Mumbai.
  • INL, Braga, Portugal-Spain


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