Community college partnerships
Recognizing the increasingly important role community colleges play in preparing the nation's nanobiotechnology workforce of the future, and that community colleges in Southern California serve large numbers of URM students, many the first in their families to attend college, the SDNI has partnered with San Diego's Mira Costa College, which is implementing the nation's first 4-year degree-conferring biomanufacturing program starting in 2017. The SDNI offers short (5-day), hands-on introductory courses on nanotechnology to community college and vocational school students on a regular basis.
If you are an educational institution and interested in collaborating with us, please contact Beto Vasquez at betovasquez@ucsd.edu.Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU):
The SDNI offers an REU program to immerse undergraduates in a challenging, transformative research experience in nanofabrication and characterization
Research Experience for Teachers (RET):
Research Experience for Teachers (RET):
The SDNI offers a summer RET program to enhance the quality of pre-college STEM education in our region, focusing on recruitment of 4 high school or community college science teachers annually, each of whom is matched with an appropriate SDNI professor-mentor. Preference is be given to teachers who work with large numbers of URM students.
Training in entrepreneurship:
The SDNI conducts annual Innovation-to-Market Workshops for trainee-users, i.e., undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, to develop their entrepreneurial skills and understanding of the technology commercialization process. These workshops are led by staff at UCSD's von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, which is dedicated to mentoring faculty and student inventors through the proof-of-concept process. The Center provides commercialization support to bridge the gap between exciting laboratory discoveries and products that address market needs. The SDNI leverages the expertise and programs at the von Liebig Center to make the Innovation-to-Market Workshops highly relevant and inspiring to trainees, especially those who may have or are contemplating starting their own companies