New curriculum mixes nanotechnology and skiing
Nanotechnology seems a daunting subject, but for mechanical engineering students at the 
University of Nevada, Reno, it has taken on a real world approach – in Ski Building 101.
“Yes, we’re going to make skis. No, it’s not really Ski Building 101,” said Kam K. Leang, the faculty member and principal investigator for a project to further integrate nanotechnology into the undergraduate curriculum at the University.
Leang and two colleagues at the University, Jonghwan Suhr and John Cannon, aim to prepare 21st century mechanical engineers at the University to meet the emerging challenges of nanotechnology using a top-down approach where the first important step is to excite them about the technology.
“We want students to get enthused about mechanical engineering, to see the possibilities and potential of nanotechnology,” Leang said.
Leang, who’s been building skis for more than five years in his garage and offers web-based instructions on ski building, has plans for the students to use innovative materials and creative technologies to build something extraordinary.
“It may not be p-tex, layers of standard materials and steel edges,” he said. “We’ll integrate nanomaterials into the construction to improve performance and use the student’s skills in mechanical engineering to be inventive with ski design.” Read full story:
