The IUPUI Nanotechnology Discovery Academy (INDA) provides summer programs for high-school students and teachers that offer participants a unique opportunity to explore the emerging field of nanotechnology.
The “science of the small” has long been a staple of popular culture—even before the home-lab misadventures of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids to the fictionalized nanoscience of Terminator 2, and even to the next Hollywood blockbuster. Nanotechnology involves the control of matter in the nanometer-scale dimensions, with a broad range of applications such as energy, medicine, information technology, space and aeronautics, and consumer goods.
Through lecture-based theory, hands-on learning, and teaching module development in renewable energy, nanomedicine, and bionanotechnology, INDA instills students with the desire and capacity to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and careers. By instilling this desire early in a student's academic career, it greatly increases the chance that they will become future engineers, mathematicians, and scientists.
The interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology is the embodiment of each letter of the “STEM” acronym. Having a workforce trained in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields is key to our nation’s future capacity for global competition and collaboration.
INDA is a collaborative partnership between the Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI), the Center for Research and Learning (CRL), the STEM Education & Research Institute (SERI), the Minority Engineering Advancement Program (MEAP) and the Special Programs for Academic Nurturing (SPAN).
