In a science classroom at Ballston Spa High School on the morning of Friday, Oct. 17, junior Nick Gallo examined a smudge of sunscreen under the glow of a black light. Peering at the glowing glob, he made a notation on his lab handout.
Though it may seem like the typical science lab, Gallo is actually one of 33 Ballston Spa students taking a new course introducing a buzz-worthy field in the Capital District: nanotechnology.
The Ballston Spa School District first started considering the Exploration in Nanotechnology course in November 2007, and since then two science teachers, John Balet and Mike Potter, have spent their summers at places like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute boning up on the latest developments in the field. The result is a program that District Science Coordinator Diane Irwin says will give students the proper introduction to an industry that is likely to transform the area.
It’s really going to give them exposure to the current fields of science and how it’s applied, said Irwin. `It goes well beyond AMD, though they’re a part of this.`
Advanced Micro Devices energized the entire region with its commitment earlier this month to build a $4.6 billion microchip manufacturing plant at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. In actuality, the factory will be built and run by a spin-off entity, the Foundry Company, comprised of AMD and the Abu Dhabi-based Advanced Technology Investment Company.
AMD officials have said that the facility ` known as Fab 4X ` will create thousands of jobs in the area, including 1,465 workers in the factory, pulling in an estimated $88 million payroll.
During an Oct. 10 presentation, AMD’s Manager of Global Community Affairs Ward Tisdale said that around 300 of those jobs would be engineering-related and require at least a four-year degree, while about 500 would be filled by fab technicians with two-year degrees.
With sophomores, juniors and seniors taking the nanotechnology class at Ballston Spa, many of them will be in a position to be part of the first wave of new hires at Fab 4X, which should be opening its doors in 2011. That was on Gallo’s mind when he signed up for the course.
`I knew that nanotechnology would be a pretty big thing when I get out of college,` he said, adding that he has always had an interest in cutting-edge science.
The idea of the lab in Balet’s class was to see if sunscreens that contain nanoparticles are better at blocking UV rays than those without. It’s a perfect example of how the field of nanotechnology extends beyond the microchip.
`We think of [nanotechnology] as a computer technology, but it also goes from consumer products, to energy production, to disease detection and drug delivery,` said Balet.
Potter agreed. `It has huge implications,` he said. `It’s cutting edge science We wanted to be one of the frontrunners in introducing this field.`
While Balet covers the biology angle, Potter’s students were working at computers and wrapping up a lab that involves studying photovoltaic energy ` in other words, how solar panels turn light into power. Senior Chris Bulmer said that while he isn’t dead-set on a career in nanotechnology, he is excited to work with cutting edge concepts.
`I liked the concept of nanotechnology, and being able to create new technology,` he said.
Halfway through the school year, the two classes will switch teachers.
While the newfound program at Ballston Spa is aimed at stimulating interest in the field, Hudson Valley Community College has been coordinating with AMD to provide practical training to future fab technicians. It will be building a satellite facility at the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park (STEP), to be known as the Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative Renewable Technologies (TEC-SMART).
The satellite campus will offer students hands-on clean room training that will translate well to employment at Fab 4X or other businesses. `It’s one of the few of a kind like this in the nation,` said Joeseph Sarubbi, executive director of TEC-SMART, who said that HVCC has been working closely with AMD, communicating with the company’s chip fabs in Dresden, Germany.
`We are certainly collaborating,` he said. `AMD is going to get more intimately involved in making sure our clean room meets specifications.`
TEC-SMART’s more than one dozen classrooms will also provide education in alternative energy fields like photovoltaic design. The building is promised to be a `green` structure. A groundbreaking in early 2009 is hoped for, with students in seats a year later.
Former State Sen. Joseph Bruno helped secure $13.5 million in state funding for TEC-SMART. The hope is that it will cover the bulk of the cost, but planning has yet to be completed.
STEP is a 280-acre site located near LFTC, and already houses a number of high-tech businesses working toward `green` solutions, like Eloctrovaya, a lithium-ion battery maker; groSolar, a solar panel manufacturer and installer; and Starfire Systems, which uses nanotechnology in ceramic manufacturing.
HVCC won’t be the only educator working on construction projects in the near future. On Wednesday, Oct. 22, the Ballston Spa Board of Education voted to proceed with a planned 70,000-square-foot expansion and 100,000 square feet of renovations to the middle and high schools.
The project will give students and teachers much needed breathing room at the middle school, where about 1,050 students inhabit an area built for 800. In addition, more science classrooms will be added and old ones will be upgraded. Newer equipment with special power and space needs don’t always work well in the 1950s-era labs.
The $56 million project would raise property taxes by 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. It will be subjected to a Dec. 11 public referendum. If the measure passes, a groundbreaking in the fall of 2010 is hoped for.
At nearby Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District, plans are under way to offer classes in nanotechnology similar to those at Ballston Spa. Teachers have been examining options since February 2007 and incorporating nanotechnology into their courses.
`We want to prepare our students for job opportunities that could be available locally at AMD, but it’s much larger than that,` said science department head George Seymour. `We want students to have a basic understanding of nanotechnology.`
Science classes at BH-BL have been building nanotube synthesizers and an atomic force microscope simulator.
Of course, with budget worries across the state, local school districts will have trouble putting pricy tools into the hands of students, and there is some concern that with a potential population influx, funding programs won’t get any easier.
`As one of the highest performing school districts in the Capital District, we feel this could impact us,` said BH-BL district spokeswoman Christy Multer. `One of our concerns is that with housing developments that are aimed at people with school-aged children the costs of educating those children will be greater than the taxes of that house.“
