Nanotechnology (2 Viewers)

[shannonm]

"My favourite is the nanopants - pants woven from a highly hydrophobic and lipophobic substance that simply can't be stained - all external agents just slide off (I've tested them myself). We even have a rock that when dipped in water will re-emerge bone dry (I've tested that too). All the stuff I've talked about is on the market right now"

hey where can we buy some of this stuff?
do you guys have a shop or anything?

 

[Iota]

Nanotech is sweet. I'll probably do either bioinformatics or nanotechnology.

 

[Lexicographer]

"My favourite is the nanopants - pants woven from a highly hydrophobic and lipophobic substance that simply can't be stained - all external agents just slide off (I've tested them myself). We even have a rock that when dipped in water will re-emerge bone dry (I've tested that too). All the stuff I've talked about is on the market right now"

hey where can we buy some of this stuff?
do you guys have a shop or anything?

Haha well the Nanopants were a concept model, they're not for commercial sale as yet (still tweaking production methods etc). The hydrophobic rock was actually just a demonstrator of a coating produced by the Australian based German company Nanotec, I'll see if I can find their site. They're aimed more at commercial clients (since the technology is still pretty expensive) so don't expect to have a self cleaning patio outside your house for another decade or so.

 

[Zarathustra]

Thanks for the advice, Lexi.
I have absolutley no idea about the basic structure of Bachelor Science degrees let alone the differences between universities.
I live fairly close to the Penrith campus of UWS, which (I think) offers a specialised nano degree - do you know how the UWS degree compares to the other universities? I did go to the open day for UWS (Hawkesbury) last year and talked to the science co-ordinator (and Dean...) and he told me that UTS created the nano course for UWS. The UAI for UWS nano is significantly lower than the other unis and is so close - my question is: will I be wasting my time getting a UWS degree?
I was planning to live on campus but the prices are substantially higher than I had expected so I'm leaning towards staying at home.
Seeing as I have no specific interest in science (this was one of the reasons that nano appealed to me, being so interdisciplinary) I think that I will apply for the BSci and create my own degree.

EDIT: I checked and its the campbelltown campus that offeres nano

 

[Lexicographer]

Well, first of all you should never assume that UWS = University of Wasted Space. Despite what some people on this forum would have you believe, UWS is a pretty good uni with some very strong departments, and (I am told) Nano is one of them. To be honest I can't say I know too much about their degree (I've only spent about five minutes looking at its structure and content, and that was in the two hours before handing in a major assignment three weeks ago) but from the looks of it all the essential elements were there. UWS students don't have as many core subjects (ie more electives) and (like everyone else who isn't from UTS) don't get to handle the equipment (ie STM, EFM and other microscopes) until at least honours. Despite this, the science behind the degree is sound, the teaching is strong and the name (this time) is well defended.

That's another thing about nano - it's so new that old-boy prejudice is meaningless (and self-defeating).

 

[mack]

I reckon the cutoff will skyrocket in time, it is new and hasnt had time to develop a reputation yet. But once it does, its going to the top floor. BTW, is it possible at this stage for creation of medical nanobots, e.g Nanobots that can be injected into the human bloodstream to fight disease etc?

 

[Lexicographer]

You have no idea how often I hear that. Has anyone read Michael Crichton's Prey?

That novel is absolute bullshit on every scientific level. We're not even close to developing useless nanobots, let alone functional ones. In fact, we've barely made microbots (look up MicroElectrical Mechanical Systems - MEMS). Anyway, nanobot stuff is about twenty years away, if progress continues at the current rate.

As for the cutoff, the reason it's not so high (at UTS at least) is that it's been planned to sit like this. The number of places currently matches demand very nicely whilst maintaining an acceptable applicant standard. You don't need four unit maths for nano (though for last semester's Calculus it would have been handy). What you do need is the ability to understand and be interested in all (or most) fields of Science, as well as a slightly more worldly mind than is expected of your typical science student. Half of nano is all about finding something to DO with it.

 

[adinclik]

UNSW vs UTS

UNSW has a higher uai cutoff than UTS for nanotech. Someone ased their Physics/Maths teacher which one they should set as 1st preference and which one as 2nd. Their teacher said "The UAI tells the story." Another source told me that "UNSW has better teaching but UTS has better equipment." There is also a book based on nanotechnology (caled Nanotechnology) with four authors; as far as i remember they r all professors, one at UWS, one at UNSW, and 2 at UTS (or 2 at UNSW and 1 at UTS). Is UNSW the better choice for nanotech since UAI = ~85 ...?

Also lexi, u said ur in UTS and trying to maintain a HD. If u dont mind, may i ask for ur UAI (b'coz i wanna know if u study harder at uni compared to yr 12)?

Thanks

 

[shannonm]

Is UNSW the better choice for nanotech since UAI = ~85 ...?

damn dude did you read a word lexicographer said?

 

[adinclik]

yeah don't trust lexi's biased rambling, check out all the courses first hand

Thuis is why i asked

 

[Survivor39]

erhm... I guess different people have very different opinion about which uni to choose. Clearly Lexi has given some very useful information on UTS nano, and in order to find out more about the SUBJECTS at other unis, you really have to go into their website and check out what subjects they actually do. It is your choice and it really depends on your interest in specific field of science. If you like chemistry for example, then you would prefer UNSW, as you do a lot of CHEM subjects in your degree.

And UAI cut offs don't indicate anything. You do not know the quota (how many people can gain a place), which ultimately determines the cut-offs.

And on equipment wise, the faculty of Science at UNSW has a lot of resources and facilities. SO I wouldn't worry about the lack of apparatus here.

Someone said they wanted to do evolutionary Biology and psychology, well, I am doing Biology at first year level now and it's called "Evolutionary and functional Biology". We just dissected a rat and a toad, so if you like to do that, you should choose Science and minor in Biology, while majoring in Nanotech.