Careers
Nanotechnology is going to have a massive effect on all walks of life, not just science. No matter which career you will pursue, knowing about the wild and fantastic technological changes that are just on the horizon will help you, both in work and personal life. By reading this page you will get an quick idea of how various job fields will be affected by nanotechnology more generally, and finally several very nanotech-specific fields themselves will be listed. To get a more in-depth look at each of these fields and your career options, be sure to visit the in2nano FunDay where you can see nanotech in action and learn about how its gonna rock all jobs and provide great opportunities.
Careers
- in Business and Finance
- in Medicine and Pharmacy
- in Policing & Criminology (NanoTech CSI)
- in Engineering
- in Teaching
- in Architecture/Construction
- in Environmental Conservation
- in Politics/Law/Ethics
- in Archeology
- in Art/Graphics Design
- in Computer Science
- in Beauty/Cosmetics
- in Fashion
- in Sports
- in Science
in Business and Finance
It is forecasted that Nanotechnology is going to be a trillion dollar market in the coming decades. Nanotechnology is what we call an "enabling" technology, it is the technology that provides the basis for all other technological innovations. Therefore, it will be improving upon many existing products and conventional tools already in the marketplace. It is also a "disruptive" technology, in that it will provide fundamentally new products that will easily outmatch and quickly outdate current ones. Numerous opportunities for bringing new products to market, existing products to the Middle East market, and for investment are and will increasingly be created by nanotechnology discoveries. Some will be winners and some will be losers when these new technologies come to the market - but those who are aware and prepared for the potential of nanotech will have a head start to success.
in Medicine and Pharmacy
The lives of both doctors and patients are going to get a lot easier. Instead of having tons of unnecessary side-effects from taking the medicines we have today (such as hair loss, painful rashes, or vomiting, etc.) patients will be able to take "targeted-drugs" that go directly to the site of infection and attack the virus itself, without affecting any other parts of the body. No more needles, painless injections will enable medicines to enter the subcutaneous layer through a harmless patch on the skin. Doctors will be able to diagnose patients more easily in the field and reach many more people with the use of new disposable testing kits ("lab-on-a-chip") which are cheap, disposable, and provide instant readouts. Nanosensors will be able to monitor patients with ease and great precision, and the hospitals themselves will be a whole lot cleaner with bacteria and virus-free walls and bed sheets.
in Policing & Criminology
(Nanotech CSI)
It should come as no big surprise when we consider the numerous biological and medical breakthroughs that nanotech will advance that the science of the small will have as well an inevitable impact on forensics. Most promising on developments on the horizon include instant DNA diagnostic readings on crime scenes, extremely accurate fingerprint detection. Crime prevention and detection is leaping to a whole new level with nanotechnology. Lightweight and impenetrable bullet-proof and anti-ballistic vests, sensors to detect poisonous toxins and other harmful substances that can be used in airports for example. Theoretically it could be possible to produce jail cells and shackles from carbon nanotubes which would be invisible to the eye, yet stronger and more impenetrable than steel. Surveillance will also become a pressing issue with the increasing availability of cheap and accurate tracking and sensing devices.
in Engineering
Nanotechnology is going to be the foundational technology of all future innovations. Engineers need and develop tools. Nanotechnology puts a very powerful tool in their hand. Working on the nanoscale, engineers can actually model and learn from the greatest "Engineer" of all time, mother nature. Nature already works and builds on the nanoscale. By examining the nanoscale engineers are currently able to actually engineer with tremendous precision as never before - on the scale of atoms and molecules. By molecular engineering, these nano-engineers are coming up with fantastic creations - like materials that called Aerogels for example, which feel like very light hard foam, that look something like frozen smoke (due to its semi-transparency), and can be used as a terrific insulating material, or as a thickening agent, or even a catalyst.
in Teaching
Nanotechnology is the next scientific revolution. With every such revolution we need a paradigm shift - a new way of thinking about the world around us; science is, after all, the study and observation of our world. Adapting to the new world of nanotechnology requires great inquisitiveness, creativity, and powers of observation to be instilled in students. Teachers will need to equip their students not only with new ways of learning about science, but also about the world around them as they will help them to deal with the new developments that arise affecting human communities across the globe. Teachers need to teach kids to think for themselves, to believe in their ideas, to have fun in exploration, and to challenge all assumptions - old and new.
in Architecture/Construction
Imagine having the ability to build with materials that were wear-proof, water-proof, mould/fungus-proof, that were light as a feather but stronger than steel, terrific insulators, and environmentally friendly? Nanotech offers this potential. Nanotechnology will reach all sides of the construction spectrum - from producing luxury homes with completely innovative, unimaginable new artistic and technological facets, to improved and more affordable and easily constructed housing for the general public (imagine construction workers lifting materials only weighing as much as a feather?) to weather-proof, wear-proof, easily constructed and affordable shelters to provide better protection against the elements for the needy and poor.
in Environmental Conservation
Imagine you could have a solar cell that could be painted on a building and provide it with electricity. Can you just imagine how much energy that would produce if painted over the walls and ceilings of any average apartment building in Egypt? This sun-blessed country would be energy-loaded even on the coldest winter days. Solar energy is just one of the many possible areas where nanotechnology can make a big difference in cleaning up the pollution in the world around us. It can filter out poisonous toxins from the exhaust in our cars, provide completely pure filtered water, clean up landfills and reduce waste. In addition to offering a number of very promising alternative energy sources can help extend our current energy sources, such as extending the lifeline of existing oil rigs.
in Politics/Law/Ethics
Technology needs regulations. People need to be kept informed and aware of its benefits and its risks. Further, the society needs to be protected from these risks, while the benefits are maximized. This is where politics and nanoscience collide. Nanotechnology is a new science and a new technology and therefore needs government policies and effective planning in order for its introduction to our societies to be made in a sustainable, effective way that cares for the long-term growth of the society and our future generations. Policy-makers and the public need to be kept up to date with these newest innovations, and to help provide the institutional support that the researchers and industry need in order to maximize their contribution to and protection of society.
in Archeology
Every archeologist is faced with the enormous challenge: do we leave it in the ground, untouched to be preserved for future generations? Or shall we go ahead an unveil history's treasure trove? Nanotechnology offers the possibility of eliminating this challenge. Ultra-sensitive nanotech sensors can potentially be made to map out excavation sites in-situ and delve under the earth's surface unmasking its hidden treasures without ever having to lift a spade. A better understanding of surface properties given by nanotechnology will help us not only to find more effective ways to unearth artifacts and minimize or eliminate damage altogether, but will also provide the coatings needed to preserve and restore these artifacts to their original splendor. Further, museum filtration systems powered by nanotech can provide the optimal environmental conditions needed for preservation.
in Art/Graphics Design
Artists will have the joy to experiment with radically new mediums. Paint that can change color depending on heat or light, nano-scale luminescent crystals that mimic the wings of a butterfly, light and extremely bendable materials that are super-strong for sculpture, increasingly computer-internet integration into normal surfaces with added interactivity to all art/design. Materials that are semi-transparent and give off amazing optical illusions. Improved tools and novel materials - self-cleaning paintbrushes with bristles that are long-lasting, fast-baking clay that can be remolded, erasable paint, etc.
in Computer Science
In the next couple of years traditional electronics are going to reach their limits. Nanotechnology offers a way to overcome this and increase our ability to miniaturize computers and make us more and more connected. Nanotech also offers us the potential advent of the Quantum computer - the Holy Grail of computing - which will introduce many new and exciting applications, from immense computing power, to simulation of quantum physics, as well as a host of other mathematical operations with tremendous effectiveness and speed compared to today's computing.
in Beauty/Cosmetics
Bad hair day? Imagine dying your hair today, and deciding you want to go back to your original hair color tomorrow? Hair stylists of the future will be able to do this in a snap with nanotechnology. Shampoo's that make your hair curly, conditioners that really do condition (and do exactly as the advertisements say). But these new products are not so far away as you might think, the cosmetics industry is one of the early industries to take up nanotechnology, already a number of nanotech products exist on shelves already here in Egypt, and more will come just around the corner. Look out for sun block that is invisible and non-greasy, anti-ageing skin treatment, truly long-lasting mascara, easy pain-free hair-removal, etc.
in Fashion
Wrinkle-free, water-proof suits that feel as soft as normal cotton or wool. Sports jersey's and socks that don't eliminate sweat from your body and keep you cool and refreshed and bacteria, "smelly"-free. These are some of the great new textiles that are already entering the fashion industry. Clothing that can change color in an instant "blue's the new red". Clothing that generates electricity from your movement as you walk, or soaks in solar energy and powers your nano iPod. Clothing that contains "emergency medical kits" to self-repair your wounds, rebuild your broken bones, in case you injure yourself (great for sports players). And for men who don't like to change their underwear - don't worry - with nanotech boxers you won't have to - they will self-clean themselves every day.
in Sports
Some of the potential applications for sports have been listed already above under fashion such as sweat and bacteria-free clothing and wound-repairing clothes. Other applications for sports already on the market include lightweight tennis rackets developed on the molecular level, nano-golf and tennis balls that add fire and precision to the game. Potential applications include running shoes that allow tremendous jumping power and speed, new and novel sports products - like nano-engineered coatings that bounce water off it that allow swimmers the ability to literally slide across the swimming pool or even walk on water, and who knows -- maybe a quidditch broom someday?
in Science
In modern times, traditionally unified science split into separate disciplines - Biology, Physics, Chemistry, even Mathematics. Nanotechnology brings back the interconnectedness of the sciences. On the nanoscale - all of these disciplines become one again. Further, on the nanoscale we are entering completely new territory in terms of scientific laws and properties. This is an incredibly exciting time to become a scientist. We are entering the next frontier - the nanoscale, with numerous discoveries waiting to be invented and explored. Science touches all of life, and the work of nanoscientists will have a direct impact on all of the above-mentioned fields on this page, and many more. In specifically nanoscience fields, job projections are estimated to be at nearly 2 million workers needed worldwide by 2015 (plus another 5 million jobs in support services). The following is a listing of some particular areas of current nanotech study and what you will need to study in school to pursue these careers:
- Process Chemist
- Masters Degree in Chemistry - Aeronautical Engineer
- Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering - Senior Physicist
- Doctorate Degree in Physics or Engineering Physics - Biochemist
- Doctorate Degree in Biochemistry - Scientific Program Manager
- Doctorate Degree in Materials Science or Chemistry - Lab Technician
- Bachelors Degree in Science - Biological/Advance Imaging Scientist
- Masters Degree in Science or Engineering - Fuel Cell Engineer
- Bachelors Degree in Chemistry - Composite Nanomaterials Scientist
- Doctorate Degree in Mechanical Engineering - Molecular Computing Scientist
- Doctorate Degree in Chemistry - Science Teacher
- Bachelors Degree in Science/Masters Degree in Education - Principal FIB (Focused ion-Beam) Engineer
- Masters Degree in Science or Engineering - Nanolithography Engineer
- Masters Degree in Physics - Materials Coordinator
- Bachelors Degree in Engineering or Business - Biomaterials Scientist
- Doctorate Degree in Biology - Environmental Engineer
- Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering - Technology Transfer Officer
- Masters Degree in Science or Business
