City Colleges of Chicago Moves Toward Nanotechnology Curriculum With NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program

SKOKIE, IL--(Marketwire - Feb 2, 2012) - NanoProfessor®, a division of NanoInk®, Inc. focused on nanotechnology education, announced today a partnership with City Colleges of Chicago in which two City Colleges students will complete a specially designed "Introduction to Nanotechnology" course followed by a paid summer internship program working in the Skokie-based NanoProfessor labs.

It marks the first step by City Colleges to prepare students for careers in the growing field of nanotechnology. During the course of the program, the selected students will receive valuable hands-on training and experience with instrumentation used in the nanotech industry that could directly lead to a nano-focused job following their graduation.

"Our partnership with NanoProfessor will offer our students an unprecedented opportunity to build valuable technical skills and gain real-world experience in the growing nanotechnology industry," said Cheryl L. Hyman, chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago. "The NanoProfessor internship is a great start and we look forward to expanding this and other key industry relationships that allow us to offer our students cutting-edge education to prepare them to launch careers in high-demand fields."

The internship program is part of the recently announced Colleges to Careers program, which is a partnership between City Colleges of Chicago and industry leaders to fill the skills gap and ensure residents can win the jobs of today and tomorrow.

"We are very excited to partner with City Colleges of Chicago and help meet Mayor Emanuel's goal of matching education and training with 21^st century careers," said Dean Hart, chief commercial officer at NanoInk. "Moving forward, we hope to expand the program to reach even more students at City Colleges of Chicago."

Mike Davis, associate vice chancellor for Science Technology Engineering and Math at City Colleges, has been a strong advocate for the tie between classroom experience and workplace skills. "Experiences like this are true game changers. Once you see what the larger world has to offer, classes have a whole new meaning."

Significant investment in nanotechnology research over the past decade is providing innovations and breakthroughs in many industries including biotechnology, electronics, alternative energy and medicine. As these innovations evolve into commercially viable products, companies need a workforce with the knowledge and skill of working at the nanoscale in order to fully commercialize their products and become successful entities. Unfortunately, many companies go wanting as there is a significant global gap between the estimated 400,000 researchers in nanotechnology today and the 6 million nano-savvy workers projected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to be needed globally by 2012. The need for nanoscience education for undergraduate students is not only growing but also immediate.

City Colleges students wishing to apply for the NanoProfessor internship need to submit a resume, cover letter, transcripts (official or unofficial), and a letter of recommendation from a professor by Friday, February 10. Students must be a current City Colleges student with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher and have already completed Chemistry 201 or higher, Math 143 or higher, Physics 221 or higher and English 101. More information can be found at www.ccc.edu/internships.

NanoInk, NanoProfessor, and the NanoProfessor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoInk, Inc.

About the NanoProfessor® Nanoscience Education Program
The NanoProfessor Nanoscience Education Program aims to advance the field of nanoscience and address the growing need for a skilled workforce of nanotechnologists. The NanoProfessor Program, including instruments, an expert-driven curriculum, and student/teacher support materials, is available for community colleges, technical institutes, and universities worldwide. More information is available at www.NanoProfessor.net or (847)679-NANO(6266). You can also follow NanoProfessor on Facebook® at www.facebook.com/pages/NanoProfessorTM/367787368082.

About the City Colleges of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) is the largest community college system in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation, with 5,800 faculty and staff serving 120,000 students annually at seven colleges and seven satellite sites city-wide. The City Colleges of Chicago is in the midst of a Reinvention, a collaborative effort to review and revise CCC programs and practices to ensure students leave CCC college-ready, career-ready and prepared to pursue their life's goals.

The City Colleges of Chicago includes seven colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College. The system also oversees the Washburne Culinary Institute, the French Pastry School, two restaurants, five Child Development Centers, the Center for Distance Learning, the Workforce Institute, the public broadcast station WYCC-TV Channel 20 and radio station WKKC-FM 89.3. For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, call: (773)COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu.