Nanotechnology is the science of the small that is going to have a big impact on the future, and the Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Technology Partnership (NMT) wants to make sure people know about it.

"By 2015, 50 percent of new products will be nanotechnology-based," said Bob Ehrmann, director of education and outreach services in the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization.

So what exactly is nanotechnology?

Steve Fonash, director of the NMT, defined nanotechnology as "making things in the size-range of a few atoms to about the size of a virus molecule."

Take the thickness of a dime, and cut that in 1,000 equal parts -- that's a micron, Ehrmann said.

He added that "50 microns is the thickness of a hair."

Take one of those slices from the dime, and divide it up into 1,000 more pieces. "Now you're at the nanometer scale," Ehrmann said, adding that standing at two meters, he would be two billion nanometers tall.

He added that constructing things on such a tiny scale creates new opportunities, because the properties and applications of materials change. As Ehrmann put it, "There's a great treasure chest out there, and that is the periodic table."

One of these property changes comes from most of the atoms being on the surface in nano-sized structures. For example, most of the atoms in a solid sphere of metal are inside, in the bulk. But on the nano scale, the sphere would be so small that most of the atoms would be on the surface, which further creates different properties for the material.

At the two-day winter meeting of the NMT, beginning yesterday, there was talk about education programs and how to get the nanotechnology message out to teachers, parents and students.

Partly funded by the National Science Foundation, the partnership's purpose is for Penn State, at University Park, to share its nanotechnology facilities with about 30 other schools in the state, as well as educate the Pennsylvania citizens about the technology.

"People need to know what it is," Fonash said. "Taxpayers will have to decide on this."

Fonash is referring to funds for nanotechnology-related research, which although is expensive, would be beneficial, he said, especially in the area of cancer research.

"The advances in medicine are going to be incredible," Fonash said. Nano particles can currently be made that are small enough to go through cell walls, he added.

Whereas chemotherapy simply kills cancer cells at a faster rate, these tiny particles can be made to only attach themselves to cancer cells, and act as "little FedEx delivery trucks," he said, carrying substances to help fight the disease.

Ehrmann said the partnership educates people by having nanotechnology camps for children and talking to parents. Also, he added, the partnership is trying to get nanotechnology integrated into the secondary education curriculum to "replace something past its prime."

Fonash said all the institutions involved in the partnership offer two- and four-year programs in nanotechnology where students from other schools across the state come to University Park for a 'capstone semester' to learn and utilize the facilities.

He added that, currently, 42 companies in Pennsylvania employ graduates of the program.

"This is very unique, this partnership between colleges," Ehrmann said.

Sunday Faseyitan is dean of natural science and technology at Butler County Community College in Butler County. He said he thinks his school has been in the partnership since 1999.

"It has become very important," he said, "Pennsylvania is an envy of many other states."

Mark Rutkowski is an associate professor of innovative technology at Luzerne County Community College and, along with Faseyitan, agreed in the growing importance of nanotechnology.

"Parents and teachers don't know anything about the technology," he said.

Fonash also touched on the importance of informing the industry.

"We're leading the world in nano innovation," he said. But if no one becomes educated about the technology, he said, "We won't lead in nano manufacturing."