Achievement

IGERT Faculty member Dr. Mohammad Islam invited fellow IGERT faculty team member Dr. Kris Dahl to give a guest lecture on ethical concerns in nanotechnology during his Nanostructured Materials course. After the lecture, Professor Dahl asked the students to fill out a survey to identify potential negative impacts, intended or unintended from nanomaterials based on their research topics for their final course project and to consider proactive steps to reduce these negative impacts. One student, who was examining quantum dots for solar cell technologies identified possible economic disruption and social justice issues associated with commoditization of advanced technologies with quantum dots. He suggested consideration of hybrid technologies to merge between current solar cell technologies with advancing technologies to shift cost burdens. He also commented on toxicity and environmental issues and discussed the need for simultaneous toxicity testing with materials testing.