FORT PIERCE A new partnership at Indian River State College's Brown Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship between its nanotechnology lab and NanoProfessor will take the college to the cutting edge of tomorrow's technology.

So said Kevin Cooper, director of advanced technology at the newly named NanoProfessor Advanced Materials Lab, which officially will be teaching about new-age nano technology studies starting in the fall.

What is nano technology? Nano technology is extremely small scale, said Dean Hart, chief commercial officer of NanoInk Inc. and the NanoProfessor and Nano Science education program in Skokie, Ill.

"Nano-scale is one billionth of a meter, so when you talk about nano technology applications, it's looking at normal biology, physics and material science it's how those sciences work on a very, very small scale," Hart said.

That's 80,000 times smaller than a human hair, according to an IRSC brochure.

IRSC is the first college in the Southeastern United States to offer students access to a fully nano-instrumentation equipped laboratory with an expert-driven curriculum, and student-teacher support materials.

Cooper said IRSC will be offering technician certificates starting in the spring of 2013 that will qualify graduates to seek four-year degrees in fields such as materials science, biology, physics and medicine at large universities.

Cooper said there already is ongoing undergraduate nano research at the Fort Pierce lab where student researchers have been working in partnership with industry clients; they are expecting to have their first publication in the fall.

The new nano program will not only introduce new degrees, but provide real-world research opportunities for students while fostering partnerships with universities and industry. It will provide lab space for scientists and those promoting economic growth in the nano fields.

What is nano research at IRSC looking at now?

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'Nano technology' [program can pay off big for IRSC students