Universitat Internacional de Catalunya - Barcelona

Micro and Nanotechnology

• code 13549
• course 3
• term Semester 1
• type op
• credits 6

Module: ELECTIVE

Matter: ELECTIVE

Main language of instruction: English

Other languages of instruction: Catalan, Spanish

Head instructor

Dr. Emilio CASTRO - ecastro@uic.es

Office hours

Hours agreed with the teacher at the beginning of the academic year. In any case, you
can make an appointment and arrange a face-to-face tutoring with the teacher by
writing to the email ecastro@uic.es

Countless healthcare and biomedical solutions with high impact in terms of timely diagnostics, therapeutic success, patient comfort or financial sustainability of healthcare systems rely on micro- and nanotechnologies. Thus, it is not at all exaggerate to claim that such technologies play in current days a tremendous role with respect to improving the quality of our life, health and well-being, which are the main priorities of modern science. Harmonically combining biomaterials, cells and biologically relevant molecules to generate in vitro structures that mimic tissue for the proper development of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, requires the use of micro-level manufacturing techniques and the use of nanometric materials to be able to condition not only the chemical and physical properties at the micrometer scale, but also adapt the cell interactions to this sub-micrometric level.

Subjects: Materials, Biomaterials and biocompatibility, Advanced materials and
selection of materials, Shaping techniques of Materials.

• Know the fundamentals of micro and nanotechnologies and their application to the design and development of chemical sensors, biosensors and microchips.
•  Understand the principles, design and cutting-edge applications for analysis and detection based on micro and nanotechnologies.
• Understand the principles and applications of advanced characterization techniques of chemical systems consisting of nanomaterials of high current interest.

• CB2 - Students must know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and have the competences that are demonstrated through the creation and defence of arguments and the resolution of problems within their field of study.
• CB4 - Students can transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• CG10 - To know how to work in a multilingual and multidisciplinary environment.
• CG4 - To resolve problems based on initiative, be good at decision-making, creativity, critical reasoning and communication, as well as the transmission of knowledge, skills and prowess in the field of Bioengineering
• CT5 - To use information sources in a reliable manner. To manage the acquisition, structuring, analysis and visualisation of data and information in your specialist area and critically evaluate the results of this management.
• CT7 - To be fluent in a third language, usually English, with a suitable verbal and written level that is in line with graduate requirements.
• CE17 - To be able to identify the engineering concepts that can be applied in the fields of biology and health.
• CE18 - To define the main principles of the technologies that are used for the design and manufacture of micro and nano-sensors in biotechnological areas.

Upon completion of this subject, students will be able to:

• Know and understand the scientific foundations on which nanotechnology is based.
• Understand the conceptual and methodological foundations of the micro and nanotechnologies that form bioengineering.
• Develop the ability to perform a work autonomously by searching for useful sources of information and discuss them.
• Present orally in public technical information.

During the face-to-face classes, the fundamental aspects of each topic will be exposed
so that they can be developed individually by each student through the use of selected
bibliography and with the support of tutorials.
During the course, students will be asked to complete the following training activities:

• Presentation of news.
• Contribution to the moodle platform.
• Oral exhibitions: research seminar.
• Laboratory work (real - synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles- and virtual)
• Partial exam (test).
• Final exam.

The structure of the subject in theoretical and practical sessions involves the
evaluation of the knowledge and skills acquired in a differentiated and complementary
manner. In the case of the contents of the theoretical sessions, they will be evaluated
in a partial and in a final test, both written and that will take into account both the
ability to relate the contents of the different topics in a transversal way, as well as the
development of one´s own thinking.

Regarding the practical part of the subject, the evaluation will be continue, considering
the following aspects with different relative weight: attendance and participation in
class, final course work and peer evaluation, laboratory practices, debate after the
reading of the complementary bibliography.

In order for both parts of the subject to be able to average and thus obtain the final
grade for the subject, it will be necessary for both parts of the subject to be passed
independently.

The student´s qualification will be:

First call

Final qualification = 0.40 Final exam + 0.25 Partial exam + 0.25 Final course work (research seminar) + 0.05 Class participation + 0.05 summaries and outlines of the topics covered and writing of a laboratory guide .

Second call

Final qualification = 0.70 Final exam + 0.25 Final course work (research seminar) + 0.05 summaries and outlines of the topics covered and writing of a laboratory guide. 

Important considerations:

1. Plagiarism, copying or any other action that may be considered cheating will be zero in that evaluation section. Besides, plagiarism during exams will mean the immediate failing of the whole subject.
2. In the second-sitting exams, the maximum grade students will be able to obtain is "Excellent" (grade with honors distinction will not be posible).
3. Changes of the calendar, exam dates or the evaluation system will not be accepted.
4. Exchange students (Erasmus and others) or repeaters will be subjected to the same conditions as the rest of the students.

(1). Ben Rogers, Jesse Adams, Sumita Pennathur, Nanotechnology: understanding
small systems, Third Edition, CRC Press, 2017.
(2). Rubahn Horst-Gunter, Basics of Nanotechnology, Third Edition, Wiley-VCH,
2008.

(3). Bharat Bhushan (Editor), Handbook of nanotechnology, Second Edition,
Springer, 2017.
(4). Stefan G. Stanciu, Micro and Nanotechnologies for Biotechnology, IntechOpen,
2016.
(5). Murugan Ramalingam, Esmaiel Jabbari, Seeram Ramakrishna, Ali
Khademhosseini, Micro and nanotechnologies in engineering stem cells and
tissues, IEEE Press Series on Biomedical Engineering, John Wiley & Sons Inc,
2013.

During the course, innovative articles and reviews on specific aspects discussed in it will appear in scientific journals and we will discuss some of them.

(1). Shengchun Qu, Haibin Yang, Dawei Ren, Shihai Kan, Guangtian Zou, Dongmei
Li, Minghui Li, Magnetite nanoparticles prepared by precipitation from partially
reduced ferric chloride aqueous solutions, Journal of Colloid and Interface
Science, Volume 215, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 190-192.
(2). Alvin W. Orbaek, Mary M. McHale, Andrew R. Barron, Synthesis and
characterization of silver nanoparticles for an undergraduate laboratory,
Journal of Chemical Education, Volume 92, 2015, Pages 339−344.

E: exam date | R: revision date | 1: first session | 2: second session:

• E1 16/01/2020 10:00h A05