Top high schoolers get early release of Nanorex modeling software

I’m blogging from Moscow, but the news this week is back in the States. We at Foresight like to make win-win connections between worthy projects, and here’s an example:

Nanorex Inc., the world’s first developer of tools for the design, simulation and analysis of atomically precise molecular machine systems, will launch its educational outreach program by placing an early pre-release version of its powerful molecular modeling software at the fingertips of some of California’s brightest high school students.

Students who report for the Nanotechnology and Robotics class at the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) on July 9 at UC Santa Cruz will begin testing NanoEngineer-1, the first computer aided design (CAD) program for the nanotech age. Scheduled for release this fall, NanoEngineer-1’s 3-D, interactive environment and molecular physics engine will enable the students to invent and test new kinds of molecular machines and devices, designed atom by atom exactly to their specifications…

“Students have never before been this close to actually building things atom by atom”, said COSMOS instructor Miguel F. Aznar, director of education for the Foresight Nanotech Institute. “Using NanoEngineer-1, this will be the first time we’ve been able to give high school students hands-on practice with nanotechnology structures. It makes nanotechnology tangible, connecting it to the science they’ve studied.”

This connection was not particularly hard to make, since as you see above, Foresight’s director of education is also a COSMOS instructor. Good job, Miguel! And thanks to Foresight participating member Nanorex leader Mark Sims for approving the experiment. —Christine