Program: Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, MS - South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

Mar 29, 2025

2024-2025 Academic Catalog

Contact Information

Dr. Steve Smith, Professor
Nanoscience & Biomedical Engineering
Office: EP 220 (Electrical Engineering and Physics)
Phone: (605) 394-5268
E-mail: Steve.Smith@sdsmt.edu

Department Website

Students are responsible for checking with their advisors for any program modifications that may occur after the publication of this catalog.

MS in Nanoscience and Nanoengineering

The Accelerated MS option is not available for this degree.

Degree requirements for non-thesis option

Distribution of credits

Core requirements: 16 credits
Research or project requirements: 2 credits
Elective requirements: 12 credits
Total credits: 30

A minimum of 15 credits of the 30 required must be taken at the 600 level or above.

Core requirements

NANO 404/504 Nanophotonics Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 701 Nano Materials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 702 Theory and Application of Nanoscale Materials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 703/703L Instrumentation and Characterization of Nano-Materials/Lab Credits: (4-0) 4
NANO 709 Scientific Instrumentation, Control, and Visualization Credits: (3-0) 3

Research or project requirements

The completion of a master’s research project is required for this degree.

NANO 788 Research Problems/Project Credits: 1 to 2 *
* At least 2 credits of NANO 788 are required. No more than 2 credits of NANO 788 may be counted toward the degree.

Elective requirements

At least 12 credits of 500/600/700 level courses approved by the student’s advisory committee

Examples of electives are given below (see the SD Mines catalog for a full list):

NANO 405/405L/505/505L Quantum Photonics and Communications Credits: (3-1) 4
NANO 406/406L/506/506L Introduction to Quantum Computing and Applications Credits: (3-1) 4
NANO 604 Nanophotonic Materials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 704 Crystallography and Structure of Nanomaterials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 705 Nanoelectronics Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 714 Fluorescence Spectroscopy Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 710 Optical Nanoscopy Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 711 Scientific Instrumentation, Control, and Visualization II Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 713 Nano-Biotechnology II Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 715 Polymeric Nanomaterials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 717 Nanochemistry Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 718 Nanomechanics Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 719 Nanomaterials for Biosensors Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 722 Nano-Biomaterials Credits: (3-0) 3
NANO 792 Topics Credits: 1 to 3

Examinations

No final degree examination is required for the non-thesis option. Individual courses may hold final examinations as part of the course.

Additional requirements

In addition to these degree-specific requirements, the student must also meet the requirements and policies applied to all graduate degrees by the Council of Graduate Education.

Objectives and Outcomes

Program Objectives:

The Nano-SE MS program complements the Nanoscience and Nanoengineering PhD, with an emphasis on visualizing, manipulating, and understanding nano-scale materials, nano-bio systems, and phenomena which define nanotechnology.

Student Outcomes:

Students in this program will develop a deeper understanding of the field of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.
Students will develop skills in communicating Nanoscience and Nanoengineering to both technical audiences and to members of the general public through presentations of their work in Seminar courses and research symposium.