The USC NanoCenter and Benedict College will offer three Citizens' Schools on Science and Technology in March and April on nanotechnology, fuel cell and hydrogen technology, and the environment.

A citizens' school is a program of public engagement with science in which experts and non-experts exchange information through dialogue, presentations, readings, and lab tours.

Participants do not need to have any expertise in science or engineering. The Citizens' Schools are for people who are curious about a scientific topic and want a general introduction.

Each citizens' school has a fee of $30, which covers all sessions and a package of reading material.

The schedule is:

• The Citizens' School of Nanotechnology begins at 6:30 p.m. March 5 and will meet for eight consecutive Wednesday evenings. It will be held at the N.A. Jenkins Board Room in the Benjamin F. Payton Learning Resource Center of Benedict College on Harden Street.
• The Citizens' School on Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology will meet on Monday evenings beginning at 6:30 p.m. March 10 in USC's Swearingen Engineering Center, Room 2A31, at the corner of Main and Catawba streets for seven consecutive Monday evenings.
• The Citizens' School on the Environment will meet at 6:30 p.m. on seven consecutive evenings Thursday evenings beginning March 20 in the Sumwalt Building on Greene Street between Main Sumter streets.

Nanotechnology is an important family of techniques that study and manipulate atoms, molecules, and other matter at a very small scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter; a water molecule, for example, is about a third of a nanometer.

Benedict College and USC faculty, in disciplines ranging from chemistry to philosophy, will introduce nanotechnology to non-experts. The program includes presentations, discussions, a tour of two nanotechnology labs, and a package of very readable articles.

A fuel cell is a device for deriving electrical power from hydrogen. Its by-products are small amounts of water and heat, so it is attractive as an alternative to energy technologies that burn fossil fuels.

The Citizens' School on the Environment will address issues of climate change, renewable energy technologies, ethical issues concerning the environment, and other topics.

For more information, contact Chris Toumey at 7-2221 or Toumey@sc.edu.

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