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April 2026 MNT Monthly Update

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Educators: A Paid Summer Opportunity at the Intersection of AI and Semiconductors

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If you teach at a community college or high school and want to get hands-on with semiconductor fabrication and AI — and get paid to do it — there’s an opportunity worth your attention right now. The deadline is April 30.

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The Opportunity: AI & Semiconductors Summer Institute

Rio Salado College and Arizona State University are hosting a five-day, in-person professional development institute for educators this summer. It is aimed at Arizona educators, but all are welcome to apply (see note about no travel funds below).

June 1–5, 2026 | ASU Tempe Campus

Participants will:

• Explore real-world AI business case studies
• Train and deploy a practical AI model
• Work with edge hardware
• Experience semiconductor fabrication at a silicon fabrication facility
• Earn an ASU Certificate of Completion

Additional benefits include a $500 stipend upon successful completion and parking validation. All are welcome to apply, but there are no travel funds available this year and there are limited spots left. Get in touch through the links and emails below.

Apply here by April 30, 2026

Questions? Contact Corey.Dorsey@asu.edu or Vinayak.Sharma@asu.edu

Downloadable Flyer you can share with peers at end of post…

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The Bigger Picture: SP-ATE and Arizona’s Semiconductor Surge

This Summer Institute is part of a larger NSF-funded initiative called SP-ATE — Semiconductor Pathways in Arizona’s Technical Education — led by Rio Salado College in partnership with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and the Chandler Unified School District.

The goal is to build clear, accessible pathways from high school through community college to university and into industry employment — with an emphasis on inclusive outreach and strong employer engagement.

Why Arizona? The numbers tell the story. Since 2020, Arizona has attracted more than 40 semiconductor industry expansions representing over $102 billion in capital investment and more than 15,700 direct industry jobs. The growth spans the full ecosystem — manufacturing, advanced packaging, R&D, equipment, and supply chain. The technician pipeline hasn’t kept up, and that’s precisely the gap SP-ATE is designed to close.

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Join the Professional Learning Community

Can’t make the Summer Institute? Rio Salado is also forming Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) — educator cohorts that work collaboratively with industry professionals to:

• Provide feedback on curriculum development and alignment
• Share experiences implementing semiconductor-related instruction
• Collaborate on the development of hands-on laboratory projects

The PLC is open to educators who want to stay connected to the semiconductor field and contribute to curriculum that actually reflects what’s happening in industry.

PLC Interest Form: https://forms.gle/dG13dETjzMjvhfyK7

For more information: stem.initiatives@riosalado.edu

Learn more about the full SP-ATE program here

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SP-ATE is funded by the National Science Foundation under grants #2500695 and #2100402.

MNT-EC is a national center for micro and nanotechnology education funded by NSF ATE #2000281.

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Don’t Miss: “Five Years of Building” as a review of MNT-EC’s achievements, progress, and momentum. You can give it a read at the above link.

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ASU Flyer on “AI and Semiconductors Summer Institute 2026

Thanks for reading our monthly email update, if that’s how you found this post. If you found us by digging into our website and the Think Small news and blog section, we are so glad you found us. “Random Small” is a monthly catch-all post for the latest happenings here at the Micro Nano Technology Education Center and in our wider, bigger community of scientists of all types. 

You probably noticed two distinct images — one of an astronaut (just above), and another of a website logo for Skype a Scientist. 

First, in the monthly MNT Update, I mentioned how NASA technology often gets transferred outside of NASA into commercial enterprises that license it for new products. This article, Feeling Hot, Staying Cool, is a powerful example of how that works. It highlights the work of a new company, London-based Fifty One Ltd, which is “using a temperature-controlling material developed in part under an SBIR from Johnson Space Center for spacesuit gloves, Fifty One of London is making clothes to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.”

Since women make up half the world’s population, there is a lot of need and opportunity (as in billions of people) for materials scientists to work on these phase change materials to find solutions. 

In fact, NASA has an entire microsite dedicated to technology transfer called Spinoff and it includes an annual report, of sorts, that highlights the many advances that power our world. 

By the way, if you are not yet subscribed to our email community, please visit this signup page. We would love to have you join us, contribute to our efforts, and connect.

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Let’s jump to Skype A Scientist because it is so fun and energetic and something you can use in your classrooms or perhaps sign up to help out. From their website: “The mission of Skype a Scientist is simple, yet impactful: to make science accessible and fun through personal connections with scientists. We are an educational entity with a focus on connecting the general public with scientific disciplines in fun and meaningful ways, making science education available and engaging for everyone…” 

The Skype A Scientist Instagram page is worth a follow, too. Here’s a sample YouTube videos of a wonderful talk with a brain scientist at the University of Washington. Love Sydney’s enthusiasm. Plus, we’re hoping to interview Dr. Sarah McAnulty, Squid Biologist​, and Executive Director of Skype A Scientist.

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There are two new scholarship opportunities for STEM-oriented students. These will be added to our Micro Nano Scholarship page later this week, but to give you the absolute latest, cutting edge, head start information we’re putting them here and on our MNT LinkedIn Page (which you seriously might want to follow, but no pressure, of course. Not much pressure…).

• The DOD Historically Black Colleges and Universities & Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) Summer Research Internship Program is an annual summer research program offered to current students and recent graduates who studied STEM disciplines at HBCU/MI.
  • >>Learn More about this DOD Research/Internship program.

• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has two programs of interest to our Micro Nanotechnology community of educators and students:
  • Scholarships for Community College, 2-Year Technical Programs, and Associate Degree Programs (although it is aimed at mechanical engineering programs, the site specifically states they are open to related, connected degree majors/pursuits, so take a look).
  • High School Scholarships: Attention GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS!

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The last item, but certainly a great opportunity and worth sharing with your networks (not so subtle hint..): Check out the High Vacuum System Operation Basics Workshop at Normandale Community College coming up next week on two separate days, Monday Dec 12 and again on Wednesday, Dec 14.