Peter Kazarinoff, LinkedIn Profile
- University of Washington; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Materials Science and Engineering
- Cornell University; Bachelor’s degree, Chemistry
- Connect with Me: peter.kazarinoff@pcc.edu
- Passion Projects:
Location: Portland Community College, Oregon

This month’s Spotlight is with Dr. Peter Kazarinoff. I met Peter back in 2012 when he was with the Seattle Hub for Integrating Nanotechnology Education (SHINE) center. He has always been driven and passionate about technician education and student success. He does what he can to make it easier for his students to succeed. For example, he wrote an open-access textbook on computer coding (links below). This allowed his students and others to save money on expensive textbooks. These kinds of actions make Peter one of the most thoughtful people I know. I am honored to work with him every day and help him with his projects.
- Problem Solving with Python 3.7 Edition: A beginner’s guide to Python & open-source programming tools on Amazon
- Problem Solving with Python companion website
Can you share your background and the pioneering work you’ve done in your field?
I’ve been working in nanotechnology and technician education for over a decade. My journey began with the SHINE center, where I developed educational resources to support technician training. Since then, I’ve been involved in several projects at Portland Community College (PCC) and with MNT-EC, creating impactful resources such as open educational textbooks and building programs like J ATE and the Talking Technicians Podcast.
Can you describe the key initiatives or projects you’ve led/worked on at MNT-EC?
I work on two main initiatives: the Talking Technicians Podcast and the Journal of Advanced Technological Education (J ATE). Both projects were created from scratch with the support of MNT-EC’s principal investigator and center manager. The podcast is unique in that it interviews former community college technicians working in companies within the micro nanotechnology (MNT) sector. I also work on the Outreach and Professional Development Teams.
Another thing I’m passionate about is helping community college faculty publish in peer-reviewed academic journals. So much excellent and innovative work is going on at community and technical colleges. However, not all that work is disseminated or shared so others can learn from it. In addition, I want to help provide an avenue for faculty to publish to help them with professional advancement, grant project success, and grant proposals. One metric of project success for National Science Foundation-funded efforts is publishing in peer-reviewed journals. J ATE is one of the places where faculty can publish and demonstrate their success.
What are some of the educational innovations you’ve introduced or led?
J ATE ran two innovative programs: the J ATE Connect program, which paired authors with coaches to construct manuscripts, and the J ATE URE program, which guided community college undergraduate researchers and faculty mentors in creating peer-reviewed manuscripts.

In addition to producing the Talking Technicians Podcast and editing the Journal of Advanced Technological Education, I am also an author of open education resources (OER) textbooks. My textbook, Problem Solving with Python, focuses on the Python programming language and is for community college students studying computer programming. It’s important to me that we decrease the cost of community college attendance for students. Creating free OER textbooks is one way to cut student costs. (Book link above.)
Since adopting my textbook at Portland Community College (PCC), students have saved over $50,000 in textbook and software licensing fees. The success of Problem Solving with Python encouraged me to write another OER textbook, Introduction to College Engineering. This latest one is still a work in progress, but I hope we can save community college students even more money by adopting another OER book.
Next quarter, I will attempt Open Pedagogy for the first time with a class of 2nd year community college students. Based on my experience helping get students published in J ATE and my work writing OER textbooks, the idea is to have teams of students use their expertise to contribute a chapter and edit a chapter of a student-designed OER textbook on manufacturing processes. The concept of tapping into student expertise to create this book is exciting.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the class of students comes up with and how writing and editing helped them learn and understand.
Can you discuss any publications tied to your expertise that you’d like to share?
The Talking Technicians Podcast published an article in J ATE: Results and Discussion from Two Seasons of the Talking Technicians Podcast.
What impact do you hope these educational resources will have on instructors and students?
I hope more students enter technician education programs that prepare them for careers in the semiconductor and MNT industries. Sharing the excellent work community college faculty do through J ATE amplifies their efforts and creates opportunities for others to learn and grow.
What advice would you give students and/or fellow educators in micro and nanotechnology?
- For students: Become a technician in the semiconductor industry. It’s a great starting point for a career with growth opportunities.
- For educators: Share your work. Disseminating your successes and innovations through publications like J ATE can inspire others and contribute to advancing the field.
What do you love best about your work?
In particular, I enjoy meeting with students in person during office hours. Working with individual students directly is some of my best work. Working with students one-on-one and assisting them compassionately and personally is rewarding, motivating, and energizing for me.
Another thing I love about my work is working on grant initiatives that haven’t been proven yet, and we don’t quite know where they will go when they get started. A good example is J ATE, which began as a journal for micro nano community college education and morphed into a journal for all NSF ATE Disciplines.
Five years later, J ATE has grown considerably and is embarking on a new sustainability model to keep J ATE around even after MNT-EC sunsets. At each crossroad in J ATE’s development, I’ve had to learn new skills and systems. It is exciting to have the opportunity to learn new skills and gain new knowledge. Projects like J ATE have pushed me into professional areas I never dreamed of when we started the project.
What trends do you see in nanotechnology and related technologies, particularly manufacturing?
The semiconductor manufacturing industry is growing rapidly in the United States. New factories (fabs) are under construction in Ohio, New York, and Texas, reflecting the increasing demand for a skilled workforce in this sector.
What advice would you give to young people interested in manufacturing and nanotechnology?
Try to connect with a technician working in the industry. Ask them about their job and responsibilities. If you don’t know any technicians, check out the Talking Technicians Podcast to hear their stories and gain insights into the field.
What else would you like people to know about you or your program?
In addition to my work, I enjoy playing and coaching soccer and ultralight backpacking.
