Expert: Daniel Mazur - 9/10/2008

Question
hi daniel, I am a guy(19 years)from India doing electronics & communication engineering. i am curious about certain subjects.They are:
1)spintronics
2)neural networks
3)robotics
4)nanotechnology.
    Can u tell me breifly about these? Are they related to electronics at all? Can i pursue a career in any one of these after engineering?

Thank you!

Answer
Dear karthik,
I apologize for the delay. All the topics you named are related to electronics and yes, you can pursue a career in any of these after an engineering degree.
Spintronics - science and technology aiming at information processing and transfer using the electron spin as a carrier (in electronics the information carrier is the electron charge).
Neural networks - branch of electronics studying systems with similar topology as the mammal brain, capable of learning and self-adjusting.
Robotics - an interdisciplinary branch of engineering concerning robots. I don't have an official definition of a robot, but it involves sensing, information processing and motion control.
Nanotechnology - engineering branch aiming at the design of devices that harness special properties of matter, when it exists in arrangements less then 100nm in size (in at least one dimension). There are nanoclusters, nanowires these days that are still at the stage of basic research, but some of them have already penetrated the technology and the market.
You can find a lot more information than this if you just search internet or some encyclopedia for these keywords. My input is just the assurance above that you can go into any of the fields after engineering.
All best and sorry again for the late reply.
Daniel