what is nano eng?

Ahem, you have “nano” in your bio. That is 100% synonymous with bs. [...]
Nano applies to everything & therefore means nothing. Definitely indicates bs. Sorry. --Elon Musk

Although as a nanotechnology engineering graduate I'd like to think Mr. Musk's sentiment is grossly uninformed (I happen to know more than one NE grad that has worked at Tesla), realistically it's not hard to see how he arrived at his conclusion.

Nano certainly does apply to everything, and, as one of the more mythic scientific disciplines, it lends itself well to being used as a catch-all buzzword. Of course, that does not necessarily mean it always has no meaning, even if the constant hype around what is a very esoteric field of study has somewhat diluted its meaning in the minds of the public.

Like many things in nanotechnology, the fabled 'wonder material' graphene is burdened by high expectations

Example courses available to an NE student:
  • NE 471 Nano-electronics (+Lab)
  • NE 408 Capstone Design Project
  • NE 454 Nano-instrumentation Lab
  • NE 451 Simulation Methods
  • NE 340 Microfab & Thin-film Tech (+Lab)
  • NE 353 Nanoprobing and Lithography
  • NE 344 Electronic Circuits & Integration
  • NE 352 Surfaces and Interfaces
  • NE 232 Quantum Mechanics
  • ECE 250 Data Structures & Algorithms
Because nanotechnology is generally used to describe science at very small scales on the order of 10-9 m (small enough that our intuitive 'macro' understanding of physics starts to fall apart), its contributions are rarely noticed and almost never seen. Nevertheless nanotechnology has silently enabled much of the technological developments of the past decade, especially in VLSI silicon technologies.

The University of the Waterloo is one of the few North American universities to take on the challenge of offering a fully accredited engineering degree for a field as broad as nano. Reflecting the breadth of the degree, the Nanotechnology Engineering program is offered collaboratively by three different departments:Chemical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, and the Chemistry department in the Faculty of Science. According to the official website, the program aims to:

[...] graduate nanotechnology professionals with hands-on materials science, clean-room fabrication and nanotools experience. Nanotechnology engineers will be at the forefront of research and development related to a cluster of technologies harnessing the unique properties and functions of nanoscale systems.

This is no easy feat, but for the most part is accomplished thanks in part to the university's world renowned co-op program which requires students to spend two years working as an engineer before graduating with their degree. In my case, and for many other nanotechnology engineering students this often translates into being afforded the opportunity to contribute to R&D at universities and companies (like Tesla) around the world. For many other NE students, their degree is simply a launch pad into software engineering, finance, or some other quantitative field.