C = comment R = reply

Strengths: C - Being big and located at OSU can be both a strength and weakness; being in individual labs can cause seclusion; there is no common area to meet 

R - will present size as strength, and overcome weakness by different methods of communication (e.g. email, teleconference with non-OSU NSEC members); it is listed that MicroMD has a NSEC student lounge area 

Weaknesses: C & R - "physical separation across campus" MicroMD is a separation from the rest of campus, though it allows a lot of groups to be in one facility together "Ingetration with members who span multiple groups is sub-optimal" - means some members who span multiple groups gets pulled in different directions and get unclear guidance when it comes to which group to present their research in for presentations, posters, etc. "Unclear or not-yet-defined direction of projects" - true last year but better this year Suggest changing to "Not-yet-defined ultimate direction of project integration" to incorporate the idea that individual group short-term goals are clear, but long-term, ultimate goals with integration with other groups remain murky at this stage What is the defined role of IGERT students? - IGERT students are like NSEC students Improvements: administrative burden on the students last year has been relieved by increase in support staff Remove "CONGS not fully representing students" - true last year because it was just formed, but CONGS is much more productive this year 

Opportunities: C - Delete "more interaction with industries" - expand on the societal and political implications section, add "ethical" since this was emphasized on the individual posters 

R - add that students are studying societal and environmental impacts of technologies being developed (e.x. guest lecture in Winter quarter seminar on health impact of carbon nanotubes) - 2 main societal/environmental/political implications seen on posters: any projects with gene modification and DNA manipulation mentioned societal impact projects involving nanoparticles mention intentional / unintentional interaction with humans in terms of health 

Threats: C - remove "draw attention away from non-bio nano projects" - replace "sub-niche" with "niche" - "niche" or "clique"? - a lot of meetings and poster presentations / session (but not technically administrative burden) - seminar took too much time, especially for a 1 credit hour course - Burr not being able to do research for the last 3 weeks (better than last year, when it was 3 months) 

R - try to keep meetings under 1 hr, no more than 1 large student group meeting per quarter