Dr. Jared Ashcroft is a professor of Chemistry at Pasadena City College and the principal investigator of the Micro Nano Technology Education Center in Pasadena. The MNT-EC is dedicated to increasing the number of professor participating in micro- and nanotechnology education, and expanding the number of students qualified to work in this quickly-growing field. Dr. Ashcroft's research focuses on the interconnection between nanotechology and medical diagnostics and imaging. In addition, his current study focuses on the effective use of distance learning tools for STEM education.