ALBANY, N.Y. -- Getting students excited about the expanding field of nanotechnology -- That's what educators were hoping to accomplish at Community Day at the UAlbany NanoCollege.

Parents and children got an up close look of presentations and took part in interactive demonstrations. School officials said nanotech is creating breakthroughs in health care, energy, electronics, the economy and the environment.

"It's basically about getting younger people to think about school. To get more excited about science and engineering. The types of jobs they could continue on with like what their grandparents did. So fundamentally learn more about science,” said Dr. Edward Cupoli, who is a professor at the UAlbany NanoCollege.

The event coincided with the national celebration of Nano-Days, which is a week of community based outreach events.