News & Events

BSAC Seminar: Modular Micromechanical Testing Based on MEMS-Based Capacitive Microforce Sensing

April 29, 2013
Dr. Simon Muntwyler FemtoTools, Switzerland April 29, 2013 | 12:00 to 01:00 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room Host: Niels Quack

The micromechanical investigation of microscopic samples can provide valuable insight into their structure or functionality and plays an important role in many areas such as material science, biological research or the development of MEMS/NEMS. Based on the results of more than 10 years of research at ETH Zurich, a MEMS-based microforce sensing technology has evolved that allows for a new level of accurate, truly quantitative...

BSAC Seminar: Overview of MEMS and Microsystems at Sandia National Laboratories

April 30, 2013
Dr. Keith Ortiz Manager, MEMS Technologies Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque April 30, 2013 | 12:00 to 01:00 | 540 Cory Hall, DOP Center Conference Room Host: John Huggins

Sandia National Laboratories has conducted research and development in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and other microsystem technologies since the mid-1990's. It is well known for its surface micromachining capability, in particular, the SUMMiT V™ process with which it can make rotating gears and machines. This presentation will be a brief overview of current...

BSAC Seminar: Energy Autonomous Systems and Wireless Sensors on Flexible Substrates

May 7, 2013
Dr. Helmut Seidel Microsystems Department Head, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrüken, Germany May 7, 2013 | 12:00 to 01:00 | 540 Cory Hall, DOP Center Conference Room Host: Richard Muller

Example Project: Energy autonomous systems are highly attractive for obtaining signals from remote locations with difficult accessibility. A system intended for health monitoring in civil aircraft is presented. It was developed together with industrial partners and includes energy harvesters for thermoelectric power conversion and for...

BSAC Seminar: Low Noise Signal Generation and Verification Techniques

September 10, 2013
Mike Driscoll IEEE Distinguished Lectureer in the UFFC Society for 2012-2013 September 10, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room Host: Clark Nguyen

The need for improved signal detection capability in Communications and Radar System Performance has resulted in requirements for extremely low noise in the signal generation portion of the hardware. Depending on the complexity of the signal generator, the signal path circuitry often includes a cascade of a very large number of non-oscillator as well as oscillator-included components such as...

BSAC Seminar: MEMS Characterization Devices for Nano Science and Medicine

July 11, 2013
Prof. Hiroyuki Fujita Center for International Research on Micronano Mechatronics (CIRMM), University of Tokyo July 11, 2013 | 11:00 to 12:00 | 105 Stanley Hall Host: Luke Lee

In order to enhance scientific knowledge and engineering capability in nano scale, it is crucial to develop manipulation tools (e.g., nano hands) for handling an individual nano object or molecule, as well as to establish an advanced characterization method with single atomic or molecular level sensitivity and with simultaneous imaging capability (e.g...

BSAC Seminar: A Piezo-Resistive, Temperature Compensated, MEMS-Based Frequency Synthesizer

September 24, 2013
Joost van Beek Senior Principal Scientist, NXP Semiconductors September 24, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room Host: John Huggins

After a brief introduction on NXP Semiconductors, this presentation will describe a frequency synthesizer using a MEMS resonator as the frequency referencing element. Uniquely, the piezo-resistive properties of silicon are exploited to read out the resonator, resulting in low impedance levels at resonance frequencies up to several 100MHz. A 55MHz MEMS oscillator with a phase noise of...

BSAC Seminar: Microfluidic Single-Cell Analysis of Cellular Information Processing

October 1, 2013
Prof. Savas Tay Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, ETH Zürich October 1, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 540 Cory Hall Host: Luke Lee

Immune cells constantly receive signaling inputs such as pathogen-emitted molecules, use gene regulatory pathways to process these signals, and generate outputs by secreting signaling molecules. Characterizing the input-output relationship of a biological system helps to understand its regulatory mechanisms and allows building models to predict how the system will operate in complex physiological scenarios - a...

BSAC Seminar: Carbon Nanomaterial-Reinforced Piezoelectric Composites for Pipeline Integrity Monitoring

October 15, 2013
Nasser Saber PhD Candidate, School of Engineering, Univeristy of South Australia BSAC Visiting Researcher October 15, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 540 Cory Hall Host: Richard White

Piezoelectric composites comprising an active phase of ferroelectric ceramic and a polymer matrix have recently attracted numerous sensory applications. With the increasing demand on monitoring pipeline infrastructures, it is of great importance to develop flexible sensors made of multi-phase materials, more advantageous over conventional one-phase rigid ceramic sensing blocks, for...

BSAC Seminar: MEMS Digital Micro Shutter Technology Leverages Existing LCD Fabrication Capability for Low-Power Transflective Displays

November 12, 2013
Dr. Lodewyk Steyn Director of Engineering, Pictronix, a Qualcomm subsidiary November 12, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 540 Cory Hall Host: Ming Wu

The Pixtronix MEMS Display Technology delivers ultra-low power consumption and exceptional image quality for multimedia devices such as smartphones and tablets – supporting applications ranging from full-speed, full-color video, to web browsing, to e-mail and e-books in a single display. Pixtronix displays are built in existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure, but eliminate the liquid...

BSAC Seminar: Friendly Photons: Optical Sensors in Life Science and Medicine

November 5, 2013
Prof. Brian Cunningham Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign November 5, 2013 | 12:30 to 01:30 | 540 Cory Hall Host: Luke Lee

Biology is increasingly a science that relies upon new developments in sensor engineering to provide detailed information about cell function, to perform disease diagnosis, to quantify gene expression, and to image tissue. Of the many transduction methods available for applications including point-of-care diagnostics, personalized medicine, and medical imaging, approaches based upon optics...