News

Dr. David Arnold receives UF Faculty Award

Dr. David Arnold has been named the recipient of the 2011 Pramod P. Khargonekar Junior Faculty Award for Excellence. This recognition is awarded each year at the conclusion of the tenure process to the tenure candidate who best reflects the following leadership attributes exhibited by Dr. Khargonekar, former Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Florida: excellence in scholarship and teaching, outstanding mentorship of students, impact in her/his research field and exceptional potential for growth.

Dr. Arnold will be recognized at the Spring 2011 commencement ceremony.

ECE Seminar Series: Programmable Self-assembly for Heterogeneous Integration of Microsystems

Event date: 
Thu, 03/03/2011 - 4:45pm to 5:45pm

ECE Seminar Series
Programmable Self-assembly for Heterogeneous Integration of Microsystems

Dr. Karl Böhringer, Professor
University of Washington
March 3, 2011
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Larsen 234

Abstract
Self-assembly is the spontaneous and reversible organization of components into ordered structures, representing an alternative to the conventional manufacture of systems made of components from milli to nano scales. First commercial applications of self-assembly have appeared in recent years, for example in the fabrication of radio frequency identification tags. However, the full impact of this new approach towards hetero system integration will only be realized once self-assembly can be programmed on demand. This presentation gives an overview of several projects that aim at programmable self-assembly. A key concept is the “programmable surface” – an interface whose properties can be controlled with high spatial and temporal resolution. Several crucial topics are discussed: real time control of interfacial properties; optimization of binding site designs; and algorithms for the modeling and control of self-assembly. Promising novel manufacturing methods are emerging that combine the precision and reproducibility of semiconductor fabrication with the scalability and parallelism of stochastic self-assembly and with the specificity and programmability of biochemical processes.

Biography

Dr. Lou Cattafesta elected as a Fellow of ASME

Dr. Cattafesta was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).  A quotation from ASME reads

"Professor Cattafesta has contributed seminal contributions to the development and implementation of and education concerning active flow control systems, with particular emphasis on novel actuators and methods for closed-loop flow control experiments."

IMG Seminar: Capacitive shear stress sensor and its interface circuitry

Event date: 
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 9:00pm to 10:00pm

Speaker: Jessica Meloy

Introduction: The time-resolved characterization of complex wall-bounded flow fields is difficult and unachievable with the current set of research tools. At the University of Florida the Interdisciplinary Microsystems Group (IMG) has teamed with FCAAP to develop the next generation of instrumentation grade sensors for aerospace applications. Specifically, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology is being used to develop sensor systems for reliable direct time-resolved shear stress measurement and fill this instrumentation void. IMG has developed a robust miniaturized package for integration into flow control studies currently being conducted at both the Advanced Aero-Propulsion Laboratory at Florida State University and at IMG wind tunnel facilities at the University of Florida. The specific sensor system being utilized in these studies is capable of measuring shear stress values as low as 1mPa with a sensitivity of 1.7mV/V/Pa and at least 80dB rejection to cross sensitivities. In this seminar the sensor system’s circuitry and package development will be discussed.

Electromechanical inductor for power converter applications

Event date: 
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 8:00pm to 8:30pm

Speaker: Yaxing Zhang

Introduction: The presentation will focus on the concept, theory, and demonstration of electromechanical inductors that couple an electrical conductor with a mechanical energy storage component in order to boost the electrical inductance over a specific frequency band. Measurements of mesoscale prototypes indicate an inductance boost >10,000x compared to static electrical devices. The results show as a step toward ultra-high-inductance-density microfabricated devices intended to dramatically reduce the size and mass of switched-mode power supplies.

Refreshments will be served.

IMG Seminar: Two-Axis Scanning Micromirror Based on A Tilt-and-Lateral Shift-Free Piezoelectric Actuator

Event date: 
Wed, 10/27/2010 - 8:30pm to 9:00pm

Speaker: Wenjing Liu

Introduction: This talk is about the design, fabrication and characterization of a piezoelectrically actuated high-fill-factor tip-tilt-piston (TTP) micromirror with nearly zero initial tilt and no lateral shift during scanning. The piezoelectric material is a sol-gel lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film with a Zr/Ti ratio of 53/47. The zero-initial-tilt (ZIT) and lateral-shift-free (LSF) of the mirror plate is achieved by a folded, three-segment piezoelectric unimorph actuator design. The piezoelectric unimorph actuation beams consist of Pt/Ti/PZT/Pt/Ti/SiO2 multilayers, which are released via undercutting the substrate silicon.

Refreshments will be served.