UCF showcased its growing influence in the micro-electro-mechanical systems field at this year’s Solid State Sensors, Activators and Microsystems Workshop, this month in Hilton Head, South Carolina. More than 325 researchers were in attendance at the conference, including a large contingent from the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS).
Held biennially since 1984, the interdisciplinary gathering offered multiple opportunities to collaborate, network and explore advances in microfabrication technologies. CECS served as one of the conference sponsors.
This year’s event was chaired by Associate Professor Swaminathan Rajarman from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the NanoScience Technology Center. He says that as chair, his role helps underscore UCF’s prominence in the MEMS research space.
“MEMS technology covers any technological advancement in miniaturization of sensors, materials, and electronics and their integration across a variety of fields from space to consumer electronics to optical to biomedical,” he says. “It has become increasingly important across several industries as devices have gotten smaller, while simultaneously lowering power requirements and reducing costs.”
Rajaraman notes that UCF had the largest delegation of 16 attendees, second only to Northeastern University. The group included Knights from three of the college’s departments: materials science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical and aerospace engineering.
“Our university has become a leader and well known in the U.S. in this space,” Rajaraman says. “When I started attending this meeting as a graduate student most of the university representation was from large, high-ranking schools, University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Georgia Tech, but now the landscape has changed for the better, in my opinion, with prominent research happening in many more schools than just the big ones.”
Six students from Rajaraman’s research group attended the conference to present their research. One of them, doctoral student Diana Rodriguez DeFranciso, came away with one of the event’s biggest honors, the outstanding paper award, for her work “In Situ Monitoring of Vascular Oxytetracycline (OTC) Transport in Citrus Plants using Silk Fibroin Microneedle Electrodes (SFµNE).”
Rajaraman says that UCF’s presence in this research space has continued to increase over the years, with Knight researchers working on the next big MEMS and sensors innovations.
He adds that the biggest takeaway for this year’s conference attendees was the resiliency of the field, as well as its ongoing relevance in next level technologies.
“The MEMS community is strong and very supportive,” he says. “MEMS is also very adaptable pushing into new areas such as quantum and AI.”
- Written by Bel Huston