Rapid Prototyping: Virtual Rapid Prototyping System for Piezoelectric Micro Systems

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9420378 Kim This award is to develop a virtual rapid prototyping system for piezoelectric micro systems (PMS). This is an area of Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS), where actuator or sensor devices are built to the scale of a human hair. PMS's move and either are driven by or produce electrical signals. Some examples are microphones, pumps, or motors. The rapid prototyping system that will be developed used computer simulation to design the PMS devices, design the special processes to make them, and do performance tests on the virtual prototype. As part of the program this interdisciplinary team will build these devices using this system and compare their virtual system predictions with experimental data. The technological impact of this virtual rapid prototyping system will be reduced cost and lead time by providing the engineering tools to design both the PMS devices and the processes to make them. This means new competitive PMS-based products can be designed for commercial and industrial applications. This award will also build the research and human resource infrastructure to be competitive in this area of technology.