An Engineering Research Center In Wireless Integrated Microsystems

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The Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Wireless Integrated Microsystems is focused on miniature low-cost integrated microsystems capable of measuring or controlling a variety of physical parameters, interpreting the data, and communicating with a host system over a bi-directional wireless link. The ERC is targeted at the intersection of micropower electronics, wireless communications, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The resulting devices are expected to become pervasive in society during the next two decades, with applications ranging from environmental monitoring (weather, global warming, air and water quality) to improved health care (wearable and implantable biomedical systems). The ERC brings together faculty from the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Michigan Technology University, with expertise in VLSI design and computer architecture, wireless communications, packaging, medicine, and MEMS. The Center is supported by the State of Michigan and over twenty companies having vital interest in these areas.The four research thrusts of the ERC focus on micropower circuits, wireless interfaces, sensors and microinstruments, and micropackaging. The work will extend existing micropower circuit techniques and sensor-driven controller architectures, develop single-chip communication transceivers based on micromechanical structures and MEMS microesonators, explore a variety of self-testing microinstruments (including chemical, mechanical, and thermal devices), and develop hermetic wafer-level packaging using deposited thin films and fused vacuum cavities. The goal is to develop systems that are rapidly configurable, reconfigurable, and self-testing. Work in these four thrust areas will be coordinated by focusing on two application testbed systems: an rf-powered implantable microsystem (initially a cochlear prosthesis for the profoundly deaf, with subsequent extension to devices for treating epilepsy and Parkinson's disease), and a battery-powered environmental monitoring system capable of gas analysis as well as the measurement of barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, and other variables. These testbeds are intended to emphasize the challenges that will be found in microsystems generally.Industrial programs, including technology transfer and jobs creation, are important components of the ERC and will be addressed through joint efforts, personnel exchanges, and prototype fabrication. The multidisciplinary nature of microsystems makes them ideal tools for exploring innovative approaches to engineering education, including electives that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The ability to mix students with different backgrounds in team-oriented research is critical in the training of future engineers. The educational thrusts in this ERC extend from high school through the graduate level. In high school, working with science coordinators and teachers, MEMS will be used to illustrate important principles and encourage students to pursue exciting careers in engineering. This will include special efforts with underrepresented minority students. In the undergraduate and graduate programs, multi-university multidisciplinary distance learning and virtual-laboratory experiences will be employed in the development of new course sequences in MEMS and microsystems. Finally, the ERC will explore the broader societal implications of these microsystems and their associated technology.This award provides $2.5 million for the first year of NSF support to the ERC through a fice-year cooperative agreement, which is renewable in year three and six.