Acquisition of Instrumentation for Development of Reliable Technologies for Harsh Environments

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Competitively awarded support for University of Idaho (UI) research has steadily grown from $35 million in FY'96 to $63 million in FY'01.This increase is due, in part, to the research activities of severalmultidisciplinary research institutes and groups. For example, UI'sNASA Grand Challenge team provided the top-ranking concept fordetecting extraterrestrial life. This concept would be accomplishedin space using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Atpresent, UI simply does not have the capabilities needed to implementand test MEMS designs in their own laboratories for reliability inharsh environments. In addition, UI researchers are conducting otherprojects expected to result in a miniaturized tandem mass spectrometersystem, miniature resonators, micro pumps, autonomous vehicle guidancesystems, magnetic random access memories, and magnetic films for small monolithic microwave integrated circuits. All of these research activitieswill benefit from the added capabilities requested through the MajorResearch Instrumentation Program. As a result of current progress in funded research projects, and withthe support of the university's administration, the PIs seek to acquireinstruments to fabricate, test, and evaluate the robustness of newtechnologies. This request includes a plasma enhanced chemical vapordeposition system, an e-beam evaporator, a vibration / shock table, athermal vacuum chamber, and a laser vibrometer. Acquisition of theseinstruments will also provide more opportunities to integrate researchtraining with graduate and undergraduate education. The University ofIdaho is requesting approximately $290,000 from the National ScienceFoundation from a total project cost of over $611,000. This equipmentwill add significant capabilities to their region by complementingexisting equipment at neighboring Washington State University and byproviding research equipment that is currently unavailable in the inlandNorthwest. It will also provide additional opportunities for participantsin Idaho's HOIST program (Helping Orient Indian Students and Teachers toScience and Technology) to get hands-on experience in engineeringresearch. The project will be managed by experienced PIs who will use proveninstrument management approach to ensure efficient operation andmaintenance of the equipment. A qualified engineering technician willassist them. The equipment will be housed within a single building onthe main UI campus, and this MRI award will receive full administrativesupport from the Director and staff of the UI Microelectronics Researchand Communications Institute.