CAREER: Biology-Inspired Miniature Optical Directional Microphones: Bridging Biological Systems and Sensor Technology

提出了一个综合的研究和教育职业计划，为实现PI的职业目标奠定基础：将生物学启发的想法转化为智能、小规模的传感器，并以多学科的视角教育未来一代学生和研究人员。受苍蝇奥米亚微尺度耳朵的启发，该研究计划开发一类新的微型定向麦克风，这些耳朵显示出显著的声音定位能力。这需要一种新的方法，通过集成生物启发的解决方案、力学建模、微制造技术和光学检测策略来开发传感器。力学模型将有助于解开苍蝇听力机制的基本科学，并制定传感器设计指南。基于低相干干涉仪的光学系统将克服最先进的检测技术的限制。这种受生物启发的声音定位新传感范例预计将在医疗保健、安全和国防等领域产生重大影响。本科生和研究生的学习经验将通过跨学科课程得到丰富。通过让K-12学生参与马里兰大学的多学科研究活动，将激发他们对科学和工程的兴趣。代表不足的群体的参与将通过教育活动和指导工程中的妇女方案来扩大。

An integrated research and education CAREER program is proposed to build a foundation for achieving the PI's career goals: to transfer biology-inspired ideas into smart, small-scale sensors, and to educate future generations of students and researchers with multi-disciplinary perspectives. Inspired by the micro-scale ears of the fly Ormia, which show remarkable sound localization ability, the research plan is to develop a new class of miniature directional microphones. This entails a new approach for sensor development via the integration of biology-inspired solutions, mechanics modeling, micro-fabrication techniques, and optical detection strategies. The mechanics model will help unravel the underlying science of the fly's hearing mechanism and develop sensor design guidelines. The low coherence interferometer based optical system will overcome the limit of state-of-the-art detection techniques. This new bio-inspired sensing paradigm for sound localization is expected to have a significant impact in areas such as health care, safety, and defense. The learning experience of undergraduate and graduate students will be enriched through an inter-disciplinary curriculum. The interests of K-12 students in science and engineering will be stimulated by involving them in multi-disciplinary research activities at the University of Maryland. Participation of underrepresented groups will be broadened through educational activities and mentoring of the Women in Engineering program.