Visionaries in Technology: Roger T. Howe

Resonant Systems for Physical and Biochemical Sensing

November 2, 2018
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Location
Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall
Sponsored by
Thayer School of Engineering
Audience
Public
More information
Kathy DiAntonio

Thayer School's Visionaries in Technology series honors engineers and scientists whose insights have benefited humanity through revolutionary engineering solutions, paradigm shifting scientific advances, novel fields of inquiry, or policy shaping debate.

Abstract: Resonance, where vibrations are concentrated at a specific frequency, is a common feature of natural and engineered systems. Resonating silicon microstructures, for example, give electronic devices the ability to sense motion. This talk will cover improvements to both the sensitivity and stability of silicon motion sensors as well as some motivating applications. At a smaller scale, electrons in intramolecular bonds have quantized vibrational energies that provide structural information about the molecule. A new sensor that can detect these energy states has recently been developed. Analytes in complex media can be identified by pattern matching against reference scans of the analyte in a buffer solution. The talk will also include perspectives on the process of commercializing sensor technologies.

Roger Howe is the William E. Ayer Professor in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He received a BS in physics from Harvey Mudd College and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. After faculty positions at CMU and MIT from 1984–1987, he returned to Berkeley where he was a Professor until 2005. His research group has worked on MEMS sensors and actuators for over 30 years, with the focus shifting to biomolecular sensors and thermionic energy conversion over the past decade. He is currently on sabbatical as a visiting professor at Dartmouth. He has received several awards for his research in MEMS and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He co-founded Silicon Clocks, Inc. to commercialize MEMS resonators for electronic clocks. In 2010, the company was acquired by Silicon Labs, Inc. In 2016, he co-founded ProbiusDx, Inc. to commercialize a broad-spectrum biomolecular sensing platform based on his group’s research.

Reception follows in GlycoFi Atrium. Everyone welcome.

Location
Spanos Auditorium, Cummings Hall
Sponsored by
Thayer School of Engineering
Audience
Public
More information
Kathy DiAntonio