[BNC-all] TWO Lectures that missed the Monday Memo: Thursday 03.22 and Friday 03.23

[Deborah Starewich]

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 10:30 AM BRK 1001:
³High-Aspect-Ratio Micromachining of Titanium:  Enabling New
Functionality and Opportunity
in Micromechanical Systems Through Greater Materials Selection²

Dr. Masa P. Rao, Assistant Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Materials Engineering (by
courtesy)
Birck Nanotechnology Center - Center for Advanced Manufacturing


Traditionally, materials selection has been limited in high-aspect-
ratio micromechanical applications, due primarily to the predominance
of microfabrication processes and infrastructure dedicated to
silicon. While silicon has proven to be an excellent material for
many of these applications, no one material can meet the needs of all
applications. This is especially evident in biomedical microdevice
applications, where the intrinsic brittleness of silicon limits its
utility, thus illustrating the need for development of viable
alternatives. Titanium is particularly promising in this regard, due
to its toughness, biocompatibility, and fatigue resistance. However,
lack of sufficient fabrication capability has limited its use in
micromechanical systems thus far.

Recently, we reported the development of novel micromachining
processes that now enable realization of this promise. These
processes, based on plasma etching techniques derived from
microelectronics manufacturing, provide for the first time, the
capability for fabrication of complex, micrometer-scale, high-aspect-
ratio structures in titanium. As such, these processes not only
extend the state of the art in titanium micromachining, but also do
so in a manner amenable to scaling to low-cost/high-volume
manufacturing, due to the economy of scale inherent to the batch-
processing paradigm of the microelectronics industry. The focus of
this talk will be to detail these processes, their capabilities, and
their use in the fabrication of micromechanical devices for optical,
RF, and biomedical applications.

Prof. Rao received his bachelors in Materials Science and Engineering
from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering
from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).  Following
graduation, he accepted a position as a post-doctoral researcher in
the Mechanical Engineering Department at UCSB, where he was involved
in the initial development of plasma-based micromachining of
titanium.  He joined the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue
University as a Assistant Professor in January 2007.  Prof. Rao¹s
current research interests lie in the continued development of
titanium micromachining and its application towards biomedical
microdevices, as well as the development of other novel
microfabrication technologies for various applications.  He has
authored/co-authored over 15 journal articles and conference
proceedings, and has presented lectures in fields ranging from
ceramic composites for gas turbine applications to
MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) for telecommunications and
biomedical applications.

**********
FRIDAY, MACH 23, 1:30 PM BRK 1001:
"Planning for Disaster: Designing a Cleanroom to Minimize Risk Should a
Disaster Occur"

John Weaver
Purdue University

The cleanliness levels of a cleanroom or other high-technology
facility make it inherently vulnerable to a disaster such as a fire.
Historically, even a small event of this type can cause significant
downtime and cost millions of dollars in remediation.  When designing
a cleanroom, steps can be taken to minimize the impact of a disaster
and to enhance the recovery process.  This paper reviews various
potential scenarios and decision points in the design process that
are relevant to those situations.  It then outlines the decisions
made in the design of a recent nanofabrication research facility, the
Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University.


John Weaver serves as the Facility Manager for the Birck
Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University.  He is responsible for
the facility infrastructure, safety and training activities, and
cleanroom and laboratory operations.  John received his BS degree in
Chemistry at Adrian College in 1972, and joined RCA Solid State
Division in process engineering in the world¹s first production CMOS
fabrication facility.  In 1975 he moved to Hughes Aircraft Company¹s
Solid State Products Division in Newport Beach, California, where he
continued his role in high-volume manufacturing-support engineering.
In 1977, he moved to what is now Delphi Corporation in Kokomo,
Indiana.  During his career, John has been involved in a variety of
roles in semiconductor process support, process development, and
processing facilities development.  John has published numerous
papers in both the process development and contamination control
fields, has two patents in process development, and authored a book
and a book chapter in contamination control technology.  He has
taught a wide variety of industry short-courses, and is the recipient
of the Willis J. Whitfield Award for contributions to the field of
contamination control.  He is a Senior Member of the Institute for
Environmental Sciences and Technology, President of the Indiana
Chapter, member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of the IEST,
and is a Principal Member of the NFPA 318 committee, which writes
fire standards for cleanrooms.  He has been involved in the design,
construction, and/or operation of more than 25 cleanrooms and clean
facilities during his career.


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SPONSORED BY:
Birck Nanotechnology Center, Bindley Bioscience Center, Discovery
Park, The NASA Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing, The
Network for Computational Nanotechnology, VEECO, NCN Student
Leadership Council, Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics,
School of Chemical Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering