Microsystems Symposium - Opening Keynote by Kurt Petersen, President & COO, Cepheid
Madhangopal Ramaswami , Eve. MBA madan@umich.edu
Issue date: 3/5/01 Section: News
What do cars, DNA test equipment, printers, and broadband switches have in common? They are all a part of the growing applications areas of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems or MEMS technology, according to Dr. Kurt Petersen, the President and COO of Cepheid. Dr. Petersen was the opening keynote speaker at Microsystems Symposium, organized jointly by the Zell-Lurie Institute, College of Engineering, Technology Management Office, and The Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems.
Dr. Petersen was one of the pioneers in the field of Micromachining, with his 1982 IEEE Proceedings review paper, “Silicon as a Mechanical Material,” still the most widely referenced paper in the field of micromachining. MEMS combines the mass manufacturability of integrated circuits with the mechanical material properties of silicon to create miniature machines that are capable of several kinds of tasks. The University of Michigan is one of the hotbeds of innovation in MEMS, with several faculty in the College of Engineering being at the forefront of research in this space.
Dr. Peterson began by mentioning that MEMS was a logical engineering response to technology’s crusade of miniaturization. IC manufacturing is one of the most cost effective manufacturing technologies, and is continually being refined with an increasing number of components being installed on a single chip and with an array of applications being developed, this is expected to be an area of continued growth. He pointed out the increasing valuations of MEMS based companies, with the recent example of Xros acquired by Nortel for $ 3.2 billion in 2000. MEMS companies include heavyweights such as Motorola, Agilent, Lucent and Nortel for a wide range of applications from clinical micro sensors to optical networking switches.
Areas of growth include RF-communications, biosensors, data storage, and displays, according to Dr. Petersen. He lauded the efforts of U of M’s Dr Ken Wise, who is a leader in the area of RF communications, and mentioned that with the explosion in cellular phone usage worldwide, RF would be the major area of growth in MEMS. Dr. Petersen also covered MEMS usage in displays, printers, and biosensors. There are many manual operations in sample preparation and measurements in DNA and biological labs, which is a prime candidate for MEMS applications. Cepheid produces one such microfluidic cartridge system, which could be used to revolutionalize molecular diagnostics in cancer, forensics, food contamination, genetic effects and pathology.
Dr. Petersen was one of the pioneers in the field of Micromachining, with his 1982 IEEE Proceedings review paper, “Silicon as a Mechanical Material,” still the most widely referenced paper in the field of micromachining. MEMS combines the mass manufacturability of integrated circuits with the mechanical material properties of silicon to create miniature machines that are capable of several kinds of tasks. The University of Michigan is one of the hotbeds of innovation in MEMS, with several faculty in the College of Engineering being at the forefront of research in this space.
Dr. Peterson began by mentioning that MEMS was a logical engineering response to technology’s crusade of miniaturization. IC manufacturing is one of the most cost effective manufacturing technologies, and is continually being refined with an increasing number of components being installed on a single chip and with an array of applications being developed, this is expected to be an area of continued growth. He pointed out the increasing valuations of MEMS based companies, with the recent example of Xros acquired by Nortel for $ 3.2 billion in 2000. MEMS companies include heavyweights such as Motorola, Agilent, Lucent and Nortel for a wide range of applications from clinical micro sensors to optical networking switches.
Areas of growth include RF-communications, biosensors, data storage, and displays, according to Dr. Petersen. He lauded the efforts of U of M’s Dr Ken Wise, who is a leader in the area of RF communications, and mentioned that with the explosion in cellular phone usage worldwide, RF would be the major area of growth in MEMS. Dr. Petersen also covered MEMS usage in displays, printers, and biosensors. There are many manual operations in sample preparation and measurements in DNA and biological labs, which is a prime candidate for MEMS applications. Cepheid produces one such microfluidic cartridge system, which could be used to revolutionalize molecular diagnostics in cancer, forensics, food contamination, genetic effects and pathology.
