The rapid advancement of Micro/Nano Manufacturing has made itself an enabling technology to explore many possibilities. Pressure sensors, accelerometers, ink-jet printer heads, and optical switches are some examples of commercial products in the market. The technology development requires the knowledge and system integration from a variety of disciplines in engineering (mechanical, electrical, optical, chemical) and sciences (physics and chemistry). All of these possibilities from developing the related technology at micro/nano scales represent a series of challenges and excitement for us to study, pursue and enjoy.

 

Our lab in Microsystems Engineering Program at R.I.T. focuses on micro and nano technology development for optical, biological and energy applications, such as MOEMS, tissue engineering, bio-fluidic behavior study and micro bio-fuel cell development.

 

 

One example of our micro devices is shown in the left. The device is mimicking a human hand to manipulate a biological object. This microhand is approximately 1mm in fist diameter. Each of the four fingers is comprised of multiple silicon phalanges and Parylene balloon joints. Pneumatically driven, the microhand operates in both air and aqueous environments and is capable of grasping, stretching and detaching soft biological objects in sub-millimeter scale.

 

Team member Zhonghua Yao joins our research group for his Ph.D. study. Welcome, Zhonghua !! (Jun. 2008)

Team member Koffi Abalo-Akuvi has passed his oral proposal for his M.S. thesis. Congratulations !! (Jun. 2008)

Professor Lu and collaborator at SFSU have been awarded a federal grant from NSF entitled "An Anti-Fouling Smart Surface with Controllable Nanostructures for IC Cooling and MEMS Applications." (Jun. 2008)

Professor Lu receives TI/Harvey Award for his research project in IC and microcooling. (May. 2008)

Professor Lu gave a talk in the invited symposium sessions in 1st Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Molecular Medicine and Engineering (IEEE-NANOMED 2007) (Aug. 2007)

Team members, N. Arora and A. Hanafi, won ARC fellowship and attended Aresty Research Symposium (April, 2007). Here are some pictures ! Professor Lu's work on microscopic hand was highlighted at MIT Technology Review Magazine, Nature Material,  LiveScience, FoxNews, and many others (Jan. 2007, Oct. 2006) "A Microhand for Biological Applications" appears in the cover of Applied Physics Letter (Oct, 2006)