Keynote 1

Is Nanotechnology the Next Big Thing?

Arokia Nathan
Sumitomo/STS Chair of Nanotechnology
London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London

Nanotechnology refers to the precise control of the structure of matter at the atomic/molecular level for the creation of new functional materials, devices, and systems. It is multi-disciplinary, simultaneously drawing from and benefiting areas such as materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics, biology and medicine. Indeed nanotechnology is all about generating new solutions based on atomic- and molecular-scale manipulations.

While the field of nanotechnology can be divided into various classifications, there are two areas that are of immediate interest to engineers: nano-electronics and bio-nano-systems. The former addresses the development of systems and materials required to allow the electronics industry to go beyond current technological limits, producing even far finer detail than features in a Pentium chip. Also associated in this category is a new generation of electronic materials on non-conventional substrates, such as plastic and polyester. The class bio-nano-systems can be described as the molecular manipulation of bio-materials and associated miniaturization of new analytical devices such as DNA chips, peptide chips, protein chips, and cell chips.

This talk will review these new and exciting research opportunities, and the wide variety of benefits to society that nanotechnology can deliver, addressing applications ranging from information technology and healthcare to energy and the environment.

Biography

Arokia Nathan holds the Sumitomo/STS Chair of Nanotechnology. He is also the chief technology officer of Ignis Innovation Inc., Waterloo, Canada, a company he founded to commercialize technology on thin film silicon backplanes and driving algorithms for active matrix organic light emitting diode displays.
He has extensive experience in device physics and modeling, and materials processing and integration. His present research interests lie in fabrication of devices, circuits, and systems using disordered semiconductors, including organic materials and nanocomposites, on rigid and mechanically flexible substrates for large area electronics, for imaging and display applications. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 1988. 
In 1987, he joined LSI Logic Corp., Santa Clara, CA where he worked on advanced multi-chip packaging techniques and related issues. Subsequently, he was at the Institute of Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland. In 1989, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo. In 1995, he was a Visiting Professor at the Physical Electronics Laboratory, ETH Zürich. In 1997 he held the DALSA/NSERC industrial research chair in sensor technology, and was a recipient of the 2001 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship.
In 2005/2006, he was a Visiting Professor in the Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, UK, and later in 2006, he joined the London Centre for Nanotechnology and the Department of Electrical Engineering, University College London.
He has published extensively in the field of sensor technology and CAD, and thin film transistor electronics, and has over 30 patents filed/awarded. He is a co-author of two books, Microtransducer CAD and CCD Image Sensors in Deep-Ultraviolet, both published by Springer in 1999 and 2005, respectively. He is a Chartered Engineer (UK) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of the American Physical Society, Electrochemical Society, Materials Research Society, Society for Information Displays, and International Society for Optical Engineering.
He served as chair of the EDS-SSC society in the IEEE K-W Local Chapter, IEEE Newsletter Editor for Region 7, and received the IEEE/EDS Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2004. He is a member of the IEEE EDS Publications Committee and the IEEE EDS Sub-Committee on Organic and Polymer Devices. He chaired the 2005 and 2006 IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society Technical Committee on Displays and the Displays Sub-Committee in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
He is an editorial board member of IEEE Trans. Devices, Materials, and Reliability, and the IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology. He co-chaired the Fall 2005 Materials Research Society Symposium M: Flexible and Printed Electronics, Photonics, and Biomaterials, will co-chair the Fall 2006 Materials Research Society Symposium AA on Mobile Energy and the Spring 2007 Materials Research Society Symposium A on Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology. He was a Guest Editor for a two-part Special Issue on Flexible Electronics Technology in IEEE Proceedings.

Keynote 2

Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems MOEMS / or MEMS
- The opportunity and the challenge

Tarik Bourouina
Head of the Microsystems Group at Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs d’Electronique et Electrotechnique (ESIEE-Paris)

This talk will address key state of the art developments in the field of MEMS/MOEMS while addressing some of the market opportunities in MEMS industry. The talk will also present current state of the art technology challenges. The potential of this rather new field will be highlighted through  examples with a special focus on sensors and optical MEMS.

Biography

Tarik Bourouina received the Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures (B.S.) in physics from University Houari Boumedienne in Algiers, Algeria, in 1987, the Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (M.S.) in electronics from the University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, in 1988, the Doctorat (Ph.D.) in electrical engineering, from the University of Paris XII, Creteil, France, in 1991 and the Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches, from the University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, in 2000. From 1991 to 1995, he was at ESIEE school of electrical engineering in Paris, where he conducted research in the field of silicon-based acoustic microsensors, including the acoustic micro-gyroscope. In 1995, he joined the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay, as an Associate Professor in the Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale (IEF), a joint laboratory with CNRS. From 1998 to 2001, he was at The University of Tokyo, as an invited scientist in the framework of LIMMS. Dr. Bourouina is currently Professor at ESIEE where he leads a research group on micro and nano technologies. His current research interests include Optical MEMS, micro-sensors and nanostructures.

 

Invited Talk

Mobile TV: Optimizing the End-User Experience

Nabil Yousef
Cofounder and Director of Engineering, Newport Media

Mobile TV is one of the most promising emerging mobile technologies. The opportunities and challenges towards global mobile TV adoption are outlined, stressing the need for end-to-end system solutions for mobile TV with superior performance targeting the best possible end-user experience. Several factors affecting the end-user experience are illustrated. These factors include sensitivity, immunity to interferences, Doppler performance, channel switching time, and power consumption. It is also shown how highly integrated silicon solutions can drive down the cost of mobile TV handsets and pave the road towards global adoption of mobile TV.

 

Biography

Nabil R. Yousef received his B.Sc. and M.S. degrees from Ain Shams University in 1994 and 1997, respectively. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2001. Dr. Yousef was a Principal Staff Scientist with the Broadband Systems Architectures group at Broadcom Corporation in Irvine, California, where he worked on modem technologies for terrestrial TV, wireless LAN, cable modems, and cable modem head-ends. In 2005, he co-founded Newport Media Inc., a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Lake Forest, California, providing highly integrated system solutions for mobile TV. Dr. Yousef has over 50 issued and pending US patents and over 30 journal and conference publications. His research interests include equalization, adaptive filtering, CDMA, wireless location, OFDM, and mobile TV.