TINY THINKERS AT TCU
Texas Christian University's engineering researchers are tiny thinkers.
Edward S. Kolesar, professor of engineering at TCU, and his research assistants are making microscopic machines. Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, are tiny gadgets too small to see with the naked eye. But if Kolesar is right, MEMS someday will be a vital part of almost everything.
"For the first time, three-dimensional mechanical devices are being realized with conventional integrated circuits. Almost everything we have in the macro world can now be miniaturized to fit on the head of a sewing pin, and with room to spare," explains Kolesar.
In other words, a billboard with a message that can be changed with an electrical signal, a gear train assembly, or even a guitar can be made to fit on the head of pin. The devices would be three-dimensional, maybe less than 1,000 atoms thick. Silicon, which is used to make MEMS, is stronger than steel at these dimensions.
The private university was awarded a grant by defense contractor Lockheed Martin to develop micro-mirrors that could replace the bulkier visual control displays used to transmit information. Kolesar's research team has constructed four different mirror configurations, each smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. The mirrors are coated with gold to make them highly reflective. When they are moved with a simple electric signal, they can swivel up or down and either reflect light to create a message, or appear very dark and not reflect light efficiently. Such a system could replace the heavy copper wire currently used aboard the F-16 Falcon and F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft.
"One of the most important things about the aeronautical/aerospace industry today is that with a given propulsion plant, the payload is limited. By making things smaller and lighter, you can put more things on board and achieve greater performance," says Kolesar.
Lockheed Martin is not Kolesar's only client. Dallas ophthalmologist Dr. Ronald Schachar is developing a functional prosthetic lens for the human eye. The problem? How to create the complicated network of tiny "muscles" that delicately expand or contract the lens to focus it, much like the way a camera is focused on near or far objects.
"MEMS may be one possible solution," says Kolesar. The researchers are working on that project now.
Manufacturing MEMS can be a costly process, often carried out in billion-dollar, dust- free semiconductor plants, reserved mainly for the budgets of corporate behemoths like IBM, Texas Instruments, Motorla and Intel. TCU is able to compete thanks to a technology-transfer program. Kolesar's research team designs its MEMS using special in-house computer-design software and then transfers their computer files across the Internet to a federally sponsored silicon-wafer foundry in North Carolina. This means TCU only pays a thousand dollars rather than millions to have designs fabricated.
"It makes us just as competitive as a Motorola-sized facility," says Kolesar.
Editors: Feel free to contact Kolesar at 817-257-6226. His e-mail address is [email protected] Please contact Steve Infanti of Dick Jones Communications if you need any assistance. We help Texas Christian University, which is located in Fort Worth, with some of its public affairs work.
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