Research Expertise and Interest
nanotechnology, MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems), design and manufacturing of microsensors, microactuators, development of micromachining processes, silicon surface/bulk micromachining, micromolding process
Research Description
MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems); NEMS (Nanoelectromechanical Systems); Nanotechnology; design and manufacturing of microsensors and microactuators; development of micromachining processes by silicon surface/bulk micromachining; micro moulding process; mechanical issues in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) including heat transfer, solid/fluid mechanics and dynamics.
In the News
Bakar Fellows Program Names Seven New Spark Award Recipients
Slicing the Way to Wearable Sensor Prototypes
Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetah
You can’t squash this roach-inspired robot
Researchers use jiggly Jell-O to make powerful new hydrogen fuel catalyst
Berkeley engineers develop origami electronics from cheap, foldable paper
3D-Printed ‘Smart Cap’ Uses Electronics to Sense Spoiled Food
It might not be long before consumers can just hit “print” to create an electronic circuit or wireless sensor in the comfort of their homes. UC Berkeley engineers are expanding their portfolio of 3D printing technology to include electrical components, such as resistors, inductors, capacitors and integrated wireless electrical sensing systems.
New fiber nanogenerators could lead to electric clothing
In research that gives literal meaning to the term "power suit," UC Berkeley engineers have created energy-scavenging nanofibers that could one day be woven into clothing and textiles. The technology could eventually lead to wearable 'smart clothes' that can power hand-held electronics through ordinary body movements.
Featured in the Media
A team of Berkeley researchers has developed a skittering robot that's modeled on a cockroach. Like the insect, it's tiny, fast, and can survive attempts to squish it. "Most of the robots at this particular small scale are very fragile," says mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin, the senior author of the study. "If you step on them, you pretty much destroy the robot. ... We found that if we put weight on our robot, it still more or less functions." The ultimate goal for such robots is to put them to work on search and rescue missions in places where dogs or humans either can't fit, or where it may be too dangerous for them to go, says first author Yichuan Wu, who was a mechanical engineering graduate student working on the project through a partnership with the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute. "For example, if an earthquake happens, it's very hard for the big machines, or the big dogs, to find life underneath debris, so that's why we need a small-sized robot that is agile and robust," he says. Link to video. For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News. Another story on this topic appeared in One News Page (UPI).
Gelatin -- the substance that makes Jell-O jiggle -- is the magic ingredient in a new fuel catalyst developed by Berkeley researchers. Made with nanometer-thin sheets of metal carbide, the new catalyst offers a cheaper and more effective way of generating hydrogen fuel from water than the current best material -- platinum. "Platinum is expensive, so it would be desirable to find other alternative materials to replace it," says mechanical engineering professor Liwei Lin, the study's senior author. "We are actually using something similar to the Jell-O that you can eat as the foundation, and mixing it with some of the abundant earth elements to create an inexpensive new material for important catalytic reactions." This story originated at Berkeley News, and was reprinted in more than a dozen sources around the world, including Nanotechnology Now, Nanowerk, Before it's News, FARS News Agency (Iran), Archy Worldys, and World Industrial Reporter.