University of Michigan College of Engineering Receives Funding for and Designation as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems.

Business/Education Editors

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 2000

Unprecedented National Commitment to Development of MicroSystems

For Industrial Applications and Consumer Benefits

The University of Michigan (UM) College of Engineering announced today the establishment of the nation's first Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (ERC/WIMS) under a designation by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Funding over the expected 11-year length of the ERC is anticipated to exceed $60 million. First-year funding from the NSF is $2.5 million with an additional $2+ million in contributions from a group of global corporations, the State of Michigan and partnering universities.

The Center will focus on developing miniature, low-cost integrated microsystems that gather information from their environment, interpret the data received, and communicate with a host system over a bi-directional wireless link. The resulting devices are expected to become pervasive in society and will influence people's lives in important ways during the next two decades. Current and near-future applications of WIMS are among the most exciting and promising developments in the automotive, healthcare, environmental, telecommunications, electronics and instrumentation industries.

Integrated microsystems are being developed at UM that can be implanted in the human body to eavesdrop on what's going on with various biological functions, interpret the information, and treat any existing disorder using chemical or electrical stimuli delivered at the cellular level. Other devices can detect atmospheric and other environmental conditions, providing the user with critical information on a real-time basis.

ERC/WIMS at Michigan Engineering

The University of Michigan College of Engineering ERC/WIMS is an unprecedented, largest-of-its-kind center of research, education, and industrial development relating to wireless microsystems. Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing and Michigan Technological University (MTU) in Houghton are UM's partner institutions in the ERC, which will involve faculty from most engineering disciplines as well as from computer science, chemistry, public health, and medicine.

Michigan Engineering was granted ERC status and funding based on its extraordinary track record in developing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with wireless capabilities. Current interdisciplinary MEMS research projects at the College include work on implantable neural prostheses, a DNA-analysis lab on a microchip, and wearable environmental monitoring devices.

Stephen W. Director, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at UM, commented, "The designation of the College as an ERC recognizes both the outstanding work going on here and the significance of WIMS technology for the future well-being of people. This technology will have tremendously important applications in many different areas of everyday life, including healthcare and the environment."

MSU adds considerable experience in new MEMS and sensor materials and in education, while MTU brings key expertise in micromilling and distance learning.

The ERC/WIMS will be led by Kensall D Wise, J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing Technology and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Professor Wise has worked for more than 30 years in MEMS, particularly on sensor-circuit integration and microsytems. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is internationally recognized as a leader in MEMS technology.

Professor Wise looks forward to the positive contributions that the WIMS/ERC research can make to people's lives. "In the field of healthcare, for example, this technology will be revolutionary," explained Professor Wise. "We are developing wearable health monitors, so that patients can take hospitals and laboratories with them and be monitored as if they were inpatients. Healthcare will be more affordable and easier to access."

Khalil Najafi, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as well as Director of the University's Solid-State Electronics Laboratory, will serve as Deputy Director of the ERC/WIMS.

The Work of the ERC/WIMS

The integrated microsystems being developed at the ERC will combine five elements in a single device roughly the size of a sugar cube: 1) a power source, 2) software, 3) an embedded microcontroller, 4) a hardwired or wireless interface to the external world, and 5) front-end microinstruments selected for the intended application. Thus, the ERC/WIMS will bring together the studies of microelectronics, wireless communications, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Center research will be organized in four thrust areas: micropower circuits, wireless interfaces, sensors and microinstruments, and micropackaging. The Center's work will:

- extend existing micropower circuit techniques and sensor-driven controller
architectures

- develop single-chip communication transceivers based on micromechanical
structures and MEMS microresonators

- explore a variety of self-testing microinstruments, including chemical,
mechanical and thermal devices

- develop hermetic wafer-level packaging using deposited thin films and
vacuum-sealed cavities so that the package is built into the device itself.

The goal is to develop systems that are rapidly configurable, reconfigurable, and self-testing and to define their fundamental limits in the face of conflicting constraints imposed by power sources, process technology, circuit limits, wireless power-range tradeoffs, and size. These smart information-gathering modules will form the front-ends of future global information networks and bridges between microelectronics and the non-electronic world.

The Testbed Areas

The Center will focus on two application testbed systems: an rf-powered implantable microsystem (initially a cochlear prosthesis for the profoundly deaf, with subsequent extension to devices for treating epilepsy and Parkinson's disease) and a battery-powered environmental monitoring system capable of measuring atmospheric pollutants and water quality as well as barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, and other variables. Each of these testbeds is aimed at achieving a significant breakthrough in its own right while emphasizing the challenges that will be found in microsystems generally.

In the biomedical testbed, tiny electrode arrays will be developed that can be implanted in the central or peripheral nervous systems. The initial goal is a high-performance prosthesis capable of restoring hearing to the profoundly deaf. A microphone converts sound into an electrical signal that is analyzed and used to control the delivery of very small electrical currents that are delivered to the cochlea of the inner ear. This effectively wires around defective hair cells to activate the auditory system electronically. Subsequent efforts will address the development of other fully-implantable microsystems capable of electrically recording neural activity and precisely delivering electrical and chemical stimuli at the cellular level to address neurological disorders at the point of need.

The centerpiece of the initial environmental system is an integrated gas chromatography system operating at 1mW in 1cc and detecting over 40 specific gases from the EPA's air toxics list with 10-100 part-per-billion sensitivity. Applications will include the monitoring of pollution and global change, use in distributed weather forecasting networks, and the study of childhood asthma in urban environments. This device requires a high-efficiency preconcentrator, a multi-valve separation system, and an integrated vacuum pump. The transport and surface interactions of microscale gas samples will be explored. Deposited thin-film coatings of diamond will be developed at Michigan State for corrosion protection while micromolded packages produced using advanced milling techniques will be developed at Michigan Tech.

Applications of WIMS Technology are Leading to Business and Consumer Benefits

- Neural probes: UM is developing slender chips that can be

inserted into brain or nerve tissue to tap into the signals

produced by individual neurons. These little devices are being

used to open up entirely new research areas in the

neurosciences. In the cochlear (auditory) nerve, for example,

researchers using probes developed at UM have identified

specific cell types (named Bushy and Octopus) that signal

different components of a sound. The neurons use a "divide and

conquer" approach to decode a noise just as the rods and cones

of our retina read different wavelengths of light. This

insight may lead to dramatically improved cochlear implant

devices to restore hearing to the deaf. A Washington

University researcher is using a newer UM device called a

sieve probe. Inserted into a nerve so that the cell

connections regrow right through the device, it reads nerve

signals as they pass through it. Eventually, these devices

will be used to better isolate all of the logical and physical

connections of a given neuron, a first step toward

understanding how the brain is wired.

- Implantable drug-delivery systems: A natural outgrowth of the

neural probes is the ability to measure a person's

neurological activity then deliver tiny doses of electrical

stimulation or medications precisely at the spot of the

trouble. This strategy may prove useful in fighting migraines,

seizure disorders or even depression at the cellular level.

- Instant blood analysis: A silicon chip that is about the size

of a grain of rice might soon be employed by emergency room

personnel fighting a heart attack to give up-to-the-minute

readings on a patient's blood chemistry, saving vital time and

lives. In a related breakthrough, UM researchers have built an

implantable blood pressure sensor that can read the pressure

variations inside the coronary arteries, providing important

information on plaque buildup.

- Inertial sensors (Accelerometers and Gyros): Chips with moving

parts that can sense mechanical forces are already familiar in

the systems for ride-sensing and crash-sensing in autos,

shake-correction in camcorders, and stabilization of

satellites in orbit and a variety of airborne instruments. UM

researchers are making these devices even smaller and more

sensitive to expand their market in military applications,

microgravity measurements, earthquake prediction, and toys.

- Stimulators: UM researchers are developing a hermetically

sealed capsule, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that

contains a MEMS device designed to send electrical signals for

muscle flexing, heart pacemaking, bladder control, and perhaps

visual stimulation. These wireless devices are being built to

withstand the harsh environment of the body for up to 100

years. A related product and wrap around a nerve fiber and

stimulate it on command.

- Flying machine: UM's MEMS researchers are teaming up with

their colleagues in aerospace engineering to develop a flying

wafer, slightly smaller than a CD, that is pocked with tiny

jet engines to move it like a hovercraft. Batch fabricated to

be cheap, such flying wafers could provide the platform for

hazardous chemical detection, mini traffic helicopters, or an

exciting new generation of toys.

- Lab on a chip: UM researchers have rendered an entire lab

table of DNA analysis machines, costing tens of thousands of

dollars, on a single silicon chip about the size of a child's

finger. These chips could be mass produced for under a dollar.

This advance opens up the possibility of affordable, portable

- even disposable - DNA analysis for health care, crime

fighting and wildlife conservation, to name but a few

possibilities.

- Resonators: Resonators, such as those found in cellular

phones, are about 1 centimeter square, a size that has been a

problem in miniaturizing wireless devices. One UM researcher

has built a resonator 1000 times smaller than a conventional

device that can be incorporated on the same chip as a cellular

phone's other circuits. With this innovation, the wrist-watch

or lapel-pin cell phone is just around the corner.

Other Aspects of the ERC/WIMS

- Educational Dimension: The ERC/WIMS will develop specialized

engineering courses, internships and summer training programs

for undergraduate and graduate students and teachers. The

Center will also plan programs for middle and high school

students and teachers. The educational programs will be

offered via the Web.

- Industrial Collaboration / Technology Transfer: The ERC/WIMS

will also work with the State of Michigan and an industrial

partnership program to facilitate bringing microsystems

technology to industry. The industrial partnership program,

currently in development, will consist of more than 25

companies and non-profit organizations, each paying at least

$50,000 per year (and some significantly more) for access to

intellectual property, faculty, students, and facilities at

the ERC/WIMS.

- Facilities: The University of Michigan College of Engineering

ERC/WIMS will make use of state-of-the-art facilities for the

fabrication of microsystems and associated devices including

the 14,000sf Class 10/100 Solid-State Fabrication Facility at

the University of Michigan. The facility supports a full range

of microstructure, device, and circuit fabrication techniques

and has pioneered MEMS development for over 25 years. MSU adds

important facilities for new materials while Michigan Tech

adds capabilities for non-lithographic material processing and

high-resolution micromilling. Very large-scale micropower

circuit fabrication is being carried out in facilities made

available by industrial partners. All three schools have

extensive facilities for distance learning, permitting

interactive networking of both research and educational

efforts.

The NSF's Commitment to Research

The NSF's Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) are university-based centers for cross-disciplinary education and research with the mission to produce new technologies and engineering graduates responsive to industry's contemporary and future needs. The NSF has launched 37 ERCs since 1985. UM was one of two applicants awarded new ERC funding this year out of 89 funding applications. Northeastern University in Boston also received funding for a new ERC. The ERC/WIMS will be the University of Michigan College of Engineering's second ERC designation.

NSF's Lynn Preston, director of the ERC program, said: "Integration of multiple paths of research is critical for continuing progress in science, engineering and technological innovation. The NSF Engineering Research Centers partner universities and industry to provide the next generation of technology and an effective engineering work force, both of which are increasingly important to the economy and to peoples' lives."

About the University of Michigan College of Engineering

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is consistently ranked among the top engineering schools in the world. The College is comprised of 11 academic departments: aerospace engineering; atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences; biomedical engineering; chemical engineering; civil and environmental engineering; electrical engineering and computer science; industrial and operations engineering; materials science and engineering; mechanical engineering; naval architecture and marine engineering; and nuclear engineering and radiological sciences. Each year the college enrolls over 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students and grants about 1,000 undergraduate degrees and 600 masters and doctoral degrees.

For additional information, please contact Janet C. Harvey-Clark at 734/647-7087 or [e-mail]