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Purdue University College of Engineering certainly has their fingers in many types of technology pies (check out this LONG list of Purdue's ECE labs and facilities), including the Hybrid MEMS lab headed up by Dr. Dana Weinstein. In this context, we are talking about hybrid MEMS/CMOS or MEMS/GaN products.
Dr. Dana Weinstein, Purdue University
From their site:
"Our goal is to harness the benefits of new and high-impact micromechanical devices and circuits for low-power, compact wireless communication, physical and chemical sensors, and timing applications. In the HybridMEMS Lab we invent new mechanical designs and efficient transducers to make MEMS resonators with high resonance frequency, low motional impedance, strong transducer coupling coefficient, low bias drift and wide programmable range. We further investigate coupling mechanisms between resonators to demonstrate channel-select filters and synchronized oscillator dynamics, and explore inter-domain coupling to design merged MEMS-CMOS and MEMS-HEMT devices. Our lab has also focused on the extension of these devices and systems into unreleased structures, eradicating the need for costly packaging, improving yield and robustness in harsh environments, and making MEMS resonators more accessible for a wide range of applications."
We added Purdue at the request of Sean, soon to be an alumnus... thanks, we can't believe we forgot about this fine university located in Indiana 125 miles from the Chicago (home of the Blues Brothers) for so long!!
Sean says there's some pretty cool microwave research going on, even though the microwave staff is fairly young. They also somewhat recently (~2001) built the largest academic cleanroom (nano.purdue.edu). If you are in a position to drool without career damage, check out the list of equipment that Purdue's nanofab has!
Professor Chappell's research group focuses on applied electromagnetics. This has taken his group's research in three distinct, yet related directions; advanced packaging, integrated sensors, and wireless sensor networks. If you check out their web site you'll realize they pretty much have all of the future microwave bases covered, including advanced packaging, anisotropic conductive adhesives, metamaterials, vertical packaging for mixed signals, laser assisted circuit manufacturing, integrated sensors, integrated and miniaturized mass spectrometers, sensor networks and antennas, adaptable motes for intelligent sensor networks, environmental monitoring, electro-textiles, high power RF, and passive intermodulation. What else is there?
Professor Chappell's group's specific stuff with some research links is here:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/IDEAS
Shown below is Professor Chappell's group winning the Eta Kappa Nu Turkey contest in Fall 2005, raising money to feed distressed families a November turkey dinner with all the trimmings. A Solid Gold photo of a Solid Gold team! Why can't more microwave CEOs set a similar example?