
	2005 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference & Trade Show	Register \| Travel \| Subscribe \| Site Map

Symposium on

Smart Sensors and Systems

MEMS Devices | MEMS Applications | Smart / Intelligent Microsystems |
Sensor Networks

Symposium Chairs:	Elena Gaura, Coventry University, UK (biography)
	Benedetto Vigna, ST Microelectronics, IT (biography)

Confirmed Speakers

	Systems of Microsystems: wireless sensor networks Deborah Estrin, University of California at Los Angeles, US
	From Micro- to Nanosystems: mechanical sensors go nano Christopher Hierold, ETH Zürich, CH
	WINS: protocols design and implementation Stefan Olariu, Old Dominion University, VA, US
	Higher-order Sigma-Delta Modulator Interfaces for MEMS Michael Kraft, Southampton University, UK
	Integrated Resonant Microstructures for Sensor and Timing Applications Ashwin A. Seshia, Cambridge University, UK
	Y-nano X-micro technologies: nanometric optical control Davies William De Lima Monteiro, Federal University of Minas Gerais, BR

	Smart Dust: Concept->Macro->Micro->Nano Kris Pister, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center, Dust Networks, US
	"Intelligent sensors: systems or components?" Neil White, Southampton University, UK
	Consumer and Automotive Embodiments of Smart Sensors Benedetto Vigna, ST Microelectronics, IT
	Data centric wireless sensor networks Paul Havinga, University of Twente, NL
	Node design for pervasive sensor networks: a top down view Robert M. Newman , Coventry University, UK
	In Situ Atmospheric Profiling using Mobile Ad-hoc Sensor Networks John Manobianco, ENSCO, Inc., US

Preliminary Program

Tuesday May 10, 2005
10:30	Systems of Microsystems: wireless sensor networks
	Session chair: Elena Gaura, Cogent Computing, Coventry University, UK
10:30	Instrumenting the world with wireless sensor networks (plenary talk) (speaker biography) Deborah Estrin, UCLA, US
	Summary: Embedded Networked Sensing Systems, commonly referred to as sensor networks, will become a pervasive resource for society - they will monitor contaminants in soil, air and water; support detailed characterization of carbon cycling and endangered ecosystems; and serve as early warning systems for critical civil infrastructure. Across this wide range of applications, Embedded Networked Sensing systems promise to reveal previously unobservable phenomena. This talk will describe several motivating science applications and outline the technical challenges posed by these long-lived, autonomous, massively distributed and physically coupled systems.
11:10	Smart Dust: Concept->Macro->Micro->Nano (plenary talk) Kris Pister, UC Berkeley, US
	Summary: Smart Dust began as a concept for millimeter-scale wireless sensor nodes in 1994. In 1998 macro versions of smart dust motes were demonstrated, which inspired tremendous innovation and application in the embedded software community. In 2001 the first autonomous millimeter scale motes were demonstrated using MEMS and IC technology. Nano-enabled motes, if not completely nano motes, were demonstrated in 2003. Commercialization of these three different technology scales appears to be proceeding with a lag of three or four years. This talk will cover some of the technology highlights, the existing commercial deployments, and the emerging markets in this fast-moving field.

1:30	Sensor Networks - applications
	Session chair: Elena Gaura, Cogent Computing, Coventry University, UK
1:30	Title to be announced (invited talk) DK Arvind, University of Edinburgh, UK
2:00	Data centric wireless sensor networks (invited talk) Paul Havinga, University of Twente, NL
2:30	In situ atmospheric profiling using mobile ad-hoc sensor networks (invited talk) John Manobianco, ENSCO, Inc., US

3:30	MEMS sensors – design for performance
	Session chair: Elena Gaura, Cogent Computing, Coventry University, UK
3:30	Higher-order Sigma-Delta Modulator Interfaces for MEMS (invited talk) Michael Kraft, Southampton University, UK
4:00	Integrated Resonant Microstructures for Sensor and Timing Applications (invited talk) Ashwin A. Seshia, Cambridge University, UK
Wednesday May 11, 2005
10:30	Sensors: Micro and nano technologies
	Session chair: Benedetto Vigna, STMicroelectronics, IT
10:30	“From Micro- to Nanosystems: mechanical sensors go nano” (plenary talk) (speaker biography) Christopher Hierold, ETH, Zürich
	Summary: The talk will review on the impact of scaling on the system performance of mechanical inertial sensors. Permanent cost pressure will result in continuous efforts to integrate more functions into further miniaturized systems. As a result, MEMS will also incorporate functional nano devices such as nanotubes and nanosystems might replace Microsystems for certain applications in the future. Mechanical sensors will go nano provided that self-assembly of nanostructures becomes a well controlled fabrication technology.
11:10	Intelligent sensors: systems or components? (plenary talk) (speaker biography) Neil White, Southampton University, UK

1:30	Integrated MEMS & NEMS
	Session chair: Benedetto Vigna, STMicroelectronics, IT
1:30	Consumer and Automotive Embodiments of Smart Sensors (invited talk) (speaker biography) Benedetto Vigna, STMicroelectronics, IT
time	Y-nano X-micro technologies: nanometric optical control (invited talk) Davies William De Lima Monteiro, Federal University of Minas Gerais, BR

3:30	Sensor networks- design & implementation
	Session chair: Benedetto Vigna, STMicroelectronics, IT
3:30	WINS: protocols design and implementation (invited talk) Stefan Olariu, Old Dominion University, VA
4:00	Node design for pervasive sensor networks: a top down view (invited talk) Robert M. Newman Coventry University, UK

Symposium strands

MEMS devices
MEMS applications
Smart/Intelligent Microsystems
Sensor networks

Communities

MEMS technologists (physicists, mechanical engineering)
Electronics engineers
Control/system engineers
Computer scientists

Synopsis

Whilst MEMS have long been on the list of the “next big things”, it is only recently that their potential is coming close to being realized. Since their inception, MEMS has been seen as an “enabling technology” by both the research community and a variety of industries.

Historically, a variety of successful MEMS development strands can be identified, some of which are linked with the industry demand for “replacement products” (the process/instrumentation sensors for example, designed for high accuracy or the cheap/minimum size & weight/minimal electronics sensors for liberal use in appliances and automotive industry), whilst other aimed to enable new applications (the most successful example in this category would be the nozzles for the ink jet printers). However, the spectacular, world changing applications of MEMS are still in the future and imply a viewpoint shift in the approach to MEMS and their technology. Examples of such applications are the many current proposals for hugely ambitious information gathering systems based on very large networks of autonomous intelligent sensors. Typically, the proposals envisage thousands or millions of such sensors and actuators, collaborating together to make an overall system with highly advanced functionality.

MEMS design is therefore undergoing a change from “stand alone” component design to a more systemic/application driven design, as MEMS become key components in pervasive computational systems. One reason for this is that the conception and design of the spectacular systems above with MEMS as key components requires systems thinking on a grand scale - a holistic approach to all of the different levels of design is required to realise futures as grand in scale as their components are microscopic.

This symposium will be concerned with research that enables the big thinking required to deliver radically new capabilities based on MEMS technologies. We are interested in reporting on research and technology geared towards answering the following challenges:

MEMS integration – design and technology
RF and optical MEMS
Application lead design constraints for MEMS (low power, packaging, MEMS for harsh environments, etc)
Signal processing associated with MEMS devices (calibration, closed loop systems, MEMS systems design and implementation, system-on-a-chip)
Smart and intelligent sensors
Sensor & actuator systems – design and applications
MEMS – markets and drivers

The special topic of the symposium is, this year, 'Systems Using MicroSystems' (SUMS). Looking at MEMS sensors for example, from a system requirements perspective they range from the simplest sensor performing straight forward metrology through the self-testing sensor to the fully fledged cogent sensor which can autonomously make informed decisions on the data and perform complex information transformations. With respect to sensing, therefore, we are particularly interested to receive work in the area of SUMS for pervasive computing: