Computational Analysis and Design of Mixed Technology Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)
N. R. Aluru*
Campus Research Board

The goal of this project is to develop efficient approaches for modeling and design of electromechanical and electrofluidicmechanical systems. Rapid design tools are being developed by combining efficient finite-element methods with accelerated boundary-element methods. The design tools will enable investigation of design alternatives for MEMS.

Efficient Computational Prototyping of Mixed Technology Microfluidic Components and Systems
N. R. Aluru,* C. Liu (Elect. & Comput. Engr.)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, BAA97-39

The goals of this project are to develop efficient simulation tools for analysis and design of microfluidic components, develop techniques for efficient modeling and design of mixed energy domains, develop techniques for coupled circuit/device modeling of integrated microfluidic systems, and fabrication and computational prototyping of innovative microfluidic devices and systems.

Integrated Mesoscopic Cooler Circuits (IMCC)
N. R. Aluru, M. Philpott,* M. Shannon,* D. Beebe, T. A. DeTemple, K. C. Hsieh, A. Rockett, C. Bullard, A. Jacobs, P. Hrnjak, H. Sehitoglu, M. Saif, J. Economy, N. Miller
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, BAA97-19 (In conjunction with Departments of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering)

A distributed system of light-weight, ultraefficient mesoscopic coolers will be developed that can be economically mass-produced to create flexible cooling system. By combining innovative layered mesoscopic fabrication techniques with a scale-efficient vapor-compression cycle, and IMCC is created with potential improvements in cooling performance of five times over small normal-scale systems.