General
Introduction
Dr. Sam Kassegne
holds a Ph.D. degree in engineering mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University. His research interests are in
the areas of MEMS, integrated micro- and nano-fabrication technologies,
and bio-nanoelectronics. His experimental research work is focused
primarily in Organic-MEMS, novel applications of microfluidics/nanofluidics
and microarray technology, new bio-nanoelectronics platforms,
as well as polymer photovoltaic technology. His lab has a strong
focus on developing the next generation of integrated micro- and
nano-lithography technology for a variety of application areas.
Other focus areas include MEMS-based IMUs. Dr. Kassegne has an
extensive industrial experience in MEMS, biotech and computational
sciences acquired through his employment at Nanogen, Microfabrica
and Bentley Systems in Southern California as well as consultancy
work for Corning, SAIC, Nevada Nanotech, OxyHeal, and Nokia. His
research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, San
Diego Foundation, CSUPERB, AlphaTec, and Amco (Korea). He has
also taught MEMS & FEA courses at UCSD and UCI.


Our new Class
100 Microfabrication Facility.
Courses
Taught
Research
Sponsors




Research
Collaborators
Dr.
J. N. Reddy - Texas A&M
Dr. Marc Madou
- UC Irvine.
Dr. Finley Charney - Virginia Tech
Dr. Asrat Worku - AAU
Dr. Bibi Ephraim - Cisco
Dr. Kyoung S Chun - U. of Seoul
Dr. Athonu Chaterjee - Corning, NY
Dr. Kee Moon - SDSU
Dr. Khaled Morsi - SDSU
Dr. Robert Pozos - SDSU (Bio)
Dr. Dalibor Hodko - Nanogen
Dr. Forest Rohwer - SDSU (Bio)
Dr. R. de Callafon - UCSD.
New
Research Students: Our group is always looking for
motivated, bright, and hard-working students. If you are a new student
and have research interest in some of the broad research areas we
pursue, stop-by and talk to us or e-mail us.
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Summary
of Research
  
We
are a research group in the mechanical engineering department of
San Diego State University in southern California. Our team
includes mechanical, biomedical, chemical, electrical as well as
materials engineers. Our research areas include MEMS, micro-
and nano-fabrication, bio-nanoelectronics, microfluidics/nanofluidics,
polymer-based photovoltaic technology, emerging technologies in
IMUs (applications in cell phone, navigation systems, and image
stabilization), and computational sciences (modeling multi-physics
and reaction engineering in life sciences and electrochemical systems).
Our group collaborates with researchers at our institution and other
national MEMS programs (including the various academic and industrial
groups that spun-off the core Nanogen technology). We also
have an active international program involving seminars and joint
research. Our new class 100 cleanroom facility (400 sq. ft.) is
equipped for most lithography processes as well as some characterizations
including 0.25 micron resolution deep UV lithography capability
with Micrascan III step and scan litho system.
   
Current
Group Members: Neeraj Yadav, Bhuvnesh Arya, Nithesh
Paramesh, Nitin Hardwood, Gunay Ozturk, Namratha Tata, Vinot Vijayaraghavan,
Anson Hsu, Mihir Parikh, Krishna Desai, Chintan Patel, Neha Chowdhry,
Anurag Kaushik, Abhishek Khatri, Beejal Mehta, Mohammad Rayatparvar,
and Mohammad Majzoub.
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(I)
Bio-Nanoelectronics Group
This
group is investigating the feasibility and long-term stability
of bio-nanoelectronics architecture based on our existing
microarray platform. The architecture comprises of DNA molecular
wires and interconnects attached to carbon microelectrodes.
The boarder impact of this study is in developing nanoscale
modulation of electrochemistry and electric-fields that will
form basis for advancing our knowledge in large-scale bio-nanoelectronics
as well as electrochemistry and electrostatics at a sub-micron-scale.
Researchers:
Anson Hsu, Mohammad Rayatparvar, Neha Chowdhry, and Beejal
Mehta.
 
(III)
Nanofabrication Group
We are
working on innovative hierarchical micro and nanofabrication
technologies. One approach we are pursuing is IMN-litho (Integrated
Micro/nano) lithography that shows promise in machining chips
with both micro and nano features.
 

Collaborators:
Dr. Moon and Morsi @ SDSU.
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(II)
Polymer Solar Cell Group (link)
Using
a hybrid bottom-up and top-down micro/nano fabrication approach,
we are developing new generation of polymer-based solar cells
and OLED with new electrode materials and architecture. The
group also uses computational photovoltaics to develop new
insights and fundamental understanding of interfacial issues
between phtoactive layers and electrode materials.
Researchers:
Mohammad Majzoub, Gunay Ozturk, Mihir Parikh, Krishna
Desai, Anurak Kaushik, and Chintan Patel.
 
 
(IV)
Computational Group
We
have very active research in (i) computational electrochemsitry
for micro- and nano-electrochemical systems, and (ii) computational
photovoltaics to drive our experimental work in organic PV
technology.
 
Researchers:
Bhuvnesh Arya, Neeraj Yadav.
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(V)
IMU Group (Accelero & Gyro)
We are
working on novel tunable 2-axis and 3-axis MEMS accelerometers
& gyroscopes. An ongoing research project has a wide application
in cell phones, gaming, energy harvesting, and image stabilization.

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News/People
Recent
Graduates (06-Present)
- Alex Teeter
- MS Thesis - Defended in March 06. Currently at Gen-Probe - San
Diego.
- Sahil
Patel - MEng - Defended in July 06.
- Vaibhav
Patel - MS Thesis - Defended in March 07. Currently MEMS Engineer
at Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, San Jose, CA.
- Lei Zhou
- MS Thesis (ECE) - Defended in December 06.
- Zaid Karim
- MS Thesis (double thesis) - Defended in December 06. Currently
at NAVAIR - San Diego.
- Steven
Wong - MS Thesis (Bioengg) - Defended in May 2007. Currently
at Abbott Labs near San Diego.
- Bao Nguyen
- MS Thesis (Bioengg) - Defended in Dec 2007. Currently at Arrayomics
in San Diego.
- Saravana
Pitchaikani - MEng - Defended in Dec 2007. Currently R&D
Engineer - San Diego, CA.
- Phoebe
Shin - MS Thesis - Defended in Jan 2008. Currently at AutoSplice.
- Berhanu
Kebede Wondimu - MS Thesis - Defended in Nov 2008. Currently
MEMS R&D Engineer at Flowserve - Southern California.
- Mike Frank
- MS Thesis (Bioengg) - Defended in Feb 2009. Currently PhD scholar
in Japan.
- Amandeep
Singh -MS Thesis - Defended in March 2009. Currently at CSSE,
San Diego, CA.
Dr. Sam Kassegne
& Dr. Kee Moon's Groups Joint MEMS Meeting.

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