Fall 2010 Colloquium Abstracts - Hongyu Yu

November 10, 2010

MEMS for Earth and Space Exploration

Hongyu Yu (Arizona State University)

MicroElectroMechanical System (MEMS) stands for a class of batch-fabricated devices, consisting of mechanical, electrical and other components to simulate macroscopic functions on a micro scale. This interdisciplinary technology offers the great potential of reducing the cost, size and power consumption for the scientific instruments, which will benefit Earth research and Space mission tremendously.
An introduction of MEMS and its application, especially in Earth and Space Exploration, will be given, including motion sensing, navigation, micro thrusters, smart skin and energy harvesting. The challenges to use MEMS device in space harsh environments will be outlined. After that, we will introduce MEMS related research in SESE.