Click on a link below to access the seminar archives for that year:

2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000
Seminar Archive - 2005

September 15, 2005, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey B. Sampsell QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies 
Title: The iMoDTM – A Large Area MOEMS Display for Direct View


Abstract: QUALCOMM’s iMoDTM is a dramatically new type of direct view display based on interferometric visible-light modulating elements. The individual elements (variable-thickness MEMS cavities) combine the functions of color selection, intensity modulation, and memory into one structure. The iMoDTM marks the transition of MEMS and MOEMS devices from semiconductor-wafer-scale integration to commercial viability on meter-size-diagonal glass substrates. The talk will cover iMoDTM operation, fabrication, and performance – including comparison with some other display technologies. 

Speaker Background: Dr. Sampsell is Vice President, Technology of QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies. Prior to QUALCOMM’s acquisition of Iridigm Display Corporation, Dr. Sampsell served as Iridigm’s Chief Technology Officer. Before coming to Iridigm he was a Vice President of Sharp Laboratories of America where he directed Sharp’s digital video and multimedia research in North America. Beginning in 1984, Dr. Sampsell directed Texas Instruments’ digital micromirror device (DMDTM) program, eventually serving as Technical Director of the Digital Imaging Venture Project where the DLPTM brand was created. Immediately after leaving TI, Dr. Sampsell served as Vice President of Research and Development for NiOptics, Corp., a non-imaging optics design and manufacturing company. Dr. Sampsell received his PhD degree in Solid State Experimental Physics from The Ohio State University. 

Location:  "Hong Kong" Conference room (Room A111); 1 infinite loop, Cupertino, CA, 95014 (Apple Computer Campus, building 1) 

April 14, 2005, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Aram Mooradian, CTO & Founder, Novalux 
Title:  High Power Surface Emitting Semiconductor Lasers and Applications


Abstract: Recent advances in high brightness surface emitting semiconductor diode lasers will be discussed. CW power levels of several hundred mW and several watts pulsed in a TEM00 mode beam has been achieved. Power can be scaled to hundreds of watts from arrays. These laser devices are highly manufacturable at low cost and have been efficiently frequency doubled into the visible. Application to several markets will be discussed with emphasis on projection display, a multi-billion dollar emerging market. 

Speaker Background: Aram Mooradian is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Novalux, Inc., a company located in Sunnyvale, CA that manufactures high power surface emitting semiconductor lasers and laser arrays intended for the multi-billion dollar projection display markets. 

Dr. Mooradian received his Ph.D. degree at Purdue University where he studied semiconductors and lasers and then joined the MIT Lincoln Laboratory as a staff member and later became the Leader of the Quantum Electronics Group. In this role, he led research efforts in semiconductor and tunable lasers, laser communications, photochemistry, nonlinear optics, remote sensing, gas lasers and materials processing with lasers. He founded his first Company, Micracor, Inc. in 1992, an MIT spin-off that developed new technology such as high power optically pumped, surface emitting semiconductor lasers. 

Aram Mooradian has been involved as an advisor for the Department of Defense, industry and NASA as well as a scientific advisor for NATO, the Canadian Government, the United Kingdom, France, Kuwait and the United Nations. He has led or been a member of several scientific delegations or an advisor to various countries for the Organization of American States, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations, the US State Department, NATO, the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Defense. 

He has been invited under the Fulbright program to lecture in the former Soviet Union and has served as an associate editor for the Journal of Quantum Electronics and the Optical Society of America. He is a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America, a member of the IEEE and was awarded the distinguished alumnus award from Purdue University in 1989, the Computer World Honors award and the Robert H. Goddard award in 2004. He has presented more than 300 invited talks at conferences, universities, research institutes and corporations in more than 20 countries, has been awarded more than 30 U.S. and foreign patents and published more than 120 papers. He served as Vice Chairman of the Committee on Optical Science and Engineering, a two-year study for the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council on optical technology and the economic, scientific and defense impact on the United States. 

Location:  Tyco Campus 
302 Constitution Drive 
Menlo Park, CA 94025. 
The Security booth will require that you check in with them briefly and will then give you a map of the campus that will indicate where the meeting will be held. It will be in a conference room named "The Commons" in the 302 building

Post-Seminar Dinner:The seminar is free. Pizza will be served after the meeting (approximately 7pm)

March 17, 2005, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Dr. Richard Gale, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Texas Tech University 
Title: Nonlinear Control of Electrostatically Activated Non-landing MEMS Devices


Abstract: Closed-loop control of electrostatic MEMS requires sensing to provide a feedback signal. We present an integrated sensor for charge and position that negligibly affects the open-loop dynamics, does not increase the device footprint, and may be easily fabricated. Numerical finite-element simulation, incorporating a realistic electrostatic field model, and experimental results validate the functionality of the sensor. Simulations show how the sensor may be used in conjunction with nonlinear control to provide full gap operation and improved transient performance. Nonlinear control is often considered too complex for convenient implementation, however the controller presented may be implemented using on-chip, local, integrated circuit components. 

Speaker Background: Richard Gale held the position of Distinguished Member, Technical Staff, and was responsible for coordinating the work of the New Applications Research and Development Group in the Technology Development section of Digital Imaging at Texas Instrument Incorporated until retirement in April, 2001. Dr. Gale holds the A.B. degree in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley (1976), and M.S. and Ph. D. degrees from Lehigh University (1979 and 1984, respectively). Dr. Gale joined the Central Research Laboratories at Texas Instruments in 1984 to apply his graduate work on electron traps in silicon dioxide to charged-coupled device imagers for space-borne applications. He moved from CCD's to more general photonics interests in 1985, in time to make several key contributions in the developing MEMS spatial light modulators at TI. He was a member of the team taking the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD tm) from research into a corporate venture projects activity in 1991 after successfully managing parts of the initial customer interactions in projection displays. He contributed to the development of Corporate Venturing at Texas Instruments, and managed the demonstration/validation activity in the early stages of Digital Imaging at TI. After successfully promoting the technology internally and externally through a period of explosive growth, he took a position in Production Engineering for the development of first generation portable projectors. 

His final position included responsibility for novel approaches and new technologies utilizing and enabling Digital Light Processing tm insertion points, providing strategic direction in understanding competitive assessment and intelligence, and coordinating the DLP(tm) Products Coop programs and technical publication management. 

Dr. Gale is an author of more than a dozen technical publications, and holds patents in MEMS design, processing, packaging, control circuits, and system utilization concepts. Dr. Gale is currently pursuing new career directions that will build on and expand his experience in microelectromechanical systems, novel data analysis techniques, information creation and distribution systems, and communications technologies. He accepted a tenured Professorship in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, that began 1 June, 2002. 

Location
Tyco Campus 
302 Constitution Drive 
Menlo Park, CA 94025. 
The Security booth will require that you check in with them briefly and will then give you a map of the campus that will indicate where the meeting will be held. It will be in a conference room named "The Commons" in the 302 building

Post-Seminar Dinner: The seminar is free. Pizza will be served after the meeting ends at 7pm. 

January 11, 2005, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Richard MacKellar, CEO, Sunnybrook Technologies
Title: Sunnybrook's High Dynamic Range Display


Abstract: Sunnybrook Technologies achieved the aim of many by creating a display with images that are true to life in respect to brightness and contrast. Images match those experienced in the real world by having: * High brightness: the demonstrated performance of over 2,000 candela/m2 (these can be as high at 4,000 Cd/m2) as opposed to 100 to 500 cd/m2 for conventional displays * Deep black levels: the specified black level of 0.06 Cd/m2 is usually exceeded, often achieving 0.03 Cd/m2. * High contrast: contrast ratios are over 40,000:1, as opposed to 300 to 700:1 for conventional displays * Large bit depth: the display are 16-bit, with around 14 useful bits leading to over 17,000 visible shades for each color (red, green, blue), rather than the 255 shades with existing technology Sunnybrook will provide a technical overview of the underlying technology and a demonstration of one of its display products. 

Speaker Background: The presentation will be provided by Richard MacKellar, Sunnybrook's CEO. Mr. Richard MacKellar is an experienced technology entrepreneur and successful operations manager who has helped small companies grow for over 12 years. His career began as an engineer with Rolls Royce. In 1998 he co-founded NxtPhase Corporation, a supplier of digital/optical instrumentation. Mr. MacKellar holds a Bachelor of Metallurgy (Sheffield University) and an MBA (Harvard Business School). 

Location:  TBD

Post-Seminar Dinner: The seminar is free. Please join our speaker for dinner ($10-20) afterwards. Directions to the restaurant will be given at the seminar.