Ram Ramasubramanian, Associate Professor at NC State's Dept of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is looking to share a die space on the PolyMUMPs run #78 (June 26 design deadline). If you are planning a submission to this run and can spare 1/4 of your design space, please comment and we will put you in touch with Ram so you can share the costs and space!

Professor Ramasubramanian is hoping to spur activity in MEMS by using the MUMPs program as the lab in an Intro to MEMS course. The timing of his call was impeccable because I had just been talking with a professor at a University of California school who was seeking my input on a proposal that uses a similar approach to creating a standard MEMS teaching curriculum. If the proposal is successful, there could be opportunities for local schools to get in on the 2nd phase. Part of the proposal includes discounted MUMPs die sites. We are also collaborating on a text book for an Intro to MEMS class, which is slated to be published in late 2008, whereby the MUMPs process is defined as the de-facto teaching process. There's lots of work still to be done, but this certainly proves out the viability of this structure as a good way to teach MEMS.

SIDE NOTES: (I LOVE this section!) This entry brings up a great use of this blog and website, namely identifying "teaming opportunities"(as DARPA likes to call them) so that we can work together with people in our own backyard. Identifying and promoting such opportunities is one of the main goals of TRIMEMS so keep the opportunities coming so we can help you find partners. This does not mean that you have to play nice during ACC games.

-BH