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Gary Fedder

Carnegie Mellon University
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Education
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Berkeley, 1994
Profile

Gary Fedder earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences (EECS) from MIT. He worked at the Hewlett-Packard Company before pursuing a Ph.D. degree in EECS, which he received from the University of California at Berkeley. He then joined Carnegie Mellon University with a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and The Robotics Institute. He has won several awards, written 13 patents, served on the editorial board of journals, chaired conferences, and held administrative positions including his current one as Vice Provost for Research at Carnegie Mellon University.
 

Research

As information systems have evolved from isolated computational engines to distributed networks, the autonomous ability to gather and act on information is becoming increasingly important. My research is in the interdisciplinary area of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS): sensor and actuator systems with performance derived from integration of electronics and mechanical structures with features measured in microns to millimeters. Fabrication of the batch-fabricated electromechanical devices and the development of related processes leverage the enormous investment in mature Very-Large-Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuit manufacturing. Benefits of this approach include much lower manufacturing cost, greater miniaturization, greater integration, and in many cases higher performance than can be achieved with conventional methods used to build systems requiring sensors and actuators.
My research focus on integrated MEMS links to a long-term trend to the manufacture of low-cost sensor-and-actuator Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Integrated MEMS technology is becoming pervasive in embedded systems and is continually evolving to be relevant in new applications. A core general direction in my research group is design, fabrication, and testing of microdevices that are made through integration with conventional foundry CMOS processes, which enable on-chip electrostatically actuated microstructures, capacitive and piezoresistive sensors, and polysilicon thermal heaters. Active projects include MEMS system modeling and design methodologies, accelerometers and gyroscopes for motion sensing, an electrothermal microcooler system, ultra-compliant neural probes, piezoelectric energy scavenging for implantable pressure sensors, nonlinear parametric microresonators, and self-healing RF microresonator oscillators and filters. Challenges include system design, process integration, and physical modeling including environmental effects.

Most Cited Publications

"Endoscopic optical coherence tomography based on a microelectromechanical mirror," Yingtian Pan, Huikai Xie, and Gary K. Fedder, Opt. Lett. 26, 1966 (2001)
"Laminated high-aspect-ratio microstructures in a conventional CMOS process," G. K. Fedder, S. Santhanam, M. L. Reed, S, C. Eagle, D. E Guillou, M. S.-C. Lu, and L. R. Carley, Proceedings of Ninth International Workshop on Micro Electromechanical Systems, San Diego, CA, 13 (1996)
"Simulation of microelectromechanical systems," Gary Keith Fedder, PhD Dissertation (1994)
"A Low-Noise Low-Offset Capacitive Sensing Amplifier for a 50-mg/ÖHz Monolithic CMOS MEMS Accelerometer," Jiangfeng Wu, Gary K. Fedder, and L. Richard Carley, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 39, 722 (2004)
"Technologies for Cofabricating MEMS and Electronics," G. K. Fedder, R. T. Howe, T. J. K. Liu and E. P. Quevy, Proceedings of the IEEE 96, 306 (2008)

Recent Publications

"Apparatus and method for implantation of devices into soft tissue," Gilgunn, Peter J., O. Burak Ozdoganlar, Takashi Daniel Yoshida Kozai, Gary Fedder, Xinyan Cui, and Douglas J. Weber. U.S. Patent Application 10/350,021, filed July 16, 2019.
"Fabrication for ultra-compliant probes for neural and other tissues," Fedder, Gary K., Burak Ozdoganlar, and Peter J. Gilgunn. U.S. Patent Application 10/292,656, filed May 21, 2019.
"A High Dynamic Range CMOS-MEMS Accelerometer Array with Drift Compensation and Fine-Grain Offset Compensation," Li, Xiaoliang, Vincent PJ Chung, Metin G. Guney, Tamal Mukherjee, Gary K. Fedder, and Jeyanandh Paramesh. In 2019 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC), pp. 1-4. IEEE, 2019.
"Frequency Staggered Accelerometer Array for Improved Ringdown Behavior,"  MG Guney, VPJ Chung, X Li, J Paramesh, T Mukherjee, and GK Fedder.  IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems (2019)
"Hourglass-beam Nanogram-proof-mass Array: Toward a High Dynamic Range Accelerometer," VPJ Chung, X Li, MG Guney, J Paramesh, T Mukherjee, and GK Fedder.  IEEE International Symposium on Inertial Sensors and Systems (2019)