. . . Fall 2002

If we have to name one area that has seen the technological advances of the last half-century, it could be the shrinking of the actual area that things inhabit—in other words, miniaturization.

Computing power that once required a room full of equipment can now be put on one tiny chip. Radios can be put into headsets. But telephones, while certainly smaller than they used to be, have a long way to go before they shrink to the size of Dick Tracy's "two-way wrist radio" or Jean Luc Picard's Star Trek combadge.

If Clark T.-C. Nguyen, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, achieves his goals, that "long way" will shrink as well, and truth will even surpass fiction.

"Sometimes I've even talked about communication devices that can fit onto a ring on your finger, although that probably won't happen till sometime into the future," says Nguyen (pronounced nu-EN). He has become internationally known for his pioneering research in microsystems technology, research that is expected to dramatically improve the performance and at the same time reduce the size of cell phones and other wireless devices.

Micromechanics and transistors

"Using microelectromechanical systems [MEMS for short], we can get excellent quality sound in a communication device that is much smaller than current phones and requires much less power to operate," he says. The goal could be an entire transceiver small enough to fit onto a single silicon chip one-centimeter square.

Some manufacturers are marketing "wristwatch phones" now, but Nguyen says they use conventional technology that results in "very short battery life, making them undesirable for most consumers; with its power-saving ability, MEMS technology will change this."

Nguyen thinks MEMS downsizing of integrated circuits may bring a new wave of miniaturization on the scale achieved in the

transistor revolution of the 1950s, when large radios, TV sets and telephones were replaced by the transistorized models we have now.

Nguyen's technology has already attracted the attention of industry leaders, and he recently launched a start-up company to commercialize his research. The company, Discera Inc., is privately held and is a subsidiary of Ardesta, an Ann Arbor-based family of "small tech" companies.

Discera's goal is to develop micromechanical processor technology that will replace the passive components on a wireless circuit board with an integrated microsystem. Nguyen serves as vice president and chief scientist. Ann Arbor entrepreneur Vinay Gupta is the company president.

The company name aptly echoes its mission, Nguyen says. The name Discera stands for "discovering a new era," he explains, and "conjures up so many different directions." It derives from the Latin discere, which can mean both "to learn" and "to receive"— as in receiving a communication signal.

Like other start-ups, Discera has the full support of the University. "I am pleased that another transfer of U-M engineering research to the private sector will improve the quality of people's lives," says Stephen W. Director, dean of engineering. "Commercial applications of our work in microsystems will provide more convenience for consumers, present new opportunities to entrepreneurs, and create good jobs for the local economy."

But there is more potential in Nguyen's MEMS research than simply phones you can wear on your wrist. "Tiny, fully functioning oscillator devices won't just replace the older, bigger parts," Nguyen says. "They will let us do things we couldn't do before and change the way any number of things are designed, from computers and integrated circuits to wireless sensors."

Tiny sensors in agricultural fields, Nguyen predicts, will one day monitor plant health, dryness levels, even pests, and notify farmers when their crops need attention. This in turn could greatly reduce the volumes of fertilizer needed for a given crop field, decrease costs for farmers and dump fewer chemicals into the environment.

Cochlear or biological implants that restore hearing to the profoundly deaf could be made with more complex frequency processing, perhaps to the point that next-generation prosthetic devices will greatly extend battery life and allow patients to enjoy music again.

Military uniforms may feature tiny communication devices embedded in collars, permitting long-distance battlefield conversations and also serving as tags that remotely identify the wearer as friend or foe.

Automated houses may contain a network of low-power sensor devices that could "recognize you and automatically set up the background environment— turn the radio on to your favorite station, adjust the heat and lighting, etc.— to your personal preference," says Nguyen, looking even further into the future. All that's required is good signal quality and low cost, just the sort of advances Discera is working on.