Professional Experience
Founder President March 2018 - Present
Nanotech NYC
New York, New York, NY
Principal Scientist February 2018 - Present
Chemeleon (Drinksavvy Inc)
Brooklyn, New York, NY
Adjunct Associate Professor August 2015 - Present
Department of Electrical Engineering
Columbia University, New York, NY
NanoFabrication Facility Director August 2013 – February 2018
Advanced Science Research Center
City University of New York, New York, NY
Materials Science and Engineering Research Assistant August 2009 August 2013
Boston University, Boston, MA
Senior Process Engineer April 2007 - August 2009
Analog Devices Inc., Cambridge, MA
Microelectromechanical Systems Engineer October 2004 - April 2007
Integrated Sensing Systems Inc., Ypsilanti, MI
Performed MEMS product development for new medical devices
Electrical Engineering Research Assistant September 2002 - October 2004
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Nanotech NYC
New York, New York, NY
- Nanotech NYC is a digital platform aimed at fostering the growth and advancement of the nanotechnology and nanoscience communities in the greater New York City area.
- Nanotech NYC aims to give students information on the many educational opportunities in the city, give researchers a place to discover potential collaborators, provide a comprehensive list of resources for anyone who is in need of specialized instrumentation or services, and be a one-stop shop for those looking for talks, conferences, symposiums and other relevant events going on in the area.
Principal Scientist February 2018 - Present
Chemeleon (Drinksavvy Inc)
Brooklyn, New York, NY
- Design, fabricate and test next generation colorimetric chemical sensors.
- Combine nanotechnology, photonics and molecular recognition to create novel devices for the commercial, medical, environmental, and food industries.
- Develop and write proposals for new products.
Adjunct Associate Professor August 2015 - Present
Department of Electrical Engineering
Columbia University, New York, NY
- Course taught: Principles of Device Microfabrication. The graduate course covers the science and technology of conventional and advanced micro- and nano-fabrication techniques for electronics, integrated and discrete components.
NanoFabrication Facility Director August 2013 – February 2018
Advanced Science Research Center
City University of New York, New York, NY
- Supervised cleanroom final design and build, in collaboration with contractors, architects, and consultants (approximately 5,000 sq-ft, $17.5 million)
- Led efforts in selection, acquisition, and installation of all cleanroom equipment (approximately 50 pieces of equipment, $8 million)
- Led efforts to develop all operating procedures and policies, external user programs, digital lab management protocols, billing, and user fee structure
- Led in hiring of cleanroom technical and administrative staff (3 technical full-time, 1 admin full-time, 4 graduate students part-time)
- Served on hiring committee for ASRC Initiative directors, faculty and senior administration
- Coordinated outreach efforts towards establishing industrial, government, and academic collaborations (regional, national and international), including facilitating new joint grant proposals
- Developed and implemented recruitment strategies for new cleanroom users from internal and external academic institutions, as well as start-up and large companies, resulting in over 500 user registrations since opening in 2015
- Identify and purse equipment and research funding opportunities for enhancing the facility and services provided
- Develop and maintain robust risk assessments and safe working procedures, particular around the use of hazardous compressed gases and chemicals
- Develop strategies to provide tools and processes to best meet the activities schedule and interact with users to make sure their needs are met
- Supervise and direct activities in the NanoFab, assuring productivity is optimized and tool downtime is minimized
- In collaboration with ASRC leadership, set the annual budget, revenue targets and operational metrics to achieve the overall operating plan of the center
Materials Science and Engineering Research Assistant August 2009 August 2013
Boston University, Boston, MA
- Designed and fabricated novel metal-dielectric nanostructures which provide broadband enhancement of light-matter interaction over a wide angular spectrum
- Developed process for the top-down fabrication of complex nanostructures (metallic and silicon based)
- Project 1: The enhancement and the control of radiative optical processes in semiconductors
- Project 2: The generation of optical sources carrying orbital angular momentum for quantum encryption applications
- Project 3: The demonstration of wide-spectrum, angle-insensitive light scattering for energy harvesting applications and plasmonic-enhanced solar cells
- Project 4: The engineering of reproducible substrates for label-free biosensing using Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) substrates with single-molecule sensitivity
Senior Process Engineer April 2007 - August 2009
Analog Devices Inc., Cambridge, MA
- Optimized Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) wafer level device packaging process in a high-volume manufacturing environment
- Worked with foundry partners in Asia and Europe to establish new MEMS production lines
- Served as unit process owner for seal glass screen printing, curing and associated metrology; as well as quality control inspections (automated and manual)
- Carried out process integration tasks, working with development, product and yield engineers to bring new MEMS products into high-volume manufacturing (accelerometers, gyroscopes, RF switches, IR sensors)
- Carried out process transfer tasks, including capital equipment purchases, development of acceptance criteria and design of cleanroom layout for new fabrication facility at sister site
- Managed process and manufacturing technicians to achieve project goals
- Utilized PROMIS process (configurable manufacturing execution system), SPC charts to optimize device fabrication process
- Purchased capital equipment for quality and yield improvement
- Participated in the Front-End Material Review Boards and Technical Review Boards
- Participated in formal Total Quality Management (TQM), Process Failure Mode Effects Analysis (PFMEA) and Eight Disciplines (8D) teams to solve process issues
- Worked with partner MEMS Foundries in Asia and Europe to bring new products to market
Microelectromechanical Systems Engineer October 2004 - April 2007
Integrated Sensing Systems Inc., Ypsilanti, MI
Performed MEMS product development for new medical devices
- Wireless, batteryless pressure sensor (cardiac and intracranial pressure monitor)
- Micro-coriolis mass flow sensor (drug infusion monitor)
- Performed device layout and design using L-Edit and AutoCAD
- Purchased of capital equipment (optical manual backside aligner, semi-automated wafer bonder)
- Carried out process development and fabrication of MEMS devices for various customers via MEMS Foundry Services
- Worked with start-ups, industry partners and universities to fabricate prototype devices and proof-of-concept designs
- Developed standard operating procedures for photolithography, metal deposition, deep reactive ion etching, screen printing, and wafer-level bonding
Electrical Engineering Research Assistant September 2002 - October 2004
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
- Developed a low pressure chemical vapor deposition(LPCVD) process to produce low stress/ highly conductive intentionally doped poly-silicon carbide for MEMS applications
- Designed, fabricated and tested MEMS devices to characterize and test reliability of semiconductor thin-films
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Materials Science and Engineering
Boston University, Boston, MA August 2013
THESIS - Engineering aperiodic spiral order for photonic-plasmonic device applications
Master of Science, Electrical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH May 2006
THESIS - Development of low-stress, heavily doped, poly-SiC films for MEMS applications
Bachelor of Science, Physics
Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA May 2002
Boston University, Boston, MA August 2013
THESIS - Engineering aperiodic spiral order for photonic-plasmonic device applications
Master of Science, Electrical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH May 2006
THESIS - Development of low-stress, heavily doped, poly-SiC films for MEMS applications
Bachelor of Science, Physics
Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA May 2002
External Funding Awarded
EXTERNAL FUNDING AWARDED
Title: CREST Center for Interface Design and Engineered Assembly of low-dimensional systems (IDEALS)
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 04/01/2016 03/31/2021
Role: Investigator/senior personal
Total Award: $1,000,000/year
Title: Collaborative Research: REU Site: Nano-NY
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 03/01/2017 02/29/2020
Role: Investigator
Total Award: $75,948
Title: NYC Futureworks NanoFabrication Service Center
Agency: New York City Economic Development Corporation, Budget period: 11/01/2016 04/30/2018
Role: PI
Total Award: $208,264
MRI: Development of a scanning-probe-assisted confocal microscope for the investigation of optical and magnetic phenomena in arbitrary material systems and devices
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 03/01/2017 02/29/2018
Role: Co-PI
Budget: $601,318 + $257,659 Cost Share
Title: CREST Center for Interface Design and Engineered Assembly of low-dimensional systems (IDEALS)
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 04/01/2016 03/31/2021
Role: Investigator/senior personal
Total Award: $1,000,000/year
Title: Collaborative Research: REU Site: Nano-NY
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 03/01/2017 02/29/2020
Role: Investigator
Total Award: $75,948
Title: NYC Futureworks NanoFabrication Service Center
Agency: New York City Economic Development Corporation, Budget period: 11/01/2016 04/30/2018
Role: PI
Total Award: $208,264
MRI: Development of a scanning-probe-assisted confocal microscope for the investigation of optical and magnetic phenomena in arbitrary material systems and devices
Agency: NSF, Budget period: 03/01/2017 02/29/2018
Role: Co-PI
Budget: $601,318 + $257,659 Cost Share
Courses Taught
Principles of Device Microfabrication August 2015 - Present
Columbia University, New York, NY
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Graduate Level
Laboratory Techniques for Research in Nanotechnology August 2016 - 2018
The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, New York, NY
Chemistry and Physics Departments, Graduate Level
Microfluidic Devices in Biotechnology August 2016 - 2018
City College of New York, New York, NY
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate and Undergraduate Level
Columbia University, New York, NY
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Graduate Level
Laboratory Techniques for Research in Nanotechnology August 2016 - 2018
The Graduate Center at the City University of New York, New York, NY
Chemistry and Physics Departments, Graduate Level
Microfluidic Devices in Biotechnology August 2016 - 2018
City College of New York, New York, NY
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate and Undergraduate Level
Process Skills
Fabrication
Cleanroom experience (class 100, 1,000, and 10,000), photo-lithography, electron beam lithography (EBL), nano-imprint lithography, lift-off, thin-film deposition (chemical vapor deposition, evaporation, sputtering), wafer bonding (fusion, anodic, glass frit paste), oxidation, diffusion, wet etching, reactive ion etching (DRIE and ICP), plasma cleaning, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), glass frit screen printing, wafer dicing
Design and Simulation
Finite element modeling (Comsol), finite difference time domain modeling (Lumerical), Matlab, AutoCAD, L-EDIT, LabVEIW, Mathematica, ion etch recipe development, CVD recipe development, photolithography recipe development, screen print recipe development
Test and Characterization
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), four-point probe, optical and stylus profilometry, ellipsometry, high throughput automated inspection systems
Optical Characterization
Dark-field scattering, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectroscopy, lifetime spectroscopy, second harmonic excitation spectroscopy, photocurrent characterization, design and build of custom optical setups
Cleanroom experience (class 100, 1,000, and 10,000), photo-lithography, electron beam lithography (EBL), nano-imprint lithography, lift-off, thin-film deposition (chemical vapor deposition, evaporation, sputtering), wafer bonding (fusion, anodic, glass frit paste), oxidation, diffusion, wet etching, reactive ion etching (DRIE and ICP), plasma cleaning, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), glass frit screen printing, wafer dicing
Design and Simulation
Finite element modeling (Comsol), finite difference time domain modeling (Lumerical), Matlab, AutoCAD, L-EDIT, LabVEIW, Mathematica, ion etch recipe development, CVD recipe development, photolithography recipe development, screen print recipe development
Test and Characterization
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), four-point probe, optical and stylus profilometry, ellipsometry, high throughput automated inspection systems
Optical Characterization
Dark-field scattering, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectroscopy, lifetime spectroscopy, second harmonic excitation spectroscopy, photocurrent characterization, design and build of custom optical setups
Honors and Leadership
- Symposium Organizer: International Summit of the Materials Research Society (MRS) University Chapters on Sustainability and Nanotechnology, Fall MRS Meeting 2017
- Selection Committee Member: CUNY Start-Up New York
- Faculty Advisor: CUNY Materials Research Society (MRS) Chapter
- Symposium Chair and Organizer: iMAPS New England 40th Symposium & Expo, MEMS Technology
- Co-Founder and President, Materials Research Society - Boston University student chapter 2010-12
- Technology Entrepreneurship Night, Engineering Chair (Boston University 2010)
- Case Prime Fellowship: awarded to academically gifted 1st year graduate student
- Rogers Physics Prize: awarded annually to an outstanding physics major
- Ries Physics Prize: awarded to a junior physics major with strong interest in the advancement of the field
- Sigma Pi Sigma (National Physics Honor Society)
- Richard R. Green Memorial Scholarship: awarded to academically talented students