This award is to support a "US-Tunisia Workshop on research and educational advances in the design and fabrication of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)" to be held in Hammamet, Tunisia in December 2006 Tunisia in concurrence with the International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering (ICAME2006). The US organizer is Professor Ali H. Nayfeh, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). The Tunisian organizers are Drs. Slim Choura and Sami El-Borgi of the Tunisia Polytechnic School. The workshop will be hosted by the Applied Mechanics and Systems Research Laboratory at the Tunisia Polytechnic School (TPS) and the Tunisian National Institute of Scientific and Technical Research, and will be held in conjunction with the Third International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. These combined efforts will ensure a broad participation of senior and junior scientists from the US, Tunisia, and other countries.
Technical Merits: The workshop objectives are to (a) discuss research and educational issues and trends related to MEMS technology, (b) offer opportunities for the initiation of research projects and strengthening existing ones between the American and Tunisian participants, and (c) address issues related to the needs of the local industry to MEMS technology. The focus will be on up-to-date research and development of MEMS technology and its applications to microsensors, microactuators, opto-mechanical and fluidic microsystems, biomedical microdevices, and nano-electro-mechanical devices. One day will be set aside to discuss research trends and future needs to MEMS technology, and explore possible joint collaboration projects between Tunisian and American universities. The workshop will provide an opportunity to make use of the collective experiences of many experts in the field of MEMS with emphasis on design tools, fabrication technologies, materials, and electro-mechanical integration techniques.
Broader Impact: The workshop is expected to enhance the scientific collaboration between the scientists of the two countries and the creation and design of graduate course(s) on MEMS mechanics and materials for the American and Tunisian universities. It will allow scientists from the U.S. and Tunisia to exchange their research and teaching experiences, ideas, and information and to initiate new and strengthen existing collaborations to promote MEMS technology for the benefit of the public and private sectors. Participants will include two junior U.S. researchers as well as junior scientists and PhD students from Tunisia, thus increasing the potential for future collaboration. Since MEMS technology is becoming central to mechanics and materials engineering education, the PIs will transition main developments of this research to the classroom. Basic concepts of MEMS design and fabrication, to be suggested by the participants during the workshop, will be proposed for a new graduate course(s) at Virginia Tech. as well as in the Computational Mechanics Master's Program offered at TPS. A published proceeding will be made available to the workshop participants. Also announcements for this workshop will be available on the World Wide Web at Virginia Tech.
