Dielectric charging effects on Parylene electrostatic actuators

We report here the first characterization of dielectric charging effects on Parylene electrostatic actuators. High-resistivity Parylene in-between air gaps can cause undesirable charging effects due to air ionization when operating as electrostatic sensors/actuators at voltages as low as tens of volts. This undesirable effect can either lower the sensitivity of the sensor or increase the pull-in voltage of the actuator. It is further observed that Parylene actuators operating at high voltage could even show "bounce-back" and "pull-in voltage drift" problems. It is concluded that even for MEMS, attention must be paid to the operating voltages and the resistivity of the dielectrics

Innovation by demand: An interdisciplinary approach to the study of demand and its role in innovation

The structure and regulation of consumption and demand has recently become of great interest to sociologists and economists alike, and at the same time there is growing interest in trying to understand the patterns and drivers of technological innovation. This book brings together a range of sociologists and economists to study the role of demand and consumption in the innovative process. The book starts with a broad conceptual overview of ways that the sociological and economics literatures address issues of innovation, demand and consumption. It goes on to offer different approaches to the economics of demand and innovation through an evolutionary framework, before reviewing how consumption fits into evolutionary models of economic development. Food consumption is then looked at as an example of innovation by demand, including an examination of the dynamic nature of socially-constituted consumption routines. The book includes a number of illuminating case studies, including an analysis of how black Americans use consumption to express collective identity, and a number of demand-innovation relationships within matrices or chains of producers and users or other actors, including service industries such as security, and the environmental performance of companies. The involvement of consumers in innovation is looked at, including an analysis of how consumer needs may be incorporated in the design of high-tech products. The final chapter argues for the need to build an economic sociology of demand that goes from micro-individual through to macro-structural features

Prospectus, October 8, 1980

PRESIDENT CARTER: THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME; Letters to the editor: Black student questions fairness, Why not Ronald Reagan; International Students Day -- Oct. 22; Transfer day set for Oct. 15; Attention: Deadline past for student insurance; Record number register at Parkland; Horse Farming -- from days gone by; Chins Up! Only 1,752 hours \u27til Christmas break; Election \u2780: The Song Will Remain the Same; A look at O.R.G.I.I.; Celebration planned for PC Women\u27s Week; Stroke Club to hold meeting; Classifieds; Spikers hit low point ; Fast Freddy Contest; Fast Freddy getting the hang of ithttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1980/1018/thumbnail.jp

Gas-phase Silicon Etching With Bromine Trifluoride

We report the first study of gas phase silicon micromachining using pure bromine trifluoride (BrF/sub 3/) gas at room temperature. This work includes both the design of a new apparatus and etching characterization. Consistent etching results and high molecular etching efficiency (80%) have been achieved by performing the etching in a controlled pulse mode. This pure gaseous BrF/sub 3/ etching process is isotropic and has a high etch rate with superb selectivity over silicon dioxide (3000:1), silicon nitride (400-800:1) and photoresist (1000:1). Moreover, gaseous BrF/sub 3/ etching has also been demonstrated in surface micromachining process, where silicon nitride channels and membranes using polysilicon as the sacrificial layer have been successfully fabricated

Enabling effective operational decision making on a Combined Heat and Power System using the 5C architecture

The use of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) to optimise industrial energy systems is an approach which has the potential to positively impact on manufacturing sector energy efficiency. The need to obtain data to facilitate the implementation of a CPS in an industrial energy system is however a complex task which is often implemented in a non-standardised way. The use of the 5C CPS architecture has the potential to standardise this approach. This paper describes a case study where data from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system located in a large manufacturing company was fused with grid electricity and gas models as well as a maintenance cost model using the 5C architecture with a view to making effective decisions on its cost efficient operation. A control change implemented based on the cognitive analysis enabled via the 5C architecture implementation has resulted in energy cost savings of over €7400 over a four-month period, with energy cost savings of over €150,000 projected once the 5C architecture is extended into the production environment