Students should be able to design a nano-device, both in terms of device physics and clean room fabrication process.
More in detail, students should be able to:
- Formulate and specify the required functionality
- Carry out a systematic literature search to know the state-of-the-art, and be able to cite the literature properly to avoid plagiarism
- Make a conceptual design
- Make a physical model of the device (“physical design”)
- Choose dimension, materials and driving parameters (like voltage, pressure etc.) based on the model
- Design a clean room implementation of the device (process flow and masks)
For the business component, additional learning aims are:
- Familiarize with the Lean Startup Methodology such as the build-measure-learn loop and the utilization of the Lean Canvas
- Learn about and apply basic techniques of qualitative market research such as emphatic design, the problem interview, and the solution interview
- Learn about and apply basics of finance for entrepreneurs such as the cost model, the revenue model, and basics of venture valuation
- integrate key information to design a unique solution to solve a customer problem with the help of a nanotechnology-based device
In addition, some learning aims are related to communication of the work. Students should be able to:
- Write a structured report with a good balance between the aspects; state-of-the-art, conceptual, physical and fabrication design, explaining how they arrive at their final design through the step-wise approach.
- Clearly present and discuss the different phases of the design process.
- Function in a small team of students, being able to effectively communicate, and cooperate and demonstrate teamwork skills such as planning, management, leadership and peer feedback.
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In the Nanotechnology Design Project, students will work in groups of 4 – 6 people on the design of a nano-device of their own choice, and consider business aspects / opportunities for this device. The project starts with a small number of lectures to define and explain the physical “domains” involved. Focus is on the fields of MEMS, Lab-on-a-Chip and (unconventional) Nano-Electronics. After this, a literature search is carried out to get an overview of the state-of-the-art in the field of choice. Basic functionality and requirements are formulated next. A possible implementation will be proposed (“conceptual design”), after which detailed modeling is carried out to help define exact dimensions, material choice and driving parameters (electrical, hydraulic, ..). Finally, a (clean room) process flow is developed for the device fabrication. Major phases in the design will be presented by the groups and evaluated by the lecturers. Besides the presentations, important deliverables are a literature report, and a design report which includes all important phases of the design process (conceptual design, physical design, process flow design and mask design). Parallel to the technical design, the groups try to develop a business case for their device of choice. Important milestones are the initial business canvas presentation and the final business pitch.
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