Past and Present Students

Robert White, Mech. Eng.






Current Lab Members

Updated September 17, 2021


Faculty and Staff

Prof. Robert White, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Lab Director for the Microscale Sensors and Systems Lab, Faculty Advisor to the Tufts Micro & Nano Fabrication Facility and Researcher, expertise in MEMS/NEMS device design, microfabrication processes, acoustics, vibrations, system dynamics, measurement electronics, test and measurement and microelectronic packaging. Faculty advisor and member of the Tufts Faculty since 2005.

Dr. James Vlahakis, Director of the Tufts Micro & Nano Fabrication Facility and Researcher, expertise in micro and nano fabrication methods, materials for micro and nanoscale systems, MEMS/NEMS device design, microelectronic packaging, and microfluidics. Expert in semiconductor polishing (chemi-mechanical-planarization, CMP). Staff member working partially in the group, and mainly managing operations of the Tufts Micro & Nano Fab since 2013.

Postdoctoral Scholars

None presently.

PhD Students

Tim Cheng, PhD student. Working on Martian sonic anemometry project. Started September 2021.

Masters Students

Mischael Anilus, 5 year BS/MS program. Working on Cryogenic MEMS microphone arrays. Expected graduation May 2022.
Olive Rappoli, MS student and Draper Fellow. Expected graduation May 2023.
E Spencer Schmid, NSF LSAMP Scholar, 5 year BS/MS program. Working on Martian sonic anemometry project. Expected graduation May 2022.

Undergraduate Students

Freidlay Steve, T-Tripods Diamonds, data science. Expected graduation May 2023.
Lillian Fullford, class of 2023. Working on haptic displays. Expected graduation May 2023.
Reid Baris, class of 2023. Working on Cryogenic MEMS microphone arrays. Expected graduation May 2023.
Julia Huckaby, class of 2023. Working on finite element analysis for the sonic anemometer project. Expected graduation May 2023.
Eduardo Vargas, class of 2022 senior thesis. Working on aluminum nitride thin films. Expected graduation May 2022.

Previous Research Students

Postdoctoral Scholars and Staff

Mr. Haotian "Arthur" Zhao, Research Engineer, expertise in MEMS microphones, microphone testing, automation for testing of MEMS microphones and microphone arrays. Working in collaboration with Vesper MEMS, Inc. on arrays of MEMS microphones for consumer product applications. Feb-July 2018. Returned to a staff position at Vesper in 2018.
Dr. Wang-Kyung Sung, piezoelectric materials for acoustic microsystems, January 2016-September 2017. After completing the postdoc, Dr. Sung joined Vesper MEMS, a piezoelectric MEMS microphone company. He moved to another MEMS job at TDK InvenSense in 2019.
Dr. James Vlahakis, Thermal Nanomanufacturing of Silk Films for Chemical Communications, 2009-2010. After completing the postdoc, Dr. Vlahakis joined Intel corporation. He later returned to Tufts to manage the Tufts microfab.
Dr. Caprice Gray, Rapid Impact Nanomanufacturing of Silk Films for Chemical Communications, 2008. After completing the postdoc, Dr. Gray joined Draper Labs.

PhD Dissertations

(5 complete)

Nikolas Kastor, Soft Robotics IGERT Fellow, September 2014 - September 2018. "Design, manufacturing, and control of soft foam robots." PhD Dissertation submitted September 2018. Went on to a postdoc in Yon Visell's lab at UC Santa Barbara working on haptics and touch perception in robotics.
Zhengxin Zhao, "MEMS Floating Element Sensor Array for Wall Shear Stress Measurement under a Turbulent Boundary Layer", January 2014. Went to MEMSIC in 2014, then moved to Analog Devices in 2016.
Minchul Shin, "MEMS Based Doppler Velocity Measurement System", August 2012. Conitnued on to a postdoc at Univ of Michigan and then to a faculty position at Georgia Southern University. In 2020 he moved to another faculty position at Northern Kentucky University.
Shuangqin Liu, "Cochlear Properties and Micromachined Hair-Like Shear Sensors", January 2012. Currently at Coventor.
Joshua Krause, "MEMS Microphone Array-on-a-Chip for Aeroacoustic Measurement", August 2011. Went to Raytheon Corp after graduation, currently at Draper Labs.

Masters of Science Theses

(23 complete)

Martin Majkut, "Two-Dimensional Locomotion in a Soft Foam Robot Using Weight Redistribution", Masters of Science, May 2021. Went on to a job at Rivian.
Peter Tsivis, "Wedge Cut Design for Tendon Driven Soft Foam Arm", Masters of Science, May 2021. Co-advised with Prof. Bill Messner, who led the work. Currently at Columbia Tech in Westborough, MA
Yucheng Sha, "A Mach 0.5 Recirculating Wind Tunnel", Masters of Science, May 2020. Went on to a patent engineer position at Watson & Band Law Offices, Shanghai.
Vienna Mott, "Microplastic Detection Using Impedance Measurements in a Microfluidic Channel", Masters of Science, February 2020. Part time student from Draper, continued on as a staff engineer at Draper.
Kevin Ligonde: "A Micromachined Torsional Electric Field Sensor". Draper Fellow, graduated May 2018. Went on to work at Draper. Entered the PhD program at Georgia Tech in 2020.
Daniela Torres: "An In-Situ Microcoaxial Fabrication and Attachment Strategy". Draper Fellow, graduated May 2018. Went on to work at Draper. Moved to Ball Aerospace in 2020.
Xinyu "Henry" Shi: "Ultrasound Transducers for a Simplified Martian Acoustic Anemometer". Research Assistant, graduated May 2018. Went on to a research and development position at Huawei, China.
Ernest Kabuye, "Influence of Surgeon Technique on Screw Pullout Strength in Spinal Fusion Surgery". Masters of Science, August 2017. Continued at Smith and Nephew (medical devices) and moved to Impala Capital in 2018.
Peter Lewis, "Three Dimensional Interconnect using Aerosol Jet Technology". C.S. Draper Fellow, MS Thesis completed May 2016. Peter went on to a job at Draper.
Boris Raskin, "Aeroelastic Characteristics of a Rapid Prototype Multi-Material Wind Tunnel Model of a Mechanically Deployable Aerodynamic Decelerator", MS thesis complete January 2016. Boris was at Dassault Systems (Solidworks Corporation) for 10 years (2007-2017) and then movied to Siemens PLM Software and then to Siemens NX Products (product design software).
L. Max Hill, "Robotic Communication and Sensing Using Structural Vibration in Natural Waveguides", NSF Soft Robotics IGERT Fellow. MS thesis completed July 2015. Max went on to Hstar Robotics working on telepresence mobile robots. In 2017 he moved to Altaeros Energies.
Nikolas Kastor, "Modeling of a MEMS Floating Element Shear Stress Sensor", May 2014. Joined the Tufts PhD program full time in Septmeber 2014.
Mikkel Reske-Nielsen, "Exponentially Tapered Bimorph Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester", August 2012.
John Burns, "Low Profile Packaging of MEMS Aeroacoustic Sensors", August 2012. (Currently at Draper Labs, Cambridge, MA).
Rameen Aryanpur, "Two Bimorph Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Vibrations", May 2012. (Went on to Boston Engineering, Waltham, MA and then to Andium)
Zhengxin Zhao, "Closed Loop Control of MEMS Floating Element Shear Stress Sensors", August 2010. (Stayed at Tufts for a PhD, then went to MEMSIC in Feb 2014, moved to Analog Devices in 2016)
Christopher Doody, "Modeling and Characterization of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer Arrays", May 2009. (Went to STD MED after graduation.)
Brian Kierstead, "Modeling and Fabrication of MEMS Actuators, Utilizing Shape Memory Alloy & Bimetallic Materials", February 2009. (Went to Parker Aerospace after graduation.)
Douglas Gauthier, "Micromachined Floating Element Shear Stress Sensors for Characterization of Surface Forces During Chemical Mechanical Polishing", February, 2009. He went to Draper Labs in 2009, then moved to Lesker in 2017. Doug returned to Draper in 2018.
Joshua Krause, "Micromachined pressure and shear-stress sensor arrays for turbulent boundary layer characterization", May 2008. (Moved on to a Tufts PhD and currently at Raytheon Corporation)
Ricardo Jordan, "Adaptive Cancellation Of Tonal Vibrations", August 2007.

Andrew Mueller, "Micromachined Post-in-well Shear Stress Sensors for Characterization of Surface Forces During Chemical Mechanical Polishing August 2007. (Working at Draper Labs)

Nicholas Stone, "Vibration Suppression for Essential Tremor Patients", August 2006.

Masters of Engineering Projects:

(4 complete)

Grace Olsen, "Audible Telltales as an Assistive Device for Vision Impaired Sailors". Masters of Engineering Project, May 2016.
Samuel Spiegel, "Alternative Approach to Inertial North Finding", Spring 2010. (Working at Textron)

Lei Zheng, "Mechanical Analysis for Liquid Natural Gas Thick-walled Spool Piece", Spring/Summer 2008.

Liam Kelly, "Design of a MEMS Microphone Utilizing a Permanent External Magnetic Field", Fall 2005.

Undergraduate Theses:

(6 complete)

E Spencer Schmid, "Design of Sonic Anemometer for the Martian Environment", Senior Honors Thesis, Tufts University, May 2021.
Daniela Torres, "MEMS Shear Sensor", Senior Honors Thesis, Tufts University, May 2016. Went on to work at Draper. Moved to Ball Aerospace in 2020.
Kevin Ligonde, "Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers for Martian Anemometry", Senior Honors Thesis, Tufts University, May 2016. Went on to work at Draper. Entered the PhD program at Georgia Tech in 2020.
Peter Lewis, "Thermal Demonstration of High Density Processor Packages", Senior Honors Thesis, Tufts University, May 2014.
Aaron Gerratt, "Shape Memory Alloy and Elastomer Composite MEMS Actuators", Spring 2008. (At Univ of Maryland PhD program)

Tyler Groff, "Acoustic Damping of Micromachined Diaphragms with Static Pressure Equalization", Spring 2007. (At Princeton PhD program)

Undergraduate Independent Research Projects:

Will Yorton, Acoustical Comparison and Analysis of Medium Density Fiberboard and 3D Printed Speakers, Spring 2021, graduated May 2021.
Eli Beutel, Modeling a Speaker’s Frequency Response as an Electrical Circuit, Spring 2021, expected graduation May 2023.
Mischael Anilus, Fabrication and Properties of Piezoelectric Thin Film Aluminum Nitride Wafers, Spring 2019, graduated May 2021.
Brian Reaney, Molybdenum and Aluminum Nitride Thin Film Processing, Fall 2018, expected graduation May 2019.
Camille-Louise Mbayo, Aluminum Nitride Thin Films as a Stepping Stone for Scandium Doped Aluminum Nitride, Summer Scholar 2017, graduated May 2018.
Ethan Laverack, "Design of a High Speed Recirculating Wind Tunnel for MEMS Aerodynamic Sensors", graduated May 2017.
Eric Abboud, "Embedded Microcontroller Code Generation in Matlab Simulink for Ultrasound Processing", graduated May 2017. Went on to a job at Cyth Systems.
Dominic Guri, "FPGA Real-time Linear Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave Signal Processing", ME94 Undergraduate Research, Spring 2014\. Tufts Summer Scholar 2014, Undergraduate Research 2014-2015. Research Poster.
Devyn Curley, "Two Link Biomimetic Robotic Arm for Cymbal Testing", Summer-Fall 2014.
Taylor Tyson, "Accelerometers for Impact and Concussion Evaluation", ME94 Undergraduate Research, Spring 2014. Went to i1 Biometrics, Seattle.
Andrew Schneer, "Analog Signal Processing for a Real-Time MEMS Ultrasonic Distance and Velocity Sensor", ME94 Undergraduate Research, Spring 2014. Research Poster.
Warren Rixon, "A Fluidic Testbed for Planaria Memory Experimentation", ME94 Undergraduate Research, Spring 2014. Research Poster.
Stefan Le Noach, "Ultrasound Arrays for Robotic Navigation", graduated May 2013. Carried on to graduate study in robotics at Ecole Centrale d'Nantes.
Peter Lewis, "Nanotechnology Based Skin Friction Sensor", Summer Scholar 2012.

Michael Bernstein, "Adhesion of SU-8 Microbricks Towards 3-Dimensional Microfluidics", Fall 2011. Software engineer at Quoin, cofounder and CTO of Slingbot.

Rameen Aryanpur, "Development of Design Methodology for Vibration Energy Harvesting", Spring 2011. Rameen stayed at Tufts for an MS, and then went to be an embedded software engineer at Boston Engineering.

Raymond Leung, "Physical Model of the Reptilian Middle Ear", Summer Scholar 2010.

Arielle Fakharaee, "Macro-Cochlear Models: Linear vs. Coiled", Spring 2010.(Arielle went to ETH Zurich for graduate work)

Michael Dawson-Haggerty, "Capacitive Sensor Design for Flute Finishing", Spring 2010.

Alex Brindle, "SMA Driven Soft Robotic Platform", Summer 2009.

Peter Fallon, "Thermal System for Training of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators", Spring 2008. Peter did technical Sales for about five years and is now a market manager at Sensata technologies.

Victoria Clark, "Modeling of Mitochondrial Movement and Dye Diffusion", Fall 2007. Stockholm Environmental Institute for 5 years and then to MIT for graduate work in environmental sciences.

Justin Henneman, "Pulmonary Edema Monitoring System", BREEM Summer Project, 2006. (Justin went to Univ of Hawaii for graduate work)

Ethan Mandelup, "Coiling in Cochlear Models", BREEM Summer Project, 2006. (Ethan went to Columbia for an MS and then worked in biomedical device field)

Undergraduate Design Project Teams Advised (ME43 - Senior Design):

(6 complete)

Tiago Costa, Yannick Montgomery, Rajarshi Chatterji "Lithography Mask Cleaning System". Fall 2012.

Lloyd Olson and John Work, "Anechoic Chamber". Fall 2011.

Jackson Dolan and Rameen Aryanpur, "Wireless Vibration Detection System and Energy Harvester". Fall 2010. (Jackson and Rameen both stayed at Tufts for MS degrees)

Mike Manno, Matt Thoms, Peggy Tautz, and Arielle Fakharaee, "MEMS Bonder and Nanoimprint system". Fall 2009. (Mike went to Univ of Maryland for PhD, Matt went to MIT for PhD, Arielle went to ETH Zurich for graduate work.

Peter Fallon and Aaron Gerratt, "SMA/Elastomer Composite Actuators", Fall 2007. (Aaron went to Univ of Maryland for PhD)

Alex Rospos, Charlotte McFarland, Nicholas Wong, and Christopher Bohl, "Reverberation Chamber for Aeroacoustic MEMS Devices", Fall 2006.

Stephen Nichols and Rajit Kapur, "Design of a Micro-scale Vibration Analysis Station", Fall 2005.


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