Yu-Chong Tai - Caltech Micromachining Laboratory

Yu-Chong Tai , Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Bioengineering
Mail Stop 136-93
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Pasadena, CA 91125
Tel: (626) 395-8317, Fax: (626) 584-9104,
E-mail: yctai@mems.caltech.edu Website: http://mems.caltech.edu
Ph.D.
MS
ROTC
BS
Caltech -
UC. Berkeley-
Education
1989, EECS Department, University of California at Berkeley
1986, EECS Department, University of California at Berkeley
1981-83, ROTC Program, Taiwan
1977-1981, EE Department, National Taiwan University (NTU)
Academic Experience
2005-present, Professor of EE, ME and BE
2005-2008, Executive Officer (i.e., Deaprtment Chairman) of EE
2002-present, Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering
2002-2005, Option Representative (i.e., Vice Chair), Electrical Engineering
2000-present, Professor of Electrical Engineering
1995-1999, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
1989-1994, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
(Research: MEMS – sensors, actuators, smart skins, lab-on-a-chip)
1988-1989, Graduate Instructor (GI)
1983-1988, Graduate Research Assistant (GRA)
(Research: Polysilicon Mechanisms and Micromotors)
Prize/Award/Honor
2011 Finalist Prize, (Student: W. Shi on blood count) the Lemelson MIT-Caltech Award.
2010 Breakthrough Award, Popular Mechanics, 2010
2010 Runner-up Prize (Students: W. Shi), 2010 IEEE President’s Change the World
Competition
2010 Best Paper Award (Student: J. Lin), IEEE NEMS Conference
2009 Best Teacher Award, Peking University Micro/nanotechnology summer school.
2007 Finalist of the Best Student Paper (Student: S. Zhang), IEEE NEMS Conference
2006 Best Poster Award (Student: PJ Chen), MicroTAS Conference, 2006.
2006 Best Student Paper Award (Student: J. Shih), IEEE Sensors Conference, 2006.
2006 Fellow, IEEE
2005 Excellence in Teaching Award, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
2005-2007 Adjunct Professor, Institute of Microelectronics, Peking University
2005 Research Award, National Maritime Research Institute, Japan
2004 Fellow, Institute of Physics (IOP)
2002 Achievement Award, Association of Laboratory Automation (ALA)
2000 Finalist Aerospace Award, the 11 th Discover Magazine Award, DISCOVER
1999 Achievement Award, Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern
California (CESASC)
1998 Best Paper Award, NARM/EIA International Relay Conference
1991-1998 Packard Fellowship, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
1991-1996 Presidential Young Investigator (PYI) Award, NSF
1989 David J. Sakrison Memorial (Best Thesis) Prize, Department of EECS, UC Berkeley
1988 Best Student Paper, IEEE Int. Electron Device Meeting (IEDM’88)
1988-89 IBM Fellowship
1987 Ross N. Tucker, AIME Electronics Material Award
Academic/Committee Activities
2007-Present Editorial Board, IEEE Review on Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems

2006 Honorable Chair, IEEE NEMS Conference
2006 US Technical Program Chair, IEEE Sensors Conference
2005 Program Committee, IEEE MOEM Conference
2005 Technical Program Committee, IEEE Sensors Conference
2004 Program Committee, IEEE MOEM Conference
2004 Technical Program Committee, IEEE Sensors Conference
2003-present Member, BMES ERC Center at USC, NSF
2003-2006 Subject Editor, IEEE/ASME Journal of MEMS
2003 Chair of the Steering Committee, 2003 IEEE MEMS Conference.
2003 Program Committee, IEEE MOEM Conference
2002-present Member, URETI CMISE Center at UCLA, NASA
2002-present Member, CENS ERC Center at UCLA, NSF
2002-2004 Section Editor, Sensors and Actuators
2002 Program Committee, IEEE MOEM conference
2002 General Chairman, International IEEE MEMS Conference
2001 Technical Program Chair, IEEE MEMS Conference
2001 Technical Program Committee, IEEE MEMS Conference
2000 Technical Program Committee, IEEE ICRA Conference
2000 Technical Program Committee, IEEE MEMS Conference
1999-2003 DARPA Information Science and Technology (ISAT) Study Group
1999 Technical Program Committee, IEEE MEMS Conference
1999 Program Steering Committee, MOEM’99
1998-present Member, CNSE ERC Center at Caltech, NSF
1998 Technical Program Committee, IEEE MEMS Conference
1998 Scholarship Committee, Phi Tau Phi
1997 Technical program Committee, IEEE MEMS Conference
1997-present MEMS Administration Committee, IEEE Electron Device Society
1997 Technical Program Committee, Int. Optical MEMS Meeting
1996-present Associate Editor, J. of Micromechanics and Microengineering
1993-1995 Technical Committee, IEDM, IEEE
1990-1996 Scholarship Committee, CESASC
Research Topics and Interests
Dr. Tai’s research is centered on the Caltech MEMS Laboratory (http://mems.caltech.edu) that he
built at Caltech. This is an 8,000 sq. ft. facility completely devoted to MEMS research. This facility has a
clean-room lab (4,000 sq. ft), CAD lab, and a measurement/metrology lab. It is constantly supporting about
30 researchers (graduates, postdocs, visiting scholars and industrial members) to develop innovative
MEMS/NEMS devices such as micromotors, microphones, micro scanning mirrors, neural chips, micro
relays, micro power generators, etc. Among his works, he has extensively worked on active fluid sensing
and control. Successfully developed MEMS devices included pressure sensors, shear-stress sensors, hotwire
anemometers, flexible sensor skins, magnetic actuators, rubber-balloon actuators, etc. Nevertheless,
his research always emphasizes MEMS system integration. For examples, his research portfolio includes
smart MEMS surface for drag-reduction in turbulence, MEMS for delta-wing aerodynamic control, and
MEMS-maneuvered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). For the last 10 years, he has also launched a major
effort towards bio/medical devices such as microfluidics, labs-on-a-chip and biomedical implants. His lab
has developed the first complete high-performance liquid chromatography on-a-chip for total biochemical
analysis. He also has various collaborative research programs to develop cortical, retinal and spinal
implants based on a parylene MEMS technology he developed in his lab. He has published about 500
articles and 6,500 citations, including 115 granted and pending patents in the MEMS field.
Publications are available upon request.