03/10/2022
By Sokny Long

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, invites you to attend a Master’s thesis defense by Katherine Berry on “Adapting Printed RF Design for Variable Manufacturing Deviations.”

MSE Candidate: Katherine Berry
Defense Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
Time: 11 a.m. to noon EST
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact the student, Katherine_Berry@student.uml.edu and committee advisor, Corey_Shemelya@uml.edu, at least 24 hours prior to the defense to request access to the meeting.

Committee Chair (Advisor): Corey Shemelya, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell

Committee Members:

  • Craig Armiento, Ph.D., Professor, Director, Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC), Electrical & Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Michael Geiger, Ph.D., Associate Teaching Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell

Brief Abstract:
With applications ranging from smart packaging, to Internet of Things (IoT) devices, to disaster relief and energy harvesting, additively manufactured (AM) Radio Frequency (RF) systems are constantly moving towards higher frequency designs and more flexible implementations. As feature sizes and substrate thicknesses diminish to achieve these objectives, component performance is increasingly affected by minor deviations in printed dimensions which skew RF impedance matching networks, resulting in both unpredictable performance and poor consistency from print-to-print. As such, traditional design methods based on idealized impedance matching dimensions cannot reliably produce high throughput of acceptably performing devices. A new method is herein explored which measures printed feature variability alongside component behavior to identify critical dimensions, and to determine bounds on performance informed by deviation in these dimensions. This analysis can be used to adapt traditional design methods for deviation-tolerant printed RF components, improving consistency and performance of large-batch prints of flexible RF structures.

All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend the online defense via remote access.