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SUMMARY:Beam me up Scotty: Microsystems and artificial muscles for small s
 pacecraft
DTSTART:20111208T171500
DTSTAMP:20261002T040855Z
UID:cccbc26a41ccb6bc932b17bf87e0cc80bc0d0eb090fcb38037b11c19
CATEGORIES:Inaugural lectures - Honorary Lecture
DESCRIPTION:Herbert Shea\nWe rely on spacecraft to study our environment\,
  explore our solar system\, even to test fundamental theories about the or
 igin of the universe.  Till now\, such exploration has been extremely expe
 nsive\, the exclusive domain of large space agencies.\n\nMicrosystems allo
 w for a dramatic reduction the mass (and cost) of spacecraft\, to the poin
 t where a sub-10 kg spacecraft could perform scientific exploration missio
 ns. At the LMTS\, we are developing several key technologies for small sat
 ellites\, as well as miniaturized artificial muscle actuators that can be 
 used for biology\, optics in space and on Earth.\n\nWe are leading the dev
 elopment of micromachined ion engines on a chip\, accelerating ions to ove
 r 40 km/s to allow even a 5 kg satellite to go under its own power from or
 bit around the Earth to orbit around the moon. In March 2012\, we will fly
  on a sounding rocket our very sensitive inertial sensor designed to keep 
 satellites pointing their instruments at the Earth.\n\nWe are developing 
 µm to mm-scale compliant actuators based on miniaturized artificial muscl
 es\, well suited for interacting with soft tissue\, on Earth and in space.
  We create compact flexible systems for soft robotics\, microfluidics\, an
 d RF beam steering. We have fabricated on one chip nearly one hundred devi
 ces to apply mechanical strain to single cells\, which will be used in spa
 ce to study the effect of microgravity on cell development\, and on Earth 
 to decipher cell mechanotransduction: how cells express genes or prolifera
 te and differentiate as a function of mechanical stimulus.
LOCATION:Polydome
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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