From Atoms to Holographs: Chemical Engineering in the Electronics Industry

This presentation shows the ever-increasing role of chemical engineering in a diversifying electronics industry that shows continued growth and increasing variety for the future. Our current research in integration of magnetic and ferroelectric materials “from the atoms up” serve as an example of frontiers in the application of nanomaterials engineering to electronics. Chemical Engineers play a large role in innovative materials science and process engineering that will help make the future safer, healthier, and more sustainable. And more fun, too!

Wearable electronics, implantable medical diagnostics and treatment systems, smart schools that sense and control contagions in the air . . . even the latest special effects in a George Lucas film or the current rage in X-box games . . . The next generation electrical devices that monitor and interact with the world around us offer benefits limited only by our imaginations. Electronics has come a long way from vacuum tubes to nanowires – and in the electronics industry, the electrical engineer, physicist, and chemical engineer work together to enable these future technologies. Researchers need to understand the functional integration of different materials at the atomic level, and then production engineers need to ensure quality, profitability, and safety at the rate of millions of chips per day.