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MEMS community chip

ISSS MEMS Community chip

Introduction:

The ISSS MEMS Community chip activity was started in the year 2011- 2012 under the NPMASS programme by the Govt of India and under the supervision of professors from the Indian Institute of Science and Dr.V K Aatre. The initiative was taken to help career-oriented engineering educational institutions to fabricate microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices and get enable them to undertake full-fledged research activities.

What is a “Community Chip”?

A chip where MEMS device designs from multiple users from different institutions are put together on a single-chip (chip area = 11 mm ×11 mm;see the image below). These MEMS devices are fabricated using standard Multi-User MEMS Processes (MUMPs) such as SOIMUMPs; PolyMUMPs; PiezoMUMPs; & MetalMUMPs at MEMSCAP, by MEMSCAP, a US-based MEMS manufacturing service (http://www.memscap.com/).

Participating Institutes

  • Anna University, Chennai
  • Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur
  • Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
  • Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
  • Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai
  • SGS Institute of Technology and Science, Indore


Process: SOIMUMPs

  • Number of Institutions participated: 8
  • All MEMS devices were thermal actuator

This run was coordinated by Prof. K. J. Vinoy, Prof. G. K. Ananthasuresh, Dr. Samdudha Khan, Dr. Sudhanshu Shekhar from IISc and was sponsored by NPMASS.

Participating Institutes

  • Varactor & Micromotor – NMIT
  • Micromirror – Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics, University of Kolkata
  • Gyroscope & Microheater –  Rajalakshmi Engineering College
  • Microgripper – Anna University
  • Optical Coherence Waveguide – SGSITS
  • Shunt-capacitance RF MEMS switch – BESU


Process: PolyMUMPs

  • Number of Institutions participated: 6

This activity was coordinated by professors and research scholars from IISc (Prof. K J Vinoy, Prof. G. K. Ananthasuresh, Dr. Samdudha Khan, Dr. Sudhanshu Shekhar) along with professors from NMIT (Prof. S. L. Pinjare and Prof. Veda S. N.) and sponsored by NPMASS.

Participating Institutes

  • Energy Harvester – Anna University, Chennai
  • Microheater – Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur
  • Microphone – Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
  • Accelerometer – Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai
  • RF Switch – SSN, Chennai
  • Bidirectional Actuator – Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
  • Resonator – NIT, Trichy
  • Thermal Actuator – Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot


Process: SOIMUMPs

  • Number of Institutions participated: 8

This activity was coordinated by professors and research scholars from IISc (Prof. K J Vinoy, Prof. G. K. Ananthasuresh, Dr. Samdudha Khan, Dr. Sudhanshu Shekhar) along with professors from NMIT (Prof. S. L. Pinjare and Prof. Veda S. N.) and sponsored by NPMASS.

Participating Institutes

  • Accelerometer and Thermal actuator – Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology
  • Heatuator – BMS College of Engineering
  • Microgripper – SJC Institute of Technology
  • Inertial sensor – Vignan University
  • Accelerometer – NMAM Institute of Technology
  • Electrostatic Actuator – MS College of Engineering
  • Microfluidic channels – SSN College of Engineering
  • Directional Microphone – Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering and Technology


Process: SOIMUMPs

  • Number of Institutions participated: 8

Prof. G. K. Ananthasuresh and Dr. Sudhanshu Shekhar along with Prof. Veda S. N. coordinated the whole activity under the umbrella of the Institute of Smart Structures and System (ISSS). Participating institutes financed the fabrication cost of this run.

ISSS’s Role in community chip

ISSS is able reach out to various institutions across the country. Through foundation courses being conducted online, students as well as faculty across the country are trained on MEMS design and other aspects of fabrication. Also, ISSS provides support to design at various stages and finally the corrected designs are collated and sent for fabrication. ISSS also facilitates the participants in testing and characterizing the fabricated devices.

Future activities

So far, for every run of the community chip, we have depended on MEMSCAP. Dependancy on a foreign foundry leads to high fabrication cost and longer turn-around time. Now, we would like to fabricate the upcoming community chip at CeNSE-IISc. This will be done is phased manner in the upcoming days with workshops, training programmes and fabrication at affordable prices. We would also be looking at giving discounts to ISSS members / corporate members. For more details one could contact ISSS at admin@isssonline.in.

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Award Nomination & Application Form

Last date to file nominations is June 30th, 2025.

ISSS Awards

ISSS Young Scientist Award

ISSS presents a Young Scientist Award for outstanding researchers (aged below 40 years as on the nomination/submission deadline) for their work done in India in the area of micro and smart systems. From 2015, this award carries an ISSS Medal, a Citation, and a Cash prize of Rs 50,000. This award is for someone who has carried out extensive research beyond their academic programs, on a topic relevant to this area.
Nomination in the prescribed form should include the list of publications and a short description of the nominee’s contributions. Nomination by “self” should be supported by reference letters by two experts familiar with the nominee’s work. Nomination by an ISSS member should be seconded by another ISSS member or a subject expert and should contain a brief justification for the nomination. Nomination by Head of Institution should contain details of the nominee’s work at the institute and a recommendation from an expert such as thesis supervisor or a senior member of faculty.
The winner is required to make a brief overview of his/her recent research work and receive the award at a special session organized by ISSS, online or in person.
Nomination format is available to download. Nominations will be carried forward for subsequent years, provided the nominee meets other requirements of this award. Nominations may be sent to admin@isssonline.in .
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ISSS Technology Award

ISSS has initiated a Technology Award for scientists/engineers who undertake major initiatives to commercialize a product in the area of micro and smart systems.  The award will carry a Citation and a Cash prize of Rs 50,000.

This award is intended to promote technology development, innovation and entrepreneurship in India in the area of micro and smart systems. This award is intended to recognize contributions made by (i) an entrepreneur who has set up, or is at an advanced stage of setting up start-ups pertinent to the general area devices or systems using micro and nano technologies and applications or (ii) someone who have championed the cause of commercialization with appropriate technology innovation, leading to a product or application.

Please note that the nominee is expected to have demonstrated maturity towards commercialization of the product or has made sustained progress towards commercialization during the recent years. Documentary proofs for claims may be included with the nomination form. Nominations for this award in the prescribed format may be sent to admin@isssonline.in by the deadline and may be made by self, head of organization or ISSS members.

Nomination by “self” should be supported by reference letters by two experts familiar with the nominee’s work. Nomination by an ISSS member or the Head of Institution should be seconded by another ISSS member or a subject expert. Nominations will be valid for up to three years.

Nomination format is available online.  Nominations may be sent to admin@isssonline.in.

The winner is required to make  a short presentation summarising his/her activities and receive the award at a special session at the ISSS conference.  In order to keep the standards high, the judging panel may choose not to offer this award in a given year.

ISSS presents distinguished service awards to deserving individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the research and development of the Micro and Smart Systems areas in India through their academic or professional work, service to ISSS or service to national initiatives/programs.  Nominees are selected solely by the Governing Council and no nominations or representations are solicited for this special honor.  In the past, society have recognized the following individuals

Prescribed Format
Nomination Format

Distinguished Service Awards

ISSS presents distinguished service awards to deserving individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the research and development of the Micro and Smart Systems areas in India through their academic or professional work, service to ISSS or service to national initiatives/programs. Nominees are selected solely by the Governing Council and no nominations or representations are solicited for this special honor. In the past, society have recognized the following individuals

ISSS Student Awards

ISSS has instituted special student awards for full time regular students in India to recognize their outstanding contributions in the area of micro and smart systems. There are separate categories for undergraduate (BSc, BE, BTech, etc) and postgraduate (MSc, MS, ME, MTech, MPhil, etc). To qualify for these awards, the student(s) should have completed the reported work during the respective academic programs.

A summary/synopsis of the research work during the tenure of the respective degree program may be sent for consideration for these awards.   In the case of UG award, an individual or a team of up to four members can submit their contributions. For the UG award, a three-minute video describing the project outcome and for PG and PhD award a five-minute video describing the project outcome should be submitted.

Supervisor/guide of the student(s) is required to give an undertaking that the work was carried out during the respective academic course program for which the submission is considered. The Academic supervisor(s) of award winning students will be given a Commendation Certificate.  Students of integrated degree programs may be considered for the award category based on their year of enrollment. Please note that one person will be considered only once for one category of award.

  • ISSS UG Student Project Awards: Rs. 15,000   Eligibility: Student of BSc, BE, B.Tech, or equivalent undergradualte degree programs.  Submissions are limited to 4 pages and should highlight the project work reported.
  • ISSS Post Graduate Student Award:  Rs. 20,000 Eligibility: MSc, ME, MTech, MS, or MPhil .or equivalent postgraduate degree programs.  Submissions are limited to 4 pages and should highlight the thesis/ research/ project work reported.
  • ISSS PhD Thesis Award:  Rs. 25,000  Submissions may include a synopsis of the research towards the PhD degree and a list of all publications and/or patents during the course of research.  The Award jury may select a winner who will be informed.

Submissions for these awards should be sent directly to admin@isssonline.in.

Award winners will be given a Memento, Cash prize as above, and an Award Certificate.  The Academic supervisor(s) of award winning students will be given a Commendation Certificate.

  • Student projects executed at NPMASS supported National MEMS Design Centres are specially welcome for this competition.
  • Decision of the awards committee appointed by the governing council of ISSS will be final in all respects.
  • The committee may not offer an award if it does not find a suitable candidate in a given category.
  • A second prize for up to one of the student award categories may be included in a given year.
Template for UG/PG/PhD submission
Template for certificate from guide/supervisor/advisor