ass production of miniaturized components and devices is a key technology for the 21st century with the potential to improve our standard of living, as well as enhance our global competitiveness. Success in exploiting this technology will be tied to opening up and developing new areas of miniaturization. One development in this regard has become clear in recent years -- the manufacturing advances developed by the electronics industry for MEMS (MicroElectro Mechanical Systems) can be applied to the area of energy, chemical, biomedical and biological systems with as much potential as that which existed at the start of the electronics revolution. We have termed this area Microtechnology-based Energy and Chemical Systems (MECS).

MECS Technology

Systems based on MECS technology exhibit extraordinary rates of heat and mass transfer associated with micro-structures. Examples of successful prototype development include miniaturized heat exchangers, evaporators, condensers, gas absorbers, turbines, bioreactors, small-scale chemical reactors, chemical separators, and gas analysis components, as well as pumps and valves. Researchers at OSU, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and other research institutions are beginning to make significant advancements which allow the assembly of components into complete systems.

Examples include:

1. Miniature absorption cycle heat pumps for distributed cooling and heating, and for man-portable cooling of protection suits worn by the military.
2. Compact cryocoolers for cooling high speed computational and communications equipment.
3. Microscale combustion sources generating high temperature heat at the sub-watt level.
4. Microchannel reactor-based chemical fuel processors for residential and man-portable fuel cells.
5. Small chemical separation units for in-situ clean up of tanks (such as pen-sized devices that can be dropped into a drum of waste to eliminate PCBs) aquifers and nuclear storage sites.
6. Microchannel bioreactors with precisely controlled environments.

SU has been involved in many of these projects and continues to develop new technology in the MECS area. Fabrication methods are also being actively pursued so that mesoscale components can be designed, constructed, and tested in the Applied Microtechnology Laboratory at OSU.

For specific project topic areas please see the projects page. Other main topic areas are always accessible from the menu on the left hand side of the page.

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