USM Students Get Edge in Engineering
University of Southern Maine engineering students are working
with Professor of Electrical Engineering Mustafa Guvench,
gaining valuable experience on collaborations with local semiconductor
industries, Fairchild and National Semiconductor.
Guvench operates a microfabrication lab where he and students
design, produce and test silicon integrated circuit chips,
as well as experiment with such newer technologies as the
micromachining of silicon. USM engineering students have been
designing and testing fabricated chips in Guvench’s courses
since 1997, a rare opportunity undergraduate students can
find only in the top 20 percent of engineering schools in
the country.
Guvench’s research helps the semiconductor industry produce
wafers designed to hold more circuits that can perform more
functions, more efficiently. By using software programs to
simulate various conditions, Guvench and his students can
experiment with how to maximize performance of a chip by changing
its design and the configuration of circuits on it. The end
result of this kind of research is smaller integrated circuits
that are faster, leading to more efficient operation of everything
from computers to everyday appliances. Testing the design
of the chips through computer modeling, instead of producing
an actual chip for testing, is faster and less expensive.
Guvench’s work helps local industry and gives students a
first step into careers in the engineering workforce in Maine.
It is the mission of USM’s School of Applied Science, Engineering
and Technology to strengthen Maine's research infrastructure
and help build the state economy. “Our Department of Engineering
was established in direct response to the business community’s
need for access to high-level science and technology programs,”
said John Wright, dean of the school.
Located in USM’s John Mitchell Center, the Department of
Engineering includes recently renovated labs for microelectronics,
digital image processing, and robotics research that support
and shape Maine’s emerging research and development (R&D)
initiative.
USM’s engineering programs include the Bachelor of Science
degree in electrical engineering, the first two years of civil
and mechanical engineering, and master’s courses in electrical
engineering and in computer engineering jointly delivered
with the University of Maine. For more information on the
Department of Engineering and other departments in the USM
School Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, see eeunix.ee.usm.maine.edu/sas.
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