The Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) at Georgia Tech has announced the Fall 2023 Core Facility Seed Grant winners. The primary purpose of this program is to give early-stage graduate students in diverse disciplines working on original and unfunded research in micro- and nanoscale projects the opportunity to access the most advanced academic cleanroom space in the Southeast. In addition to accessing the labs' high-level fabrication, lithography, and characterization tools, the awardees will have the opportunity to gain proficiency in cleanroom and tool methodology and access the consultation services provided by research staff members in IEN. Seed Grant awardees are also provided travel support to present their research at a scientific conference.

In addition to student research skill development, this biannual grant program gives faculty with novel research topics the ability to develop preliminary data to pursue follow-up funding sources. The Core Facility Seed Grant program is supported by the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC), a member of the National Science Foundation’s National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

Since the start of the grant program in 2014, 90 projects from ten different schools in Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering and Science, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute and three other universities, have been seeded.

The four winning projects in this round were awarded IEN cleanroom and lab access time to be used over the next year. In keeping with the interdisciplinary mission of IEN, the projects that will be enabled by the grants include research in electronic devices, geochemistry, bio-inspired design, and solid state physics.

The Fall 2023 IEN Core Facility Seed Grant Award winners are:

Using Zircon (U-Th)/Pb Geochronology to Trace the Source of Himalayan Megafloods
PI: Karl Lang
Student: Srinanda Nath
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Material Characterization of Keratin-based Barbules with Hygroscopic Coiling-uncoiling Behaviors and Biomimetic Fabrication of Artificial Hygromorphic Barbules
PI: Saad Bhamla
Student: Nami Ha (ME/BioE)
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Ultra-high Mobility Semiconducting Graphene Device Fabrication
PI: Claire Berger and Walt de Heer
Student: Will Griffin
School of Physics

Extracting the Effect of Electrode-Ferroelectric Interface on Photovoltaic Efficiency
PI: Lauren Garten
Student: Marshall Frye
School of Materials Science and Engineering

The Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, is funded by NSF Grant ECCS-2025462.

Squadra Ventures led the round with participation from Cambium Capital, Draper Cygnus, and the Georgia Tech Foundation.

Falcomm is built on breakthroughs made over six years in the lab of founder and CEO Edgar Garay to revolutionize the power amplifier, a semiconductor found in devices from satellites to IoT to cellphones, that conditions and blasts the 1s and 0s from software through an antenna. Falcomm’s Dual-Drive PA combines ultra-efficient performance with an architecture that lends itself to production at scale. 

“Power amplifiers are the workhorse of the modern electronic era, but improvement to this technology hasn’t kept pace with the rise of the innovation economy,” said Garay, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, where he conducted the research that led to the formation of his startup.

“Falcomm’s ultra-efficient, silicon-proven technology will bring advances in power and efficiency to the semiconductor industry that help communications manufacturers to realize massive efficiency gains, while lowering costs. With urgent challenges in the environment and supply chain, we can’t wait another 90 years for change.”

With simultaneous transmission at each terminal of a transistor, the Dual-Drive PA delivers performance that is 1.8 times more efficient at 2 times higher power, with half of the silicon area requirements of traditional power amplifiers. For manufacturers, these gains will reduce thermal management and energy costs, while easing overall system requirements. 

A patented architectural design allows the product to be manufactured in high volume by semiconductor foundries in the United States. With fabless technology, the company is poised to grow a network of industry partners that catalyzes expansion in the $23 billion power amplifier market.

Born in Venezuela, Garay developed a passion for using science and engineering to solve problems while repairing machinery on a farm in his hometown. While pursuing doctoral studies at Georgia Tech, he recognized the opportunity to bring innovation to the power amplifier, which had not changed in decades despite the rapid advance of technology and its critical role in devices. 

Garay’s research resulted in multiple patents, spurring him to spin out the technology and create Falcomm through assistance from Georgia Tech resources, including VentureLab and CREATE-X. Falcomm is the first company to receive investment from the Georgia Tech Foundation.

“Georgia Tech is proud to support our academic innovators to help them ensure their inventions have real-world impact,” said Raghupathy Sivakumar, Georgia Tech’s vice president of Commercialization and chief commercialization officer. “The Office of Commercialization is rapidly expanding our programs and initiatives to build out the largest and most robust entrepreneurial ecosystem at any public university. I am happy to say that Falcomm is the recipient of the first equity investment out of our new Research Impact Fund targeted specifically at spinouts based on Georgia Tech intellectual property."

The Falcomm team was recently bolstered by the addition of pioneering industry leaders who have demonstrated a track record of innovation in telecommunications, wireless, and semiconductors:

• Thomas Cameron, Ph.D., chief strategy officer, is a 35-year veteran of technology research and development in the wireless industry. During a 12-year stint at Analog Devices, Cameron served as chief technology officer of the Communications Business Unit and was a leading evangelist for the adoption of 5G connectivity. He held leadership and engineering roles in the RF industry at Bell Northern Research, Nortel, Sirenza Microdevices, and WJ Communications. Cameron has seven patents in wireless technology and has authored numerous papers and technical articles.
• Ned Cahoon, director of Foundry and Customer Relationships, brings more than 20 years of RF business development experience across the mobile and wireless infrastructure industries. He helped to stand up IBM’s $1 billion RF business before joining GlobalFoundries in 2016, where he served as a fellow in the office of the chief technology officer. A senior design and go-to-market leader, Cahoon brings experience building networks across foundries, academia, and technology companies.

For Falcomm, the funding follows quickly on the heels of the company’s selection to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 in 2023. The company is a graduate of the Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator and the EvoNexus incubator.

Bringing innovation to the tiny power amplifier can have a massive impact on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges. The energy efficiency gains resulting from an increase in power output come at a time of growing urgency around climate change. The ability to manufacture domestically comes at a time when nearshoring is a priority to address cost and supply chain challenges underscored by the global semiconductor shortage and resulting CHIPS Act.

“Edgar and his team are just as inspiring as they are hard-working. They have shown that it’s possible to assemble the talent and operations to innovate on a foundational technology that hasn’t seen meaningful advances in decades anywhere in the country,” said Guy Filippelli, Squadra Ventures’ managing partner. “By boosting efficiency and manufacturing domestically in the critical semiconductor industry, Falcomm’s innovations will bolster American competitiveness.”

The funding will be used to accelerate go-to-market activities with satellite companies and wireless infrastructure manufacturers, advance the company’s patented technology, and expand the team. Falcomm is actively hiring for roles in operations, engineering, and design. View job openings.

At least half of veterans with spinal cord injuries will develop sores on their skin from the unrelieved pressure of sitting for long periods of time in a wheelchair. It’s a constant worry, because these skin ulcers can greatly limit patients’ mobility.

“Pressure injuries directly impact the veteran’s quality of life, because the medical provider will order the veteran to bed rest for weeks and potentially months,” said Kim House, a physician and medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Healthcare System. “At every clinic visit, I provide education for pressure injury prevention.”

House could one day have a new tool to offer her patients, thanks to researchers in the Georgia Tech College of Engineering, and wheelchair-bound veterans are just the beginning.

Materials engineers are developing new fabric sensors and a customized wheelchair system that assesses and automatically eases pressure at contact points to prevent injuries from developing in the first place.

“We have three key issues happening: First, continuous pressure. Second, moisture, because when you're sitting in the same spot, you tend to sweat and generate moisture. And third is shear. When you try to move somebody, the skin shears. That perfect combination is what causes pressure injuries,” said Sundaresan Jayaraman, professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). “We believe we have a solution to the perfect storm of pressure, moisture and shear, which means the user’s quality of life is going to get better.”

Get the full story on the College of Engineering website.

The Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) and the Institute for Materials (IMat) have announced they will combine to form a new Interdisciplinary Research Institute (IRI) set to begin operations on July 1, 2024.

The new IRI, which has yet to be named, will explore the vast scientific, technological, societal, and economic impacts of innovative materials and devices, as well as foster their incorporation into systems that improve the human condition in areas such as information and communication technologies, the built environment, and human well-being and performance.

“The new IRI will not only combine the strengths of IEN and IMat, but will also allow us to further expand faculty representation from across the Institute,” said Julia Kubanek, vice president of Interdisciplinary Research at Georgia Tech. “As we look at the future of research in these areas, expanding inclusivity of researchers from the liberal arts, design, business, and basic sciences will allow us to better meet the education, workforce development, and innovation needs of Georgia, the U.S., and the world.”

The new IRI will strengthen Georgia Tech’s role in national focus areas such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Materials Genome Initiative, and the CHIPS and Science Act, as well as identify and shape future priorities.

Core competencies of the new IRI will include:

• Fundamental science to comprehend and control matter from the nanoscale to the mesoscale.
• The synthesis, processing, and characterization of materials to achieve desired properties.
• The design and fabrication of novel devices and components with enhanced capabilities.
• The integration of materials, devices, and components into larger systems.
• Computing, modeling, simulation, and big data to advance progress at all length scales.
• Integration into all stages of research, from conceptualization to impact assessment, of economic, business, and social factors to ensure sustainable and equitable benefits.

“IEN and IMat have worked closely together for years, and there is overlap in the research areas we cover,” said Eric Vogel, IMat’s executive director. “This is an opportunity for us to build on IEN and IMat’s individual successes and our strong record of collaboration to create something even more exceptional.”

The new IRI will strengthen the state-of-the-art core cleanroom and characterization facilities, providing researchers with the tools and resources necessary for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. These facilities will continue to serve both Georgia Tech and, through its leadership within the NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, the nation. Recognizing the importance of nurturing talent, it will champion education and outreach programs to inspire the next generation and equip the workforce with the skills necessary to collaborate and communicate across multiple disciplines.

“This is an exciting time to look to the future,” said Michael Filler, interim executive director of IEN. “We highly value the dedication and hard work of our staff and research faculty, who have been crucial to the success of IEN and IMat and will be the backbone of this new organization. We look forward to creating something exceptional in the coming months.”

This year, Nanowire Week 2023 took place at Georgia Tech’s Global Learning Center from October 9-13, 2023. The event, which kicked off on National Nanotechnology Day, brought together attendees and speakers for four and a half days of talks, poster sessions, and panel discussions covering all aspects of nanowire research and development – from fabrication and fundamental properties to applications.

“Hosting Nanowire Week 2023 at Georgia Tech’s Global Learning Center has been an extraordinary experience,” said Michael Filler, interim executive director for the Institute of Electronics and Nanotechnology. “This conference has highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of nanowire research, bringing together scientists and engineers from around the globe. Their shared insights and discoveries are not just academic achievements; they are the building blocks for technological innovations that could transform industries and improve everyday life." Filler served as conference chair and worked with an international steering committee to plan the event.

With more than 115 speakers and poster presenters representing more than 20 countries, the agenda reflected the diverse and evolving landscape of nanowire research. Topics included nanowire growth and manufacturing, electron transport and doping in nanowires, quantum behavior and devices, energy conversion and storage, and more.

Nanowires are 1D nanostructures with a wide range of potential uses. The ability of bottom-up growth methods to ‘program’ nanowire structure and composition with nanoscale precision opens the door to novel materials properties and functionality.

Nanowire Week takes place every 18 months and brings together leading experts in the world of nanowires. Past locations include Lund, Sweden; Hamilton, Canada; Pisa, Italy; and Chamonix, France.