Yogesh Gianchandani recently accepted a joint appointment in ME. He also serves as associate professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and as Director of the College of Engineering Interdisciplinary Professional Degree Program in Integrated Microsystems.
Gianchandani's research focus is device concepts and microfabrication techniques. His current projects include developing microactuators with applications to RF switches, fiberoptic modulators and positioners and developing microprobes and microprobe arrays with embedded sensors for scanning microscopy. His work in the area of microplasmas includes designing radiation sensors as well as highspeed spectral sensors for detecting inorganic heavy metal contaminants in water supplies. Gianchandani is also investigating microfabrication methods for bulk metal, which he has applied to pressure- and flow-sensing cardiac stents.
Gianchandani earned his master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1994. He received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2000.
Ronald Larson recently accepted a joint appointment to ME as professor. He has served as Chemical Engineering department chair and G.G. Brown Professor since 2000. In the fall of 2003, Larson was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.
The emphasis of Larson's research is the structure and flow properties of complex materials. He is working to detect health markers in saliva and crevicular fluid. He is also investigating the use of small concentrations of polymers to reduce turbulence around ships.
Larson is furthering the understanding of polymer flow properties by developing computer models and experiments to test polymer molecular motion and how that affects stresses and fluid flow. Currently he is using supercomputers to simulate polymer molecular motion, yielding simulations at a level of detail not previously achieved for branched polymers.
Larson earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota in chemical engineering and was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories before coming to U-M.