MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange
Dr. William Benard is a Senior Engineer at the MEMS and Nanotechnology
Exchange and
is responsible for handling customer requests on design and
fabrication services offered by the MEMS and Nanotechnology
Exchange. Dr. Benard
received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University
of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1993 and the
M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case
Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1997. While at Case
Western Reserve University, he was actively involved in researching
various MEMS microfluidic components based on thin-film
Titanium-Nickel (TiNi) shape-memory alloy actuators. In this research
activity he designed, fabricated, and tested various microvalve and
micropump configurations leading to several publications. This work
was widely recognized as a compelling demonstration of shape-memory
actuation for microfluidic devices and systems.
Dr. Benard completed the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA in 2003. His thesis topic focused on MEMS manufacturing and work flow modeling for a MEMS foundry. This work was very important in that it demonstrated that MEMS manufacturing is best classified as a "job shop" manufacturing environment rather than a "flow-shop" manufacturing environment, which is more applicable to the Integrated Circuit (IC) manufacturing domain. Recognition of this important difference radically changes the business practices and economics of MEMS manufacturing. Dr. Benard also developed new scheduling and workflow modeling techniques that improve the performance of MEMS foundries and these techniques are being put into place by the MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange in order to improve quality and turn-around times at the participating foundries. Dr. Benard provides process and design engineering expertise to MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange customers.