Professor Albert P. Pisano
A self-described technology
polymath, Albert P. Pisano’s research is driven by a passion for developing,
mastering and advancing technologies to solve problems. Recent research
includes 1) micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) wireless sensors for harsh environments
(600°C) such as gas turbines and geothermal wells (download a PDF presentation on
some of Pisano's harsh environment sensor research), and 2) new, additive, MEMS manufacturing techniques such
as low-temperature, low-pressure nano-printing of nanoparticle inks and polymer
solutions. Other research interests and activities include MEMS for a wide
variety of applications, including RF components, power generation, drug
delivery, strain sensors, biosensors, micro inertial instruments, disk-drive
actuators and nanowire sensors. He is a co-inventor listed on more than 20
patents in MEMS and has co-authored more than 300 archival publications.
Pisano is also
developing larger sensors that can be manufactured at extremely low cost and
made from sustainably sourced polymers for use in health, environmental
monitoring, food safety and other applications.
Pisano is a
co-founder of ten start-up companies in the areas of transdermal drug delivery,
transvascular drug delivery, sensorized catheters, MEMS manufacturing
equipment, MEMS RF devices and MEMS motion sensors. In 2008, he was named one
of the 100 Notable People by Medical Devices and Diagnostic Industry
(MD&DI) Magazine.
Since 1983, Pisano
has graduated over 40 Ph.D. and 75 MS students. He has hosted four visiting
industrial fellows in his lab since 2005.
Capsule Bio:
In his role as Dean
of the Jacobs School of Engineering, Albert P. Pisano is responsible for
strategic planning and programmatic development. His responsibilities include
School-wide research initiatives, space plans, academic affairs, strategic
planning and operations, and UC San Diego-wide cooperative initiatives.
As Dean of the
Jacobs School, Pisano holds the Walter J. Zable Chair in Engineering. He is an
active researcher who serves on the faculty of the departments of mechanical
and aerospace engineering and electrical and computer engineering.
Prior to September
2013, Pisano served on the UC Berkeley faculty. The FANUC Endowed Chair of
Mechanical Systems, he held faculty appointments in mechanical engineering and
in electrical engineering and computer sciences. Pisano served as senior
co-Director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (an NSF
Industry-University Cooperative Research Center), Director of the Electronics
Research Laboratory (UC Berkeley’s largest organized research unit), and
Faculty Head of the Program Office for Operational Excellence, among other leadership
positions.
In 2001, Pisano was
elected to the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the design,
fabrication, commercialization, and educational aspects of MEMS. From 1997 to
1999, Pisano served as a program manager for the MEMS Program at the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
He is a Fellow of
the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and an awardee of the Thomas
Egleston Medal forDistinguished Engineering Achievement by notable alumni of
Columbia University.
Pisano earned his
undergraduate (’76) and graduate degrees (’77, ’80, ’81) in mechanical
engineering at Columbia University. Prior to joining the faculty at UC
Berkeley, he held research positions with Xerox Palo Alto Research Center,
Singer Sewing Machines Corporate R&D Center and General Motors Research
Labs.
Assistant Scientist
Ayden Maralani
Contact at amaralani@ece.ucsd.edu
Ayden Maralani received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University in 2009. His research interest includes Analog/Mixed Signal IC design and design of circuits and systems for MEMS, harsh environment, and power management applications. Prior to joining BSAC, he has held design engineer positions with I/O Center of Excellence group of Cypress Semiconductor and Semisouth Laboratories designing Silicon Carbide (SiC) JFET based analog/digital blocks for high temperature and power management applications.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Mitsutoshi Makihata received his B.E. in Electronics and Informatics and from Hosei University, Japan in 2006 and M.E. in Electronics and Applied Physics from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan in 2008. He received his Ph.D. in Nanomechanics from Tohoku University, Japan. After working at Tohoku university as a Postdoctoral researcher, he joined the PRIME lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2013. His research interest are integration and packaging technology of MEMS and CMOS, sensors for a robots, and sensor systems design and implementation.
Graduate Students
Levent Beker received his B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Eng. from the Middle East Technical University, Turkey in 2010 and 2013, respectively. He is currently a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, working under supervision of Prof. Al Pisano. His research interests include harsh environment MEMS, modeling and design of transducers, and microfabrication.
Gordon Hoople
Contact at ghoople@berkeley.edu
Gordon is a graduate student researcher focused on designing microfluidic chips for biological applications. He joined Pisano Lab after working for 3 years in industry as an aerospace dynamics consultant. Prior to this he earned his BS in general engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Kirti received her B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Bayero University, Kano. She came to the United States in 2001 and received the M.S. in mechanical engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in February 2004. During this time her research focused on real-time detection of geometric interference for the design of a 3D haptic stencil for manufacturing applications. This provided a novel approach to rapid autonomous manufacturing by using force feedback and collision avoidance for real-time machine control. From 2004 to July 2010, she was a mechanical design engineer at Schlumberger Technology Corporation working on various projects developing tools for down-hole applications such as wire-line reservoir logging and interface subs for wired drill pipe projects. During this time she was exposed to testing and design for difficult environments – differential pressures of up to 30,000psi, temperatures of up to 430°F, high shock and bending specifications and extremely corrosive environments. She is currently a graduate researcher in the BMAD lab pursuing a PhD in Applied Science & Technology. Her research interests include the development and testing of sensor systems for harsh environments.
Maria is conducting her PhD research on Silicon Nanowires for Chemical Sensors, True pH Measurement and Species Identification under the supervision of Dean Albert P. Pisano and Professor Tarek I. Zohdi. Some of her research interests include design, modeling and characterization of MEMS nanowire electrochemical sensors, resonators, harsh environment MEMS, modeling and design of transducers and investigation of mechanical and electrical properties of 2D materials. She received her B.Sc in Physics and Minor in Mathematics from Southern Polytechnic State University and M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering in thermofluids from Santa Clara University. Maria was the recipient of the National Science Foundation Fellowship in 2010.
Shiqian Shao received her B.S. and M.S. in Optoelectronics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics. She is currently a graduate student researcher in Prof. Pisano`s Lab at University of California at Berkeley. Her research interests include SiC electrical diodes and JFETs for high temperature application, optoelectronic MEMS and micro/nano technology.
Anju Toor
Contact at atoor@berkeley.edu
Anju Toor received her B.E. in Manufacturing Processes and Automation Engineering in 2010 from University of Delhi, India. During undergraduate study, she worked on material handling systems and autonomous driving system. She has also worked at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India in the HVAC and Fire Protection division from 2010 to 2011. Anju is Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at University of California at Berkeley since fall 2011. Her research interests include MEMS and Nanotechnology applications like nanoparticle inks and super-capacitors. She is currently working on Nano-Composite Capacitor for High Performance energy storage.
Recent Alumni
Yegân Erdem Chris D. McCoy Ting-Ta (Ernest) Yen Chih-Ming (Gimmy) Lin Matthew W. Chan Fabian Goericke Joanne Lo Matilda Yun-Ju Lai Wei-Cheng Lien Nuo Zhang Hongyun So Jie Zou David Rolf Xiayoue (Joy) Jiang John Herr Ben Eovino Lilla Smith Kristen Dorsey
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