Experience

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  DiCon Fiberoptics

  • Staff scientist and process engineer

    • Jun 2021 - Present

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  Berkeley Lab

  • Physicist postdoctoral fellow

    • Dec 2015 - May 2021

    Nanofabrication of X-Ray optics

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  SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • Menlo Park, CA

  • Experimental Research Associate

    • Oct 2014 - Dec 2015
    • Menlo Park, CA

    • Developed and integrated state-of-the-art micro- and nano-fabrication processes (stepper lithography, reactive ion etching, metallic thin film deposition, metal-assisted chemical etching) to create ultra-high aspect ratio gratings for high resolution clinical imaging.• 1st to achieve ultra-high aspect ratio (>100:1) silicon micro-structures etched with in-house metal-assisted chemical etching technique.• Achieved unique perfectly vertical etched silicon grating mold with unprecedented 262:1 ultra-high aspect ratio structures via metal-assisted chemical etching.• Etched near vertical ~390:1 ultra-high aspect ratio silicon grating mold via metal-assisted chemical etching. • Improved understanding of etch dynamics on the microscale through extensive experimental studies of metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon.• Performed work jointly at SLAC, Stanford Nano Center, and Stanford Nanofabrication Facility.

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  Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR

  • Senior Specialist

    • Dec 2006 - Sep 2014

    Specialist in MEMS design, simulation, fabrication and testing. Worked on multiple MEMS or nanoimprinting projects. A few selected projects:Piezoelectric MEMS design, fabrication and characterization:- Fabricated wafer-level free-standing Poly(vinylidene-fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) P(VDF-TrFE) structures for sensing or energy harvesting, using MEMS micromachining techniques. These were the first documented free-standing piezoelectric polymer MEMS cantilevers.- Devised a low thermal budget process which utilized only water and IPA as wet chemical solvents, thus retaining the piezoelectric properties of the polymer. This process was successfully used to fabricate prototypes of novel and potentially commercializable structures such as 2-level P(VDF-TrFE) cantilevers and P(VDF-TrFE) cantilevers on a polymeric substrate.- Solved the challenges posed by fabricating wafer-level free-standing polymeric devices to achieve a high yield on each wafer. Nanoimprinting of Adhesive Structure for PVA Containing Films:- Designed and fabricated V-groove Silicon molds via anisotropic etching.- Performed nanoimprinting optimization experiments using Obducat nanoimprinter.- Carried out bond strength testing with mechanical testing equipment.Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) MEMS microfluidic device:-Developed and optimized process to create PDMS chambers for LSPR MEMS device. -Optimized wafer-level dispersion of polystyrene nanospheres on glass and developed and optimized the gold RIE etching process.-Developed single layer deposition of thick positive photoresist for glass-PDMS-glass microfluidic device (wrote and published sole author paper).

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  Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), A*STAR

  • Senior Lab Officer

    • May 2004 - Nov 2006

    -Designed, fabricated and tested a novel MEMS-based bioartificial kidney.• Designed and fabricated suspended half-pipe shaped nitride membranes with holes, using anisotropic bulk etching of silicon followed by anodic bonding of glass to nitride membrane.• Performed cell culture as well as fixed/dehydrated the kidney cells growing on the fabricated membranes for subsequent SEM imaging.• Investigated albumin and urea transport of the cultured kidney cells growing on the fabricated membranes by designing a bioreactor and setting up and running perfusion tests in an incubation chamber.- Designed and fabricated a micromachined patch clamp nozzle array, used in conjunction with optical tweezer system to assemble yeast cells onto nozzle sites.- Involved in the microfabrication portion of the development of microfabricated gecko mimicking tape and DNA detection system based on a microfabricated PCR.- Systems administrator for Cadence Design System.- Safety officer for cleanroom and two chemical laboratories- Involved in setting up and administration of cleanroom equipment:• In charge of JEOL JSM-7400F (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope) FESEM as technical support and trainer.• Developed recipes for cleanroom equipment, such as deep etching of silicon and glass by RIE, wafer to wafer bonding, CO2 supercritical dryer, and XeF2 vapor etching system.

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  Photonics Concepts (Microphotonics company)

  • Senior Research Engineer

    • May 2002 - Jan 2004

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  Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR

  • Senior Research Officer

    • Aug 2001 - May 2002

    - Designed, fabricated and tested silicon capacitive flow sensor for drug delivery system.- Designed, fabricated and tested polymer version of sensor. Used laser ablation to create channels in polycarbonate.

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  Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center (BSAC), UC Berkeley, with Professor Roger Howe

  • Graduate research assistant

    • 1997 - 2001

    - Designed integrated microelectromechanical (MEMS) double-ended tuning fork (DETF) resonators with on chip circuits in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. - Designed and tested integrated resonators for use as vacuum gauges.