Contacts: Ibraheem Haneef, CAPE
Mentors: Adrian Swinburne
These novel patent-pending microsensors have been developed at the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics over the past three years, combining expertise from a number of areas including semiconductor design and aeronautical engineering. The sensors have been initially designed to measure the skin friction on aircraft in flight, but have the capabilities to be used in a much wider range of applications, including biomedical, automotive and marine uses. In fact any application where it is important to measure and analyse flows of liquids or gases over a solid surface may be relevant.
The microsensors are CMOS-based, making them cheap to manufacture, reliable, and of improved performance compared to other types of similar sensors. They can vary in size from 10-100 microns in diameter, and successfully deliver the sensitivities and fast response times needed for real-time monitoring of fluid flows over aerodynamic surfaces. In the aerospace industry, it is hoped that the improved measurements delivered by these sensors will enable systems to be developed that improve both fuel consumption and performance of future aircraft.
The role of the i-Team will be to work with the technical research team to identify and investigate the wide range of alternative applications for the technology, helping to ensure that the technology gains the strongest possible patent protection, and influencing the future development of the invention.