Educational project: development of a seminar course on RF MEMS and RF microsystems

Abstract

Major educational barriers exist in providing both quality and quantity of RF and electronic packaging engineers to meet industry needs. Although the National Science Foundation Microsystems Packaging Research Center has done excellent work in revolutionizing its education program with an outreach component, nation-wide students still have limited exposure to the field. For example, students at a nearby engineering institution, Clemson University (1.5-hour drive to Georgia Tech) do not have any courses in electronics packaging. This has been due to the lack of experts in the rapid growth of electronic technology. This is true in the RF electronics and MEMS that represent emerging technologies for developing the next-generation microsystems. Other barriers include the lack of departmental support for offering courses in electronics packaging, where the needs are to fulfil the core and traditional courses.