Hilton Head 2020 Workshop - May 31-June 4, 2020

The 20th in the series of Hilton Head Workshops on the science and technology of solid-state sensors, actuators, and microsystems will be held May 31 - June 4, 2020 at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC. This exciting multidisciplinary event has occurred biennially since 1984. Hilton Head Island, the beachfront workshop hotel, and the opportunity to meet in a casual, comfortable, seaside environment with nearly all meals included allows for relaxed exchanges, collegial interactions, and many fruitful discussions. Until now, the Hilton Head Workshop has been an Americas regional meeting restricted to professionals living in North or South America as well as past attendees of any previous Hilton Head Workshop with verification, not including past commercial representatives. For the first time ever, the meeting is now open to participants worldwide, subject to the criterion that their abstracts must be accepted for meeting attendance.

The Hilton Head Workshop draws 350-500 academic, industry, and government participants from engineering and scientific backgrounds, including chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, biology, bioengineering, etc. Previous Workshops have provided a highly interactive forum for researchers to present and discuss recent advances in microfabrication technologies for sensing and actuation devices and microsystems for physical, chemical, and biological applications. At the 2020 Workshop we are determined to continue the successful trends of the past with a primary focus on the impact of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) on global issues and grand challenges, particularly health issues.

Sunday starts with an all-day short course focusing on "Microsystems Frontiers in the IoT Era." Throughout the week, the daily featured keynote speakers are prominent, internationally known researchers from outside the MEMS arena who will bring breadth and depth to our discussion of challenges and opportunities for MEMS and allied technologies. In addition, the program will include four invited speakers, all MEMS colleagues, who will be addressing important causes and grand challenges using novel, creative MEMS technologies, devices and systems. On Tuesday afternoon, we are offering a special session on Early Career Faculty Development. This session, targeting senior graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty members in our community, aims to offer relevant guidance and advice for new faculty as well as those who aspire to become faculty members. Having early career awards from major funding agencies is definitely a significant stride in the right direction. Please join us as we learn from Program Directors at three major US funding agencies. Last but not least, the interactive and informal Rump Session is a workshop highlight on Wednesday evening. It will feature an exceptional presentation of scientific images and graphics, led by Felice Frankel of MIT.

This year, we hope to increase the participatory and networking success of this meeting by inviting all past, present and future MEMS researchers to attend as well as submit abstracts and present papers in the following technical topics:

New Devices or Microsystems
New Sensing and Actuation Concepts
High Performance Devices
Devices with Substantially Improved Performance
Device Fabrication and Testing
Process Design and Modeling
Device Modeling and Simulation
Fabrication Technologies
Materials and Material Processing
Nanotechnology and Applications
Testing Including Test Equipment and Methods
Interface and Calibration Circuits
Advanced Circuit Techniques
System Integration and End Use Applications
Component and Wafer-Level Packaging Technologies
Assembly Materials and Processes
Non-Electronic Interfaces to Devices
Environmental Effects and Compensation Methods
Reliability Testing and Methods

The Workshop will be a single-session meeting, with ample time allotted for discussion of each paper, and with blocks of unscheduled time to encourage informal interactions among participants. The conference has reserved several oral presentations and contributed poster session slots in the program for LATE NEWS papers. LATE NEWS papers, as submitted, will be accepted for presentation and will be published in the technical digest. LATE NEWS papers will be limited to two pages in length and must follow the submission procedure in the instructions. Manuscripts of papers presented in these sessions will be included in the Workshop Technical Digest. There will also be an OPEN POSTER session to encourage participants to informally discuss very recent results, work in progress, and results recently presented elsewhere. OPEN POSTERS will not be included in the Technical Digest. Please see LATE NEWS and OPEN POSTERS on this website for further information.

MEMS technology, devices and systems have already revolutionized our world - from health care, to the environment, to communication, to transportation, and in a number of other areas. Many of our successful accomplishments also complement National Academy of Engineering (NAE) pursuits toward identifying and addressing Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st century. We are hoping the Hilton Head 2020 Workshop presentations and discussions will further encourage our students, researchers and industry colleagues to team up collaboratively around today's grand challenges and causes. Our hope is that we, as the device and technology community, will contribute significantly through active participation, mentoring and inclusiveness to better serve people and our planet in the future.