Winter 2002
Page 2
In Brief: DARPA, NSF to Fund University Research on CAD Technology
- A new research effort to develop the next generation of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools - incoporating electronic ciuitry, photonics, and micromechanical components on the same chip - has begun at the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering and Faculty of Arts and Science.
- Under the direction of Steven P. Levitan, the John A. Jurenko Professor of Computer Engineering and professor of electrical engineering, and Donald M. Chiarulli, professor of computer science and computer engineering, the program will develop new software tools and desgin methods, including models for micromechanical devices, as well as a system-level technique for fast-turnaround modeling of end-to-end system behavior.
- The program is supported by a $2 million grant from the MicroSystems Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a $630,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- "This grant will enable us to develop new software tools and design methods for microdevices that go beyond traditional digital integrated circuits, " said Levitan. "Rather, these microdevices contain electronics, optics, and mechnical components in the same chip. In the past, these designs took specialized tools for optical design, mechanical design, and electronics. The challenge is to integrate all these skills into one software package."
- Examples of these systems are already emerging in applications ranging from high-performance displays to fiber-optic network switches. One of the most common examples of the technology currently in use is accelerometer sensors that control air bag deployment in cars.
- The project includes, in addition to Chiarulli and Levitan, researchers at the University of Delaware, the Army Research Laboratory in Adlephi, Md., and three industrial partners: Science Applications International Corporation of McLean, Va.; Conventor Inc., in Cary N.C.; and EM Phtonics of Newark, Del.
- Working with Levitan and Chiarulli at the University are Mark Kahrs, visiting associate professor of electrical engineering; David Evans, research asssociate in computer science; Timothy Kurzweg and Jose Martinez, both electrical engineering doctoral students; Ethan Jackson, a junior computer engineering major; and Abitjit Davare, a seniot computer engineering Major.