University of Minnesota- Twin Cities

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Microwave Packaging and Circuits

Welcome to the MPACT group! Our mission is three-fold: (1) to develop creative research solutions in the areas of packaging and integration for the advancement of high-speed GHz circuit and system design, (2) to develop dynamic leaders with strong technical and people skills, and (3) to contribute to community education – technical and non-technical – on high speed GHz technology and its applications.

MPACT's technical effort investigates research concepts for high frequency integration and packaging that can enable high density design of high speed integrated circuits into mixed technology environments. The research focus has addressed broadband integration needs of high speed design between electrical and optoelectronic circuits such as those required for communication system design applications. Our contributions involve the experimental development and characterization of (1) high speed interconnects, (2) packaging, (3) advanced microwave materials, and (4) high speed material's characterization. Research outcomes include high isolation and density design solutions for interconnects, micromachined integrated packages for GHz electronic designs and photonic silicon optical microbench technology, porous silicon material development and its characterization as well as GHz circuit and antenna design on porous silicon, and planar circuit design methods for high speed material characterization. Our designs are developed in silicon materials using standard and MEMS fabrication methods at the University of Minnesota in the NanoFabrication Center , a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN).

MPACT's leadership effort focuses on developing technical and professional skills, encouraging self-motivated continuous learning and professional development, as well as enhancing the development of oral communication skills of researchers between lay and technical persons. The technical leadership of graduate and undergraduate researchers occurs through the research experience where three skill areas of design, fabrication and high speed test are developed. The professional leadership is developed through student and industrial partnership experiences which focus on the improving technical and people communication skills, project management, and people leadership. Student partnerships between graduate-undergraduate student pairs are used to provide researchers with an opportunity develop teaching and management skills needed for academia and industry. Industrial partnerships with industry and government researchers are used to provide technical interactions and feedback as well as networking opportunities.

MPACT's community education effort focuses on summer outreach campus programs for undergraduates and off-campus community programs. The on-campus programs provide research opportunities for undergraduates including students from ethnic minority groups, women, and non-research institutions. The off-campus programs include local area high school presentations and Minnesota Science Museum events. Through these activities, MPACT researchers are able to use their technical skills to develop “experience level”-appropriate research projects to educate to future scholars, work in diverse research environment, develop and exercise their creative spirit, as well as give-back to the community through technology education.

MPACT's mission is supported the National Science Foundation, Dupont Corporation, 3M Corporation, and EMAG Technologies. Industry/government collaborations are supported by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Dupont Corporation, Honeywell, and the University of Rochester .

Thank you for visiting. If you would be interested in more information, please e-mail Prof. Drayton at drayton@ece.umn.edu using “MPACT” in the subject line or call 612-626-8978.

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