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Gianluca (Gian) Piazza

Gianluca (Gian) Piazza

STMicroelectronics Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, Nanofab

Address 5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Bio

Gianluca Piazza is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and the Director of the John and Claire Bertucci Nanotechnology Laboratory (a.k.a. the CMU Nanofabrication Facility). He also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining CMU he was the Wilf Family Term Assistant Professor in the department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on piezoelectric micro and nano electromechanicalsystems (M/NEMS) for RF wireless communication, optomechanics, chemical/biological detection, and mechanical computing. He also has a general interest in the areas of micro/nano fabrication techniques and integration of micro/nano devices with state-of-the-art electronics. He has more than 10 years of experience working with piezoelectric materials and devices. He holds several patents in the field of micromechanical resonators some of which have been acquired by industry. He received the IBM Young Faculty Award in 2006 and has won, with his students, the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Frequency Control Symposium in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013, and at the IEEE Ultrasonic Symposium in 2012. He serves as an associate editor for the IEEE Journal of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (JMEMS).

Education

Ph.D., 2005 
Electrical and Computer Engineering 
University of California, Berkeley

M.S., 2001 
Electrical and Computer Engineering 
University of Texas at Austin

M.S., 2001 
Electrical Engineering 
Politecnico di Milano

B.S., 2001 
Electrical Engineering 
Politecnico di Milano

Research

The activities in my laboratory are targeted at understanding the fundamental science of micro and nanomechanical structures to control material properties, engineer device design and fabrication, and devise new classes of micro and nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS) that are directly interfaced with electronic circuits. This is done with the overall mission to overcome substantial limitations of state-of-the-art communication, computing and sensory systems.

My group research interests focus on the invention, design, and demonstration of M/NEMS for five main areas:

  • Low power mechanical radios
  • Nanomechanical computing
  • Integrated chemical and biological sensing platforms
  • Opto-mechanical and acousto-optic systems
  • Micro and nano phononics

Keywords

MEMS, NEMS, nanotechnology, microfabrication, integration of electronics with MEMS/NEMS, acoustics, advanced manufacturing, applied physics, device physics, electrical engineering, magnetics, manufacturing technologies/processes, microsensors, microsystems, nanofabrication, nanosystems, nanotechnology, sensors,  silicon systems; invention, design, fabrication and testing of piezoelectric micro and nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS) for radio frequency communication, chemical/biological sensing and mechanical computing; acoustics; advanced manufacturing; applied physics; device physics; electrical engineering; magnetics; manufacturing technologies/processes; microelectromechanical systems (mems); microfabrication; microsensors; microsystems; nanoelectromechanical systems (nems); nanofabrication; nanosystems; nanotechnology sensors; silicon systems

Related news

Monday, May 04, 2020

A Big Comeback for a Little Switch

Gianluca Piazza and Maarten De Boer are developing reliable, mechanical switches the size of a DNA molecule, thanks to a $2M LEAP-HI grant from the National Science Foundation.
Monday, October 07, 2019

Power-full sound waves

Gianluca Piazza is developing a piezoelectric system that powers devices with ultrasound.
Thursday, November 01, 2018

Transcending the transistor

Gianluca Piazza, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has developed a new form of switch called the piezoelectric nanoelectromechanical relay. This device, the subject of a recent patent award, could be the key to replacing semiconductor transistors in many applications.
Friday, April 01, 2016

CMU joins national network for manufacturing innovation to support research on functional fabrics

The U.S. Department of Defense has tapped Carnegie Mellon University as a partner in a $75 million national research institute that will support American textile manufacturers in bringing sophisticated new materials and textiles to the marketplace.