Instructor

Pradeep Dixit

Section

NA

Semester

Autumn’19

Course Difficulty

Easy to moderate. A good amount of theory is present which can be a bit laborious to go through sometimes. Numericals are relatively easy and involve simple concepts.

Time Commitment Required

You’ll have to go through the lecture slides for exams, so if you have attended the classes (and haven’t slept :P) then studying one or two days before the quiz will work but in case you haven’t, then it will take more than that. For endsem, it will be mostly a revision of all the syllabus covered in the quizzes. The course project can take a bit of time if you are not aware of FEM related software (Ansys, Comsol)

Grading

Decent enough. BB can be achieved with average effort. If you do a little more than average then AB/AA is also possible

Attendance Policy

Not mandatory, although he’ll mock you if you suddenly appear in the class after weeks :/

Pre-requisites

2nd-year solid mechanics courses are helpful but since students from other departments are also enrolled, he covers the basic stuff in optional extra classes

Evaluation Scheme and Weightage

20% course project, 4x10 Quiz, 40% Endsem

Topics Covered in the Course

Materials used in MEMS processes, Microfabrication processes involved, Basic engineering design principles, Applications of MEMS: Inertial sensors (accelerometers, pressure sensors, Gyroscopes, digital micro-mirror), Optical/Bio-MEMS, Packaging. More emphasis will be on inertial sensors.

Mechanism of Instruction and Teaching Style

The class size is small (30-40 students, LT) so lots of discussions and interactions will be there. Try to avoid mobiles as the prof somehow always manages to notice it and gets irritated. He’ll cover many side aspects and practical details of the topics being taught and will also include interesting videos and articles in the class. Another good part is that he’ll take you on a visit to the nanofabrication facility in our institute which is really cool.

Assignments and projects in the Course

The instructor will emphasize a lot on the project and will also be strict while grading it. He’ll float many options for projects which can be taken on a first come first serve basis. The projects are generally based on research paper implementation and will involve simulation tasks. For those who are not familiar with any Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, it may take some time to learn about them. The prof will also arrange an optional class for the basic introduction of COMSOL

Exams

Lecture slides are more than sufficient for the exams, but they have a lot of content which can be hard to retain. Exams will be closed book (Although the prof will give students the option for open book at the cost of more difficult exams). Both quizzes and endsem are a mix of theory and numerical questions (numerical ones being on the easy side).

Importance of Course

A very good introductory course in MEMS. It will open a very new field for you to explore. Although the fundamental principles related to those of physics, chemistry and mechanics will be simple, the applications to which they can be applied are very diverse and technologically advanced

Other Interesting Links

The prof will share plenty of interesting and application related videos on Moodle

Anything else relevant to the course

If you are looking for knowledge in this field then it will be very helpful. In case getting a good grade with minimal effort is your only priority then this may not be the best option.