Further information
Inaugural lecture
Professor Eric M. Yeatman, Professor of Microengineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering presents his inaugural lecture “Invisible technologies: micro-engineering for an intelligent, interconnected world”.
In the Chair: Professor Stephen Richardson, Principal, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
Vote of Thanks: Professor Paul K. Wright, UC Berkeley
Abstract: Decades of rapid advance in silicon integrated circuit technology have resulted in an information revolution with which we are all familiar. Less familiar are the advances in micro-engineering that have sprung from, or developed alongside, micro-electronics. This talk will examine some of these technologies, and their impact, both now and in the future. In particular, we will consider the increasingly ubiquitous installation of sensors and actuators – in the body, in buildings and infrastructure, in the environment – and how this is made possible by advances in power sources, sensing elements, and wireless data links. We will look at how these technologies may have a profound 
influence on our lives – particularly on our health and fitness, and our efficient use of resources.
Biography: Eric Yeatman did his BEng in Engineering Physics, and MSc in Physics, at Dalhousie University, Canada, where he conducted research on detection of arctic oil spills by ultrasound. He came to Imperial in 1986 as a Commonwealth Scholar, to take a PhD under the supervision of Sir Eric Ash, during which he published the first ever demonstration of surface plasmon (optical surface wave) microscopy. Upon completion of his PhD in 1989 he joined the staff of the Electrical Engineering Department, in the Optical and Semiconductor Devices research group. He was made Professor of Micro-Engineering in 2005. Professor Yeatman co-founded the college activity in MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) in 1992. His research since has primarily been in three areas: integrated optics on silicon, MEMS components for radio frequency circuits, and micro-scale power generation. The latter topic has been mainly concerned with harvesting energy from ambient vibration, for perpetual powering of devices such as wireless sensor nodes. Professor Yeatman is co-founder and chairman of Microsaic Systems Ltd., which develops and markets miniaturised mass spectrometers for chemical analysis. He is Fellow of the IET and of the IoMMM.