From Interconnect to Innovation in the DoD

Reliability Society

Livia M. Racz MIT Lincoln Laboratory

In electronics packaging, as in all areas of electronics in the 20th century, the military used to set the pace for new developments, with major investments in facilities and strategic initiatives, and engineering innovation happening in large, captive semi-monopolies. This is no longer the common model for innovation. Additionally, there is instant and widespread dissemination of technological information all over the world. The aggregate result of these shifts is that we are no longer optimally equipped to apply the best technologies to problems of national security. This talk broadly examines some of the top unmet needs, reviews some of the approaches that are being used successfully to address the challenges, and focuses on the value added by truly innovative developments in Advanced Packaging and Microsystems Integration. An innovation framework is presented, which introduces rigor into value creation by integration, which goes beyond reduction of size, weight, and power. Case studies are selected and reviewed from the literature, and example research projects are highlighted that are currently in progress at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Livia M. Racz is the Assistant Leader of the Chemical, Microsystem and Nanoscale Technologies Group, where she is currently focused on advanced materials and their application of micro- and nanotechnology, in order to enable unique capability in scaled-down systems. In addition, she leads the Lincoln Laboratory research portfolio in Advanced Materials and Processes. Dr. Racz joined Lincoln Laboratory in February 2015 after 8 years at Draper Laboratory, where she held positions of Principal Technical Staff, Distinguished Technical Staff, Laboratory Technical Staff, Group Leader, and Division Leader. She has also spent time in two early-stage startups and in academia, in each case focused on some novel aspect of miniature electronic systems. Dr. Racz received her S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT and worked at the German Aerospace Research Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow.

Meeting Location: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 3 Forbes Rd, Lexington, Massachusetts, 02421

Registration: click here

Directions to 3 Forbes Road, Lexington, MA:

• Take Route 128/I-95 to Exit 30B, Route 2A Westbound.
• At the first traffic light, turn left onto Forbes Road.
• Go to the end of the street.
• At the traffic circle, turn right.
• Go halfway around the traffic circle and turn into the parking lot for MIT Lincoln Laboratory
• The main entrance is straight ahead, shared with “agenus”.