Carnegie Mellon University Engineering and Computer Science Students Tapped to Attend Prestigious TECHCON Annual Conference
October 19, 2012
Contact: Chriss Swaney
Carnegie Mellon University
412.268.5776
PITTSBURGH—Two Carnegie Mellon University scholars recently attended the prestigious TECHCON conference designed to showcase student research, to collaborate with colleagues and to discuss recent papers to further the growth and success of the semiconductor industry.
CMU's Andrea Pickel, a junior in mechanical engineering, and Adrian Trejo, a senior in computer science from Dallas, Texas, joined more than 400 participants from 52 of America's top universities and representatives from industry and government to attend the Semiconductor Research Corporation's (SRC) 14th annual TECHCON conference in Austin, Texas.
"This was a wonderful experience to see so many outstanding industry leaders and distinguished guest speakers," said Pickel of Mill Valley, Calif. "I got to attend research presentations, special seminars for undergraduates and a small career fair."
Pickel is working on magnetic nanoparticle-based solder composites for electronic packaging applications. "The motivation behind the research is to make lead-free solder (which is becoming more common due to environmental/health concerns, as well as legislation banning lead-containing solder in the European Union) a viable option for electronics manufacturing," said Pickel.
The event also marked the 30th-year anniversary of collaborative work between industry and university researchers dedicated to achieving greater semiconductor enhancements and promoting the new generations of chip technology.
"We applaud the SRC for funding these students' undergraduate research and for giving them the opportunity to network with industry and researchers from a broad cross-section of the country," said Treci Bonime, associate director for undergraduate studies at CMU's top-ranked College of Engineering.
SRC's expansive research programs include the Energy Research Initiative focusing on electrical energy storage and power management, and the Focus Center Research program supporting integrated circuit technology, components of which are used in relatively all electronic equipment from mobile phones to computers.