Prof. Solzbacher is Director of the newly established Center for Engineering Innovation, Co-Director of the Utah Nanotechnology Institute, President and Executive Chairman of Blackrock Microsystems and of Blackrock Neuromed and holds faculty appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Materials Science and Bioengineering at the University of Utah. His research focuses on harsh environment microsystems and materials, including implantable, wireless microsystems for biomedical and healthcare applications, and on high temperature and harsh environment compatible micro sensors. Prof. Solzbacher received his M.Sc. EE from the Technical University Berlin in 1997 and his Ph.D. from the Technical University Ilmenau in 2003. He is co-founder of several companies such as Blackrock Microsystems, Blackrock Neuromed, and First Sensor Technology. He was a board member and Chairman of the German Association for Sensor Technology AMA and of Sensor + Test trade show and conference from 2001 until 2009, and serves on a number of company and public private partnership advisory boards and international conference steering committees. He is author of over 190 journal and conference publications, 5 book chapters and 22 invention disclosures, pending patents or patents.
Research Statement
Gas Sensors
The focus of this research is on the development of a gas sensor toolkit for sensitive, selective and stable detection of undesirable gas species (e.g. NOx, SOx, CO, CO2) at high-temperatures. In2O3, NiO, Ga2O3 and Y-doped BaZrO3 for the detection of NOx, H2, CO and humidity, respectively have been investigated. Of primary importance were the effects of materials processing conditions on the gas sensitivity and response rate. Design, fabrication and integration of microhotplate structures with gas sensitive layers capable of functioning at temperatures greater than 500 °C were also performed.
Hydrogel Sensors for Metabolic Markers
The main objective of the research is to develop a sensor array that can monitor different biomarkers such as glucose, pH and pCO2 to help avoid long term diseases caused by irregularities in their levels. A sensing platform based on piezoresistive pressure transducers has been developed which is integrated with stimuli responsive polymers or smart hydrogels that act as the sensing element. Several in vitro experiments have been performed so far to establish stability and reproducibility of the sensor arrays to changes in glucose, ionic strength and pH concentrations in the environmental analyte. Response times to changes in concentrations have been found to be in the range if 5 to 10 minutes.
Integrated Neural Interfaces
The integrated neural interface program centered at the University of Utah is focused on developing chronically implantable, wireless, integrated neural interface devices based on the Utah electrode array. These devices may be used in the central or pheripherial nervous system for neural signal recording and/or stimulation to help people with motor or sensory impairments.