This Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, founded in 1986 as the National
Science Foundation Center for Microsensors and Microactuators, is devoted to
interdisciplinary engineering research on micro- and nano-scale sensors, moving
mechanical elements, microfluidics, materials, electronic and radio technologies and
processes that take advantage of progress made in integrated-circuit, bio, and polymer
technologies. BSAC, with more than 150 graduate student and post-doctoral researchers
and 100+ research projects, covers 7 engineering departments on 3 campuses of the
University of California.

Goals of BSAC:

(1) Create a leadership microsystems research environment. Combine the best
researchers, faculty, and industrial partners. Bind them through the collective appeal of
top rank University resources, an environment of collaboration, and access to a diverse
group of Industrial members who are usually current or future market leaders in their
segments.

(2) Enhance the educational experience of our graduate students.

(3) Reduce the time to commercialization of BSAC research by Industrial Members and
entrepreneurial researchers by establishing systematic progress in multiple phases of
new technology formation: a)materials/process/packaging; b)devices and structures; and
c)system integration. This strategy requires a broader range of projects and a larger
research organization than most research consortia would be able to maintain.