Conferences

The 21st in the series of Hilton Head Workshops on the science and technology of solid-state sensors, actuators, and microsystems will take place June 2–6 2024 at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC. This exciting multidisciplinary event has occurred biennially since 1984, and we look forward to observing Hilton Head's 40th anniversary by celebrating Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and microsystem successes over the past 40 years. Additionally, we would like to look ahead to the challenges and possibilities for our field in the next 40 years. Hilton Head Island, the beachfront workshop hotel, and the casual, comfortable seaside environment with nearly all meals included allow for relaxed exchanges, collegial interactions, and many fruitful discussions. The Hilton Head Workshop has historically been a regional meeting for professionals living in North or South America as well as past attendees of previous Hilton Head Workshops. Since 2020, the meeting has been open to international colleagues beyond the Americas. We continue to welcome researchers from all over the world to submit high-quality abstracts (contributed and LATE NEWS) for consideration. International authors will be invited to participate in the workshop if their abstract is accepted.

The Hilton Head Workshop draws 350–500 academic, industry, and government participants from diverse engineering and scientific backgrounds, including chemistry, material science, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, biology, and bioengineering, etc. Previous workshops have provided a highly interactive forum for researchers to present and discuss recent advances in microfabrication technologies for sensing and actuation devices and microsystems for physical, chemical, and biological applications. Emerging from a global pandemic and a tumultuous few years, Hilton Head 2022 focused on "Preparation and Prevention: Tackling our Grand Challenges," which explored the potential for MEMS to impact a variety of global issues and demanding challenges and hopefully inspired our community while encouraging new collaborations and ideas.

Sunday starts with an all-day lecture series and panel highlighting technologies being developed to address society's demanding challenges and the impact that startups, small businesses, and the public–private consortia of academia, industry, and government are having in key areas. Throughout the week, the daily featured keynote speakers are prominent, internationally known researchers and visionaries who will bring breadth and depth to our discussions of challenges and opportunities for MEMS and allied technologies. In addition, the program will include invited speakers from within and adjacent to the MEMS community, who will address important causes and demanding challenges using novel, creative technologies, devices, and systems. On Tuesday afternoon, we are offering a special session on Early Career Faculty Development. This session, targeting senior graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty members in our community, aims to offer relevant guidance and advice for new faculty as well as those who aspire to become faculty members. Having early career awards from major funding agencies is a significant stride in the right direction. Please join us as we learn from program directors at three major US funding agencies.

This year, we hope to increase the participatory and networking success of this meeting by inviting all past, present, and future MEMS researchers to attend as well as submit abstracts and present papers on the following technical topics:

• New Devices or Microsystems
• New Sensing and Actuation Concepts
• High-Performance Devices
• Devices with Substantially Improved Performance
• Device Fabrication and Testing
• Process Design and Modeling
• Device Modeling and Simulation
• Fabrication Technologies
• Materials and Material Processing
• Nanotechnology and its Applications
• Testing Including Test Equipment and Methods
• Interface and Calibration Circuits
• Advanced Circuit Techniques
• System Integration and End-Use Applications
• Component and Wafer-Level Packaging Technologies
• Assembly Materials and Processes
• Non-Electronic Interfaces to Devices
• Environmental Effects and Compensation Methods
• Reliability Testing and Methods

The workshop will be a single-session meeting, with ample time allotted for the discussion of each paper, and with blocks of unscheduled time to encourage informal interactions among participants. Several oral presentations and contributed poster session slots have been reserved within the workshop program for LATE NEWS papers. LATE NEWS papers, as submitted, will be accepted for presentation and will be published in the technical digest. LATE NEWS papers will be limited to two pages in length and must follow the submission procedure in the instructions. Manuscripts of papers presented in these sessions will be included in the Workshop Technical Digest. There will also be an OPEN POSTER session to encourage participants to informally discuss very recent results, work in progress, and results recently presented elsewhere. OPEN POSTERS will not be included in the Technical Digest. Please see LATE NEWS and OPEN POSTERS on this website for further information.

MEMS technology, devices, and systems have already revolutionized our world—from health care to the environment, communication, transportation, and a number of other areas. Many of our successful accomplishments also complement the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) pursuits toward identifying and addressing the demanding challenges for engineering in the 21st century. We are hoping that the presentations and discussions at the Hilton Head 2024 Workshop will further encourage our students, researchers, and industry colleagues to team up collaboratively to tackle today's demanding challenges and their causes. Our hope is that we, as the device and technology community, will contribute significantly through active participation, mentoring, and inclusiveness to better serve people and our planet in the future.

We look forward to meeting you!

https://www.hh2024.org/