Samuel Sia receives NSF CAREER Award

Samuel Sia, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded an NSF CAREER Award for $400,000 to study “Soft 3D MEMS—advanced biomaterials devices.” His research aims to develop a fundamentally new approach for building biocompatible microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). 

Sia will use soft biomaterials such as hydrogels, for which host compatibility has been widely studied, to build MEMS components for use in implantable devices. Implantable devices have a wide range of potential medical use (such as glucose sensors), but one of the most persistent challenges has been to make conventional MEMS biocompatible without compromising their function.  Sia’s approach will attempt to link closer together the fields of tissue engineering and MEMS devices. 

The CAREER award also will be used to develop a new undergraduate course at SEAS on bioMEMS, an emerging cross-disciplinary technology in engineering (including biomedical, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and earth and environmental engineering). In addition, it will help translate MEMS research into medical products that will benefit users in the developing world, as well as create educational modules to assist primary school teachers in New York City schools.