In 2002, a team of faculty from several different departments acquired a $400,000 W.M. Keck Foundation grant to launch a program to teach micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology to undergraduate students.

The original grant was supplemented by equipment donations from ON Semiconductor and the renovation of a cleanspace by the Institute, which brought a hands-on lab component to the program.

Since the time of the original grant, the program has grown both in size and in scope. Currently multi-disciplinary teams of faculty and students are involved in a wide variety of micro and nano technology-related projects and course work spanning the fields of material science, chemical detection, optics, power generation and Bio-MEMS.

Read more about MiNDS programs on the Physics and Optical Engineering website.