Smela, Elisabeth
Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Brain and Behavior Institute
Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
Materials Science and Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Brain and Behavior Institute
Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
2112 Glenn L. Martin Hall
Background
Research Scientist, Linköping University, Sweden
Senior Scientist, Risø National Laboratory, Denmark
Vice President of Research and Development, Santa Fe Science and Technology, Inc. (SFST), New Mexico
University of Maryland since 2000
Education
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
B.S., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Honors and awards
NSF Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2004
(converted from NSF CAREER for "Development of Advanced MEMS Actuator Technology for Microrobotics," 2003)
Outstanding Invention of 2004, Office of Technology Commercialization, UMD
for cell sensor-based pathogen detection
E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for Junior Faculty, UMD, 2004
DuPont Young Professor Award, 2003
Danish Research Councils Talent Project award, 1998
NSF Fellow, Summer Institute in Japan, 1991
Dr. Smela's research is primarily in the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), particularly polymer MEMS and bioMEMS. She focuses on the use of organic materials (from polymers to cells) in microsystems to realize microactuators, cell-based sensors, and CMOS/MEMS integrated systems.