albert K. henning

Al received the A.B. and A.M. degrees from Dartmouth College in Physics in 1977 and 1979, respectively.  His master's thesis was supervised by Bruce Pipes.  From 1979 to 1982 he was a device physicist with Intel Corporation, where he led the initial CMOS device physics analyses, and developed the initial transistor designs, for the 386 generation of microprocessors.  He received his Ph.D. (EE) from Stanford University in 1987, studying hot carrier MOSFET physics at cryogenic temperatures under the supervision of Jim Plummer.  From 1987 through 1995, he was Assistant and Associate Professor of Engineering Science at Dartmouth College, working on semiconductor device physics (including MEMS-based scanning probe metrology of MOSFET doping profiles and defects), and beginning his research into microflow devices, such as micro-scale channels and orifices, microvalves and microturbines, and micro-fluidic logic circuits.  He was the holder of an Analog Devices Career Development Professorship, and an IBM Faculty Development Award.  At Dartmouth, he developed two NSF-sponsored educational projects: an undergraduate course on MEMS, and a summer workshop on MEMS for minority students.  

In 1996 he joined Redwood Microsystems, where he served as Project Manager, Wafer Fabrication Manager, and Director of Technology.  His research interests concerned the physics and technology of microflow structures, actuators, and systems, particularly with respect to valves, orifices (flow sensors), and pressure sensors.  Application interests have included increased refrigeration efficiency using microvalves, and high-performance, high-reliability mass flow control using microflow components.  He developed a distance learning course on microflow devices, available through SemiZone.  He is active in the IEEE (where he is a Senior Member), and the MEMS-related SPIE conferences.  He has published nearly seventy journal articles and proceedings papers, holds six patents, and has several more patent applications published and in process.  Most recently, he served as Guest Editor for the journal Sensors & Materials, for their special issue on Microvalves, and as Chair of the SPIE MOEMS-MEMS Symposium.

With the closure of Redwood Microsystems in January of 2006, Dr. Henning turned his attention toward consulting and manufacturing of products in the realm of MEMS-based microflow devices and microfluidics.

His curriculum vita can be found here.