Greetings

Dear MICS Friends,

Happy 2020!

Thank Prof. Ha for founding MICS and the great leadership for the past 8 years. MICS has been escalating amazingly under Prof. Ha’s directorship together with Prof. Ampadu, Prof. Lester and Prof. Raman’s outstanding contributions. Now, it is my great honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to increase my contributions to MICS.

MICS will keep growing and continue to be a fun place for everyone to enjoy research and to enjoy life. I am looking forward to working with every one of you to create a bright future of MICS. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your great contributions to MICS through quality research and delicate services.

As I look back at the year 2019, MICS indeed accomplished a lot. The research expenditures for MICS in 2019 was $1.1M. The MICS lab, with about 1,400 square feet, is one of the largest labs of the ECE department. We have seven companies joined to the MICS Industry Affiliate Program (IAP), including AMCOM communications, BAE systems, Hughes, Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman, FSP Group POWERLAND, and Samsung. Considering MICS is a relatively young group, it is an achievement that MICS can be proud of. It is also a good indicator that MICS research areas are well aligned with industry needs.

MICS people work hard, but we don’t forget there is life outside of work. MICS people took one Saturday off during the peak of fall foliage season and hiked along the Appalachian Trail and had dinner together at a local restaurant famous for Southern home style cooking in 2019. As the year drew to end, MICS people and their families held an annual dinner party at Owens Hall. Every MICS person presented his/her most memorable travel experience, and everyone enjoyed the relaxed environment as well as the delicious food.

The MICS group has “MICS Day” in March every year, and I would like to invite you to attend. It is an all-day event that gives the opportunity for MICS people to present research activities and for industry people to introduce opportunities and research needs of their companies. Before I close this New Year’s greeting, I want to reiterate the goal of MICS. MICS wants to be one of the best research groups in the nation in analog and RF IC design and systems by 2030.  MICS looks forward to continued collaboration with you in student recruiting and research! Thank you very much.

 Yang (Cindy) Yi, Director, Aug. 20, 2020