A $1 million project aimed at positioning Canada as a global source for the timing chips that make all electronic devices work is being led by a researcher at the University of Windsor.
Engineering professor Jalal Ahamed is partnering with Stathera Inc., a Montreal-based company that specializes in micro-electromechanical systems.
They're working to develop an ultra-precise resonating oscillator to provide the stable reference frequency, which is key for all communications and computation.
The chip they are developing can be embedded in microchips and mass-produced for installation in cars, cell phones, computers, and every other smart electronic device imaginable.
The research by Ahamed will explore ways to make the timing chips with silicon, which is less expensive, replacing quartz, a hard crystalline mineral that is difficult to machine and expensive to manufacture.
"So quartz is very good; it is a very stable and mechanically robust material, which is why it's being widely used. At the same time, a very stable material means it's very difficult to manufacture," he says.
Ahamed says semi-conductor devices are very critical for our economy, our development, and our security.
"Our goal is to have this microchip designed in Canada and manufactured in Canada, so the industry is trying to take a stake in this multi-billion-dollar, evolving global market," he says.
Ahamed says they are trying to make all our communications and other smart devices more accurate and more precise, and reduce the cost.
Ahamed has been awarded $750,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Mitacs, a national non-profit organization that partners with academia, private industry, and government to provide training opportunities for the next generation of researchers.
Stathera will also add $250,000 in in-kind contributions to the five-year partnership.
This project will employ one post-doctoral fellow and two PhD students.