Meriem, Science and Paper

Scientific-engineering journey of Meriem Akin exploring paper: Bridging the gap between paper experts (artists, educators, makers) and engineers.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I visited Rutgers University and explored some exciting research about smart paper-based systems. 

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I am moderating a technology forum (TechnikSalon) on electrical paper and other innovative applications with paper on May 4th, 2017. More details on the event can be found here and here.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Contact Gewerbestrasse 11 CH-6330 Cham (ZG) Switzerland Our products www.springer.com

I signed a contract with Springer to edit a book on paper-based science and engineering. Forthcoming in 2018.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Magnetics Technology International - Annual 2017

Magnetics Technology International - Annual 2017

Our visionary article with my exchange students from this summer, Autumn Pratt and Jennifer Blackburn, and my collaborator Hongli Zhu appeared in the Magnetics Technology International 2017.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Hongli and Detao work on the manufacturing technology of nanopaper. In this paper, I give some promising insights on the use of nanopaper for thin film magnetics. Hongli and Detao showcase opto-electronics as another application for their nanopaper technology.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Research featured in phi magazine of the production technology center

The phi magazine of the production technology center at the University of Hanover published an article about my research on paper-based sensors during my PhD. work, and the contribution of the student assistants Autumn Pratt and Jennifer Blackburn to my continuing research.

You can find the article here. 

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Paper with Matthew Steggeman is now online

I advised Matthew during his exchange from Purdue to University of Hanover in Summer of 2015, and we were able to write a paper together. The paper is now published in Springer Cellulose under the title “Paper-based magnetics: Matching paper with permalloy”. You can find our paper here.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Invited technology feature

Francoise von Trapp of 3dIncites asked me to submit a technology feature about the future use of paper in the electronics industry. In this article, I surveyed the main arguments that motivate the use of this material in the electronics world. I would like to acknowledge my student assistants Daniel Johnson for helping with the literature review and Autumn Pratt and Jennifer Blackburn for discussing the readability of the article.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Jennifer Blackburn, from Purdue University, will work on the packaging of multi-stacked paper-based sensors

I will be advising Jennifer’s Research and Science Project at the University of Hanover. She will be working with me this summer on developing an improved (electronic) packaging method for multi-stacked paper-based sensors. 

This is what Jennifer thinks about what may be expecting her this summer:

““Innovation” is the word that rings in my ears when I consider engineering and I believe that Ms. Akin’s work regarding paper-based sensors is just that. I chose the field of industrial engineering because I wanted to make an impact, to take existing technology and make it the best it can be, although, I will admit that I never considered improving paper. 

Now that I have been exposed to the idea I find it thrilling that renewable, inexpensive organic materials are being considered as a base for high-tech electronics. Paper is such a common object in our daily lives that is often overlooked. I see paper-based sensors as an opportunity for paper to become revitalized in today’s technological world. Incorporating circuitry into the same kind of paper that we use today and working them into established paper-based processes could allow seamless integration of sensors into daily life.

I have spent eighteen months of my college career working as a manufacturing engineer at the orthopedic device manufacturer, Zimmer Biomet. The devices produced there include joint replacements, parts for trauma repair, and surgical instruments. Because of the nature of these products, the industry is highly regulated. This is a great for us as consumers because it means the products are safe, but it also demands a lot of documentation, and one of the biggest delays we faced was paperwork errors. For this reason, I would love to see data verification built into paper forms to prevent errors before they arise and paper-based sensors could facilitate that. An especially great aspect is that the paper forms with which the operators are familiar would not disappear, new functionality would simply be introduced. 

I spent the majority of my time at Zimmer Biomet in the packaging department. I believe that in the packaging sector there is a lot of prospect for paper-based engineering built into the boxes and other paper packaging materials. From encoding the device history record directly into the packaging to including sensors that indicate excessive heat or moisture or broken seals, making paper smarter offers many opportunities for advancement in packaging technology.

I am honored to have been chosen to work on this project. I hope to provide a unique perspective to Ms. Akin’s team this summer and do what I can to make emerging paper-based technology the best it can be.”

Jennifer Blackburn, Purdue University

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Autumn Pratt, exchange student from University of Idaho, will work on the application design of paper-based sensors.

I have picked Autumn among 13 applicants, and she was awarded the DAAD Rise Scholarship to come work with me this summer on the application design of rotary motion paper-based sensors.

Here are Autumn’s thoughts about what is expecting her this summer:

“I am looking forward to working with Mrs. Akin this summer!

As a junior in mechanical engineering, I can sometimes still steal a moment to distance myself from force calculations and think more abstractly. When I do, the contrast between the materials in the problems I work and the materials in natural “machines” is striking. It seems no wonder that our society has trouble with waste disposal when we are altering natural materials so much. Engineering materials tend to be rigid, slow to degrade, and expensive. Biological materials, on the other hand, are plentiful, flexible, and easily disposable… but are often passed over because they are hard to control and perform calculations on.

Mrs. Akin’s work interests me because she is bridging this gap with her research on paper. Paper was one of my favorite toys growing up, because I could have as many old magazines, rolls, and boxes as I wanted to create my ugly little kid inventions: no one ever cared, because paper was everywhere. This is a definite benefit for an engineering material. Cheap paper-based electronics could be used in many areas of life – I would like to see easily available paper electronics for schoolchildren to learn with. They could even be integrated into the textbooks! Since my home state (Idaho) is a big paper producer, it’s neat to work on a project that gives paper a new place in the future.

Now that Mrs. Akin has created a working paper-based sensor I get to help with (in my opinion) the most fun part, figuring out what can be done with it. I want to help present Mrs. Akin’s invention in a way which will let everyone see the possibilities in her ideas and encourage them to imagine even more applications, both for this rotary motion sensor and for paper-based sensors in general. I’m excited to help some cool demos come to life, looking forward to learning a lot, and grateful to be part of this.  

Autumn Pratt, University of Idaho”

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I am thrilled to having received 13 applications from the USA, Canada and the UK through the DAAD Rise Program. I will have to pick one person to work with me this summer on the interaction design and application conceptualization of paper-based magneto-resistive sensors.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I am currently, and since 2013, one of the scientists in the collaborative research center “Planar Optronic Systems”. I received the Technology Award 2015 of the Association of German Engineers (Verein der Deutschen Ingenieure) for a new technique that I developed to enable an adhesion-enhanced coating of inorganic materials onto organic substrates (More here). I plan to adapt this technology to paper platforms. My beloved sister, Zeineb Ben Salah (who appears in the picture), accepted the award for me, because I was on a business trip during the award ceremony.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

This is an overdue demonstration of the single layer paper-based magneto-resistive sensor for rotary motion sensing (0-180 degrees).

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I visited the Ecole Polytechnique de Tunisie, and in particular the LASMAP lab,  from December 18th 2015 to January 5th 2016. My hosts were Prof. Fehmi Najar and Prof. Melik Sahraoui. I held an engaging discussion section on paper-based engineering with some bright third year (final year) students.  A statement by the student, Amen Hajlaoui, resonated with me: “The paper reminds me of my childhood, so it (paper) is the start of life in my opinion.”

[meriemscienceandpaper]

Work on paper-based sensors is accepted for oral presentation at 66th IEEE ECTC to be held in Las Vegas in May 2016

I will present my recent developments on the design, fabrication and characterization of paper-based magneto-resistive sensing at the 66th IEEE ECTC in Las Vegas.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I won the innovation award of science 2015 of the county of Göttingen for my idea of intelligent paper to be used in the classroom of the future. A special column (in German) in the faktor magazine of the county published about the innovation is to be found here (page 9), and in the daily magazine Göttinger Tageblatt of the county here.

[meriemscienceandpaper]

I was one of the science slammers at the Jour Fixe at the University of Hanover. I talked about my journey with the material paper. Here to the video of the talk.