School Program

MEMS and NEMS technologies for sensors

by Alvise Bagolini, (FBK-SD, Italy)

This tutorial will provide a walk through the MEMS and NEMS devices world from a technological viewpoint, focusing on microfabrication advances and challenges. 

Devices will be examined coming from both the academy and the market, and the different fabrication strategies will be highlighted and compared.

 Dr Alvise Bagolini obtained his bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Trento in 2003. He has 20 years research experience in the field of MEMS devices at the Bruno Kessler Foundation (former ITC-IRST). His research activity focuses on materials and advanced microfabrication platforms, and has a portfolio of microdevices design and fabrication including RF switches, CMUTs, pressure and gas sensors, micromirrors, inertial sensors, and microgrippers. He has published over 80 articles in scientific journals and is the author of 3 patents in the field.

Surface biofunctionalizations for Lab-on-a-Chip

by Cristina Potrich, (FBK-SD, Italy)

The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology is increasingly applied to analytical and biological issues due to its intrinsic properties of being low-cost, flexible, compact and possibly automated. Microfluidic systems have indeed demonstrated their potential to enhance the performance of many biomolecular analyses starting from raw biological materials, such as blood, urine and saliva fostering the shift of health screening from traditional laboratory tests to rapid, economic, easy-to-use tests. A general requisite for the successful implementation of LOC for diagnostic purposes is the development of suitable biofunctional materials and surfaces. Biofunctional surfaces can capture and concentrate circulating biomarkers related to several pathologies, realizing the so-called “liquid biopsy”. Some practical examples will be discussed, from cancer biomarkers analysis to pathogens and inherited diseased identification, to the detection of food contamination.

 Dr Cristina Potrich is senior researcher at the Bruno Kessler Foundation, Center for Sensors & Devices and associate to the Italian Research Council, Institute of Biophysics. Her main interest is the development of biofunctional materials applied to the micro and nanotechnologies for genomics and proteomics; in particular, she spent last years in the development of Lab-on-a-chip devices for medical and agri-food applications. Cristina Potrich graduated with honors in biology and obtained her PhD in Molecular Physiology and Structural Biology from the University of Padua, Italy. She also obtained the National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor in Applied Physics (02/D1). Visiting scientist in many European laboratories, she co-organized several congresses (national and international) and international schools. She is currently referee for many leading journals and author of about 70 papers published in international journals, book chapters and many contributions to congresses with review.

Integrated Photonics for Sensing - Concepts and Overview 

by Georg Pucker, (FBK-SD, Italy)

Aim of the lecture is to give a brief insight into concepts of light manipulation with photonic integrated circuits, explaining the fundamentals of basic building blocks like evanescent waveguides, resonators, gratings and other. Finally, we will see how these elements are used in a variety of sensing applications (e.g. biomedical evanescent field sensors, gas sensors, pressure sensors, distance sensors or gyroscopes.

 Dr Georg Pucker is a senior researcher at the Center of Sensors and Devices at Fondazione Bruno Kessler and head of the Integrated and Quantum Optics Research Unit. He received his PhD from TU-Graz, Austria. His research interests and expertise are mainly in the field of nano-micro technology and integrated optics. He is author of 100+ peer reviewed publications and has an h-index of 37.

Printed Electronic: Materials, Technologies and Trending Applications

by Saleem Khan, (CSEM, Switzerland)

This tutorial will cover the rapidly growing field of printed electronics with a particular focus on nanomaterials, fabrication and characterization of microelectronics and sensors on nonconventional substrates. Rapid prototyping of electronic components, especially sensors and transducers have attracted significant interest due to easier manufacturing through digital printing technologies. Printing enables large area coverage and electronics development on flexible substrates as against conventional wafer scale manufacturing. Printing technologies have opened new exciting application areas including Medtech, Aerospace, Agriculture, Precision Engineering, Energy/PVs and Wearable, Implantable etc. Most of these application areas will be covered with recent proof-of-concept devices and demonstrators. Researchers having interest in rapid prototyping, cost-effective manufacturing on non-conventional substrates, sensors, transducers and microsystems etc. will gain from the cross-disciplinary topics covered in this tutorial.

 Dr Saleem Khan is working as senior R&D Engineer at CSEM, Switzerland with research focus on additive manufacturing of functional nanomaterials and sensors development using printing technologies. He got his PhD degree from University of Trento, while conducting his research activities at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Trento Italy.  He has more than ten years of professional experience in the field of printed electronics. Currently he is exploring the fast-emerging fields of functional 3D objects, sustainable electronics using biosourced materials and using AJP technology for various interposer projects.

Gas sensor arrays for real-life applications

by Dr. Andrea Gaiardo, (FBK-SD, Italy)

Despite decades of R&D in solid-state gas sensors, their application in complex real-world scenarios such as outdoor air quality monitoring, health monitoring, and precision farming remains challenging. These applications still rely on analytical tools because existing solid-state sensors fail to meet key performance criteria, particularly in selectivity, sensitivity, detection limits, and stability. While technological advancements in gas sensing are ongoing, integrating AI-based approaches for data analysis has emerged as a promising solution to overcome these limitations. Specifically, the development of sensor arrays composed of different advanced active layers, coupled with AI models for calibration and data analysis, is paving the way for more effective sensing platforms. This lecture will explore strategies for developing sensor arrays and implementing AI algorithms for specific applications, supported by real-world examples.

 Dr. Andrea Gaiardo obtained his M.Sc. degree in Chemistry (Magna cum Laude) from the University of Ferrara, (Ferrara, Italy) in 2013, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the same institution in 2018. He currently leads the “Gas Sensor Team” of the Bruno Kessler Foundation (Trento, Italy). His work is focused on the R&D of gas sensing systems for several applications, including air quality monitoring, health screening and precision agriculture. In this research field, he has published more than 50 scientific articles so far (source: Scopus), is serving as guest editor for several scientific journals and is involved in national and international projects funded by both public and private institutions.