Chris Dwyer
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and
Department of Computer Science
Duke University

Office: 209B Hudson Hall
(919) 660-5275


Teaching

Fall 2009:
    ECE 52
Introduction to Digital Systems

Spring 2010:
    ECE 299.XX:
Nanocomputing

Past Teaching Schedules

ECE 163L.002 - Introduction to Integrated Circuits (Fall '05)
ECE 310 - Foundations of Nanoscale Science and Technology (Spring '05, Spring '06, Spring '08)

ECE 52L - Introduction to Digital Systems (Fall '06, Fall '07, Spring '08, Fall '09)
ECE 299.03 - Topics in Nanocomputing (Spring '07, Spring '10)


Research Interests  (Group website)

Computer architectures for emerging nanotechnologies

DNA Self-assembly for computer system fabrication

Hybrid DNA/silicon semiconductor processing

New device technologies enabled by self-assembly

Simulation of nanoscale systems and DNA self-assembly

Various nano* research software and tools


Research synopsis:

    We study the design and fabrication of nanostructures as applied specifically to the fabrication of future computing and sensor systems: devices-to-computer architecture. The terms 'nanocomputing' or 'molecular computing' refer to the fabrication techniques (e.g., self-assembly) that have the potential to create devices with critical dimensions near the molecular scale (i.e., < 10nm). However, defects introduced during self-assembly require a change in the way we design and build these systems.

    Self-assembly is a bottom-up fabrication technique that can be used to achieve molecular scale resolution. Some of the images to the right are atomic force microscope (AFM) images of several nanostructures that we have fabricated in our lab. The goal is to use these structures to integrate active nanoelectronic devices into a fully self-assembled circuit technology - and to study the new forms of computer architecture that the technology enables. To do this we have adopted a broad and vertical research approach to cover topics in the synthesis and design of DNA nanostructures, nanoscale device and circuit modeling, and studies of emerging computer architectures.


register cell bit slice


Curriculum Vitae

Professional Activities

Scientific Review Panel Member: NSF 2006/07/08/09, SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) 2005/06.





Conference Organization: (General co-chair) IEEE Nano-nets 2006, Lausanne, Switzerland.
(Program chair) 4th Workshop on Non-silicon computing (w/ ISCA-34 and FCRC)
Conference Program Committees:
FNANO 2007/08/09/10, JCIS-2005, NanoArch-2005/06/07, ACM Computing Frontiers-2007, Workshop on Non-silicon computing-4, ICCAD-2007, ICCD-2007.
Conference/Publication Reviewer:
IEEE-VR, IPDP, ICPADS, ISPASS, DAC, ICCAD, MICRO, Nano-nets, IEEE Trans. on Nanotechnology, IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices,
IOP Nanotechnology, ACM Journal on Emerging Technologies in Computing Systems, IEEE Trans. on Nanobiotechnology, Physical Review Letters.
Book(s):
Introduction to DNA Self-Assembled Computer Design
Professional Societies:
IEEE, ACM, AAAS, ISNSCE 
Awards:
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2009.
DARPA Computer Science Study Group, 2009.
Young Investigator Award, ARO, 2008.
Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship Finalist, 2006.
Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Golden Key.
Research Sponsors:
DARPA, ARO, NSF, AFRL, Microsoft Research, and Agilent Technologies.



October 2009