INTRODUCING THE ELECTROCERAMICS RESEARCH GROUP...

The Electroceramics Research Group (ERG) at Rutgers University has been conducting research since 1986. The major focus of the research group in its first eight years of activities has mainly been on the development of composite piezoelectric sensors and actuators, piezoelectric thin films for electromechnical applications, multilayer capacitors, and size effects in nano-ferroelectric systems. During that period, the Office of Naval Research (ONR), pertinent NJ-based industry and the Center for Ceramic Research at Rutgers provided the financial support to the group.

In 1995, the program was expanded further under a generous DARPA funding in the Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) of advanced ceramics. Since then, the ERG assumed a commanding role worldwide in SFF, which is a computer aided design method for prototyping functional ceramics with unorthodox geometry and internal hierarchy. In this program, the ERG has successfully demonstrated several new concepts and realized the fabrication an array of novel piezoelectric actuators with unprecedented electromechanical properties.
The group has about twenty alumni, who have assumed leading roles in industrial and government laboratories as well as academia. In addition, the group has also hosted more than two-dozen visiting scientists and postdoctoral researchers. Currently, Professor Safari's group is comprised of one technical administrative assistant; two research associates, six graduate students and 3 undergraduate assistants. It is one of the largest research groups in the Ceramic and Materials Engineering at Rutgers.

For further information regarding our research activities, please browse through the ERG web pages. Please do not hesitate to contact Professor Safari or any group member for more detailed information you may require.
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