Design and fabrication of a prototype aluminum nitride-based pressure sensor with finite element analysis and validation

Du, Xinyu, "Design and fabrication of a prototype aluminum nitride-based pressure sensor with finite element analysis and validation" (2011). Wayne State University Dissertations. Paper 408. ii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate my dissertation work to my parents, my wife and my sons whose love, moral support, motivation and encouragement has been helping me overcome all the difficulties that I encountered during this work. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I feel very much indebted to my advisors-Dr. for offering me such a wonderful opportunity to carry on my Ph. D. study and for their enlightenment and encouragement throughout my dissertation work. I would like to express my deep appreciation to my committee members, Dr. Erlandson and Dr. Golam Newaz for their valuable advices, scientific investigation and being on my committee. I would also like to thank Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems (SSIM) members who have provided support during my study. It is their mentoring, training, discussion and collaboration that made my student days a fun and rewarding journey. their valuable suggestions and help. I would like to express my appreciations to my current supervisor Dr. Yilu Zhang and other colleagues in GM R&D for their support and encouragement. Last but not least, I am especially grateful to my wife Yuxiu for all she did for me throughout these years.