University of Notre Dame Strikes a Balance Between Research and Teaching

The Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame has the best of both worlds. The department has well-equipped classrooms for teaching the engineers of tomorrow. In addition, they are participating in some exciting research, leading the way for future breakthroughs in the areas of communications, high-speed applications, and security.

In the classroom, they prepare their students by keeping it real. “I like to challenge my students with real-world technical problems rather than just teaching the theory,” explains Dr. Patrick Fay, professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. “This is a great motivator, and it prepares our students for jobs in industry.”

One popular course that Dr. Fay has developed at Notre Dame is a class that he wishes had been available when he was an undergraduate: a microwave circuit design and measurement class. “When I was a student, the courses I took in this area were almost entirely theoretical, with no meaningful hands-on component,” reflects Dr. Fay. Today, his design course is heavily lab-focused with an emphasis on hands-on student involvement.

Student projects in this class combine semiconductor devices and microwave laminate circuit boards; the students model the devices, design and simulate the layout, build the circuits using Notre Dame’s circuit prototyping facility, and validate the design by performing measurements with test instrumentation. Students can then compare their results with the theoretical model. “When graduates return to visit on campus (often for a Fighting Irish football game),” notes Dr. Fay with a grin, “they often tell me that this was one of their best classes, one that did a good job preparing them for their current positions.”

Research and partnerships that focus on real-world challenges

Dr. Fay has a broad range of research interests, including the design, fabrication, and characterization of microwave and millimeter-wave electronic devices and circuits. He also works with high-speed optoelectronic devices and optoelectronic integrated circuits for fiber optic telecommunications. Alongside these interests, Dr. Fay has also led research in the design and fabrication of microwave components and packaging, including microwave and millimeter-wave chip-to-chip interconnects. These research projects often involve device or circuit characterization and measurement, typically of devices and circuits fabricated in Notre Dame’s own world-class cleanroom. Dr. Fay’s research is made possible in part by funding through the Department of Defense (DOD), National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and others.

The staff at Notre Dame recognizes that a sharp focus on key industries and partnerships will drive their research forward. One example is the Wireless Institute, which was established to coordinate efforts in research, education, and the transfer of wireless communication and networking technologies to industry and government.

Another important Notre Dame partnership is the Broadband Wireless Access and Applications Center (BWAC). This $7.5M multi-university research and development center connects the wireless industry with faculty and students at the Notre Dame Wireless Institute, as well as the University of Arizona (Lead), Auburn University, Virginia Tech, and University of Virginia. The BWAC fosters partnerships, prioritizes cooperative research, and adapts research and student training to industry needs.

Dr. Fay also participates in the College of Engineering’s Center for Low Energy Systems Technology (LEAST), whose mission is to support the continued growth and leadership of the U.S. semiconductor industry, in collaboration with other partner universities, as well as NDnano, a cross-disciplinary research center that focuses on developing, characterizing, and applying new nanotechnology-based materials, processes, and devices to societal challenges.

Keysight at Notre Dame

To help achieve their goals in both the classroom and in research, the Department of Electrical Engineering relies heavily on test equipment from Keysight. Instrumentation from Keysight is critical to the device characterization work being done at Notre Dame. Keysight test equipment at the university includes the B1500 semiconductor device parameter analyzer and characterization system, the 9010A signal analyzer, and several PNA and PNA-X network analyzers, operating up to 750 GHz using frequency extenders from both OML, Inc. and VDI.

“Our work simply wouldn’t happen without Keysight test equipment and support,” states Dr. Fay. “The lion’s share of our test solutions comes from Keysight. The test gear works well for us because it is both accurate and extremely reliable.”

Notre Dame also participates in Keysight’s RF and Microwave Industry-Ready Student Certification Program, which recognizes students who have demonstrated RF/microwave design and measurement expertise with Keysight design and test solutions. This program is a collaboration between universities and industry and helps to produce engineering graduates who can be productive starting on day one.

Inspiration and recognition

By keeping his classroom and research efforts at Notre Dame aligned with challenges relevant to the real world, Patrick Fay aims to motivate and inspire his students, while simultaneously making research contributions that will have a positive impact on industry and, ultimately, our day-to-day lives. This work has not gone unnoticed. Dr. Fay’s efforts were recently recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In December 2015, Fay was named an IEEE Fellow (the highest grade of membership conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors) in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in fields related to IEEE. Congratulations Patrick!