Link to Professor's Home Page
, MS
Physics, Rm. 239
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(479) 575-7634
foster@uark.edu
(I) Professional Preparation
University of Arkansas B.A. 1977 Physics<
University of Arkansas M.S. 1980 Physics
* Thesis work was on Ultrasonic Properties of Solid Electrolyte Materials
(II) Appointments
Research Professor, University of Arkansas Microelectronics-Photonics July 2001-to
date
and Director, Innovation Incubator, an NSF-PFI funded initiative
Honeywell, Manager of I.C. Design and Design for Fabrication Jan 2000 - July 2001
Honeywell, Manager of New Product Launch Sept 1998 - Jan 2000
Honeywell, Various Assignments, including management Feb 1983 - Sept 1998
Texas Instruments, Diffusion Engineer May 1980 - Feb 1983
Mr. Foster was employed at Texas Instruments from 1980 to 1983. During this
time, he worked in a silicon wafer fab as a Diffusion engineer. In 1983, Mr.
Foster moved to Honeywell, starting as a Metal engineer in a silicon and III-V
wafer fabrication center. In 1986, Mr. Foster was promoted to Engineering Manager.
With some interruptions for other assignments, this position was retained until
his departure in 2001. Starting in January 2000, Mr. Foster was Manager over
two departments with combined annual budgets of about $2.5M. The first department
was Design for Fabrication of silicon-based sensors, and the second department
was Integrated Circuit Design and Layout. The product sets were magnetic geartooth
sensors, silicon micromachined pressure sensors, micromachined pH ISFET sensors,
capacitive humidity sensors, resistive temperature detectors, and micromachined
mass air-flow sensors. Integrated circuits were predominantly Analog Bipolar,
although some CMOS was also employed.
In July 2001, Mr. Foster left Honeywell to join the University of Arkansas.
Mr. Foster is highly motivated as a change agent in developing curriculum that
results in better preparation of students for both industry and academia. As
a Manager in a highly respected technology company, Mr. Foster has a good deal
of experience in hiring, training and motivating young engineers, and desires
to make a difference in creating innovative educational opportunities
for Arkansas’ students .
Mr. Foster has unique and varied experience as an individual contributor in
design and fabrication of silicon-based integrated circuits, MEMS and electrochemical
sensors, coupled with strong leadership and management skills in product development
areas.
(III) Relevant Publications
Bidirectional surge suppressor zener diode circuit with guard rings,
Walter T. Matzen, Ronald Foster, U.S. Patent 5,130,760, issued July 14, 1992
A micromachined fluidic pressure regulator and method of manufacturing
the same, Ronald Foster, patent pending.
Modular Proton Exchange Membrane Unit Fuel Cell Assembly and Fuel Stack,
Ronald Foster, patent 6,500,577 issued 12/31/2002.
Planar Substrate-Based Fuel Cell Membrane Electrode Assembly and Integrated
Circuitry, Ronald Foster, patent pending.
Launching an Innovation Incubator in a University Setting, Proceedings
of the 2002 American
Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition , Ron Foster,
Ken Vickers, Greg Salamo, Otto Loewer, and John Ahlen.