Professor Greg Griffin: Microelectronics and Model Trains

Professor Greg Griffin has been a member of LSU's Chemical Engineering Department for 15 years. A native of southern California, he obtained his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Caltech. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University under the supervision of Ronald Andres, performing dissertation research on a molecular beam technique for producing nanometer-sized metal clusters. He then accepted a one-year NRC postdoctoral fellowship at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) working with John Yates on applying surface spectroscopies for studying dynamic heterogeneous catalyst systems.

Griffin began his academic career at the University of Minnesota, performing research in surface science and heterogeneous catalysis. He came to LSU in 1987 at the invitation of Edward McLaughlin to help the department develop a research thrust in the area of materials science. In 1998, he was appointed the George H. Nusloch II Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering.

Griffin's research since coming to LSU has focused on synthesizing and processing advanced ceramic and electronic materials. Two early sponsored projects included developing a novel aerosol synthesis technique for making aluminum nitride powders (which were of interest for making electronic substrates with high heat dissipation) and chemical vapor deposition of titanium dioxide thin films (which were being considered for gate oxide and capacitor applications in microelectronic devices). In recent years, his major interest has been the chemical vapor deposition of copper thin films. Copper has become the material of choice for on-chip interconnect wiring in the current generation of microprocessors. As the feature size in these devices continues to become smaller, CVD methods are likely to become necessary to reduce mass transport limitations and maintain uniform deposition rates over highly structured surface topographies. Professor Griffin expects to continue his research in the area of microelectronic device fabrication processes, but he is also considering collaborative efforts with other faculty in the department to identify further applications where CVD metal deposition techniques might be useful (e.g. to prepare structured catalysts, membranes, and microreactors).

Griffin's classroom teaching is identified mainly with ChE 2176, "Mathematical Modeling of Chemical Engineering Systems."The course follows the three required semesters of calculus and differential equations and the department's mass and energy balances course. The course is to introduce the computer-assisted numerical methods needed to go beyond the analytical methods presented in earlier mathematics courses, and to demonstrate these methods in the context of chemical engineering problems that reinforce and extend the material covered in the previous material balance course. "I judge the success of the course by the number of former students that come back to my office with questions about how to apply one of the methods covered in ChE 2176 to something they are doing in a later ChE course, or sometimes even on their first job assignment!" says Griffin.

Griffin has also taught the recent summer offerings of "Chemical Reaction Engineering". These summer classes represent part of the department's effort to increase scheduling flexibility for students who are working in the co-op program. In alternate years, he teaches an elective course in electronic materials processing, which gives chemical engineering students an introduction to a manufacturing technology that allows millions of transistors to be placed onto a piece of silicon the size of a postage stamp.

In 1998, Professor Griffin assumed responsibility as Undergraduate Coordinator, an assignment which includes the task of preparing for the department's upcoming Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology accreditation visit in 2003. The changes that have been implemented during this period, students now have regular meetings with their assigned faculty advisor each semester and students with an academic deficiency are identified and counseled using an academic probation system. A set of educational objectives and program outcomes have been defined for the department, and a procedure for documenting and upgrading course content with respect to these objectives is being established. An Alumni Advisory Committee has been established to obtain external input into this process, along with a department alumni website to record additional comments from graduates. A Student Advisory Committee is also being assembled to obtain "real-time" feedback about the curriculum.

Griffin is married with two children. His wife Nancy, also a native of Southern California, is a fourth-grade teacher at Episcopal School in Baton Rouge. The griffins are both members of the Baton Rouge Symphony Chorus and the senior choir at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Baton Rouge. Their son Patrick is a sophomore at MIT majoring in computer and electrical engineering. Daughter Julia is a junior at Episcopal with interests in mathematics, marine biology, art, and ballet. Greg is a member of Club South Runners and regularly participates in races from 5K to the half-marathon. On weekends, he maintains an N-gauge model railroad that occupies three walls of the family garage.

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