Microelectronics and Entrepreneurship with Kurt Petersen

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Innovation & Impact

Penn Engineering

8 episodes

2 months ago

Innovation & Impact centers relevant, thought-provoking topics that highlight innovation, with the opportunity to focus on and discuss impact. Each episode of this podcast series features a Penn Engineering faculty member as the moderator, and three School faculty members that serve as thought leaders and panelists.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Education

Technology,

Science

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Microelectronics and Entrepreneurship with Kurt Petersen

Innovation & Impact

21 minutes 41 seconds

5 months ago

Microelectronics and Entrepreneurship with Kurt Petersen

In the eighth episode of Penn Engineering’s Innovation & Impact podcast, host Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering and Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), sits down with one of the most influential figures in modern engineering, Kurt Petersen, widely recognized as the father of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems). From pioneering research at IBM to founding six startups and mentoring countless others, Petersen has not only helped define the MEMS field, but continues to shape its future.

Fresh off receiving the 2025 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering, Petersen shares the serendipitous moment that sparked his interest in MEMS: an ink-stained hallway and a leaky lab experiment. That curiosity led to a groundbreaking 1982 paper, “Silicon as a Mechanical Material,” which catalyzed an entire industry. Today, MEMS is everywhere — embedded in smartphones, drones, medical diagnostics and more. Yet, as Petersen makes clear, the field is far from saturated.

Listen to the full episode to gain insights into the evolution of MEMS, from the slow-burn research culture of early IBM and Bell Labs to today’s agile, impact-driven academic startups. Petersen and Kumar highlight the importance of bridging academia with industry and mentoring founders who can navigate both science and commercialization. Petersen’s reflections on timing, teamwork and translational research are a masterclass for anyone navigating the complex intersection of engineering and entrepreneurship.

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