The Institute for System Level Integration (iSLI) has recently promoted Dr Mark Begbie to Technology Group Director. Mark is responsible for overseeing the work of the Design Group. The department offers commercially focused research, drawing on cutting edge academic research to provide the electronics industry with new technologies.
 
Mark has a PhD from Edinburgh University, where his thesis focused on the development of liquid crystal over VLSI silicon spatial light modulators and their application in optical data processing. He spent 4 years as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant and has 6 years of commercial sector experience. Mark has several patents in MEMS devices and processes for optical communications in the UK, EU and Worldwide. His most recent success is a joint patent in the field of MEMS for application in microphones.
 
In his previous role at the Institute Mark was responsible for developing MEMS capability in-house as well as facilitating business development and company growth. Mark will now be responsible for coordinating the Institute’s focus and future technology direction. Tony Harker, CEO at iSLI comments: “Mark brings a broad technical competence, an analytical approach, and business development and project management experience to his new role.”
 
Current in-house research is directed by the Institute’s membership of the Scottish Collaboration in Integrated Micro-Photonics Systems (SCIMPS) in conjunction with their partners at Glasgow, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde Universities, and the Institute of Photonics. As part of the latest project for SCIMPS the research team is working on silicon MEMS devices and MEMS / electronic subsystems to enable the next generation of high performance miniaturised and highly integrated photonic systems. The SCIMPS project brings together expertise in optical sources, MEMS, microfluidics and biomedicine to tackle a range of challenges in diagnostics and optical instrumentation.
 
For more information about the design team at iSLI go to www.sli-institute.ac.uk