Cristian Cassella
Associate Professor,
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Contact
- c.cassella@northeastern.edu
- 360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Office
- 422 ISEC
- 617.373.7509
Research Focus
Acoustic resonators, nonreciprocal components, zero-power sensors for IoT, nonlinear dynamics, ultrasonic transducers
Education
- PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015
Honors & Awards
- 2024 Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship
Research Overview
Acoustic resonators, nonreciprocal components, zero-power sensors for IoT, nonlinear dynamics, ultrasonic transducers
Selected Research Projects
- Low-Power Computing based on Programmable Multidimensional Circuits
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Boosting the Cold Chain Efficiency Through Integrated, Magnetoelectric, Piezoelectric and Ferroelectric Devices in pAssive on-Chip Tags (IMPACT)
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Programmable Electromagnetic Surfaces Based on Ferroelectric and Antiferroelectric Hafnium Zirconium Oxide Films and Graphene for Terahertz Communications and Sensing
- – Co-Principal Investigator, AFOSR
- Nano-opto-mechanical Piezoelectric Resonant Infrared-sensitive Metamaterials for Quantum-Limited Photodetection
- – Co-Principal Investigator, DARPA
- Advancing Coexistence through a Cross-Layer Design Platform with an Adaptive Frequency-Selective Radio Front-End and Digital Algorithms
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Massive Scale Computing and Optimization through On-chip ParameTric Ising MAchines (OPTIMA)
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Giant Tunability through Piezoelectric Resonant Acoustic Metamaterials for Radio Frequency Adaptive Integrated Electronics
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation CAREER Award
- Ferroelectric Integrated and Reconfigurable ScAlN Technologies
- – Co-Principal Investigator, DARPA
- Fully Integrated Parametric Filters for Extensive Phase- Noise Reduction in Low-Power RF Front-Ends and Resonant Sensing Platforms
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- X. Zhao, O. Kaya, T. Maggioli and C. Cassella, “Multipurpose Acoustic Metamaterial Anchors for Aluminum Scandium Nitride Contour Mode Resonators,” in Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, doi: 10.1109/JMEMS.2024.3399593.
- H.M.E. Hussein, M. Rinaldi, M. Onabajo, C. Cassella, A chip-less and battery-less subharmonic tag for wireless sensing with parametrically enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range. Sci Rep 11, 3782 (2021).
- X. Zhao, L. Colombo, Cristian Cassella, Aluminum Nitride Two-Dimensional-Resonant-Rods, Applied Physics Letters, 116(14), 2020, 143504
- H.M. Hussein, M.A. Ibrahim, G. Michetti, M. Rinaldi, M. Onabajo, C. Cassella, Systematic Synthesis and Design of Ultra-Low Threshold 2:1 Parametric Frequency Dividers, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
- C. Cassella, J. Segovia-Fernandez, High K2⁄t Exceeding 6.4% Through Metal Frames in Aluminum Nitride 2-D Mode Resonators, IEEE transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control 66(5), 2019, 958-964
- J.M. Puder, J.S. Pulskamp, R.R. Rudy, C. Cassella, M. Rinaldi, G. Chen, S. Bhave, R.G. Polcawich Rapid Harmonic Analysis of Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonic Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 6(65), 2018, 979-990
- G. Chen, C. Cassella, T. Wu, M. Rinaldi, Single-Chip Multi-Frequency Wideband Filters Based on Aluminum Nitride Cross-Sectional Lamé Mode Resonators with Thick and Apodized Electrodes, IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2018, 775-778
Jan 03, 2025
Low-Power Computing for Complex Problems
ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella and Professor Marvin Onabajo were awarded a $600,000 NSF grant for “Low-Power Computing Based on Programmable Multidimensional Circuits.”
Nov 25, 2024
Quantum Advancements in Light-Matter Interaction
ECE Assistant Professor Marco Colangelo and Associate Professor Cristian Cassella received a $178,896 DARPA grant for their groundbreaking research project, “SuperEMech: Superconducting Electro-Mechanical Platform for Light-Matter Interactions.”
Nov 07, 2024
Advancing Sensing Technology With Microdevices
ECE Assistant Professors Marco Colangelo, Benyamin Davaji, and Associate Professor Cristian Cassella had their research on “Localized Topological States Beyond Fano Resonances via Counter-propagating Wave Mode Conversion in Piezoelectric Microelectromechanical Devices” published in Nature Communications.
Jul 10, 2024
Patent for Advanced Acoustic Metamaterials Enhancing RF Front-End Performance
ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella was awarded a patent for “High quality factor integrated acoustic resonant metamaterials with large frequency tuning range for reconfigurable radio-frequency front-ends.”
Jul 03, 2024
Improving the Range of Radio Frequencies
ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella’s research on “Multipurpose Acoustic Metamaterial Anchors for Aluminum Scandium Nitride Contour Mode Resonators” was published in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and will be featured on the cover when it is printed.
Jun 05, 2024
Revolutionizing Refrigeration With Tiny Wireless Sensors
ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella and Distinguished Professor Nian Sun received a $500,000 NSF grant for “Boosting the Cold Chain Efficiency Through Integrated, Magnetoelectric, Piezoelectric and Ferroelectric Devices in pAssive on-Chip Tags (IMPACT).”
May 07, 2024
Summer 2024 PEAK Experiences Awardees for Undergrad Research
Several engineering and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the Summer 2024 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Apr 11, 2024
Novel Approach to Wireless Ranging for UVs in GPS-Denied Environments
ECE Postdoctoral Research Associate Hussein Hussein’s research, “Passive Frequency Comb Generation at Radiofrequency for Ranging Applications,” was published in Nature Communications.
Feb 26, 2024
Northeastern Among Top 100 Universities for Utility Patents
Northeastern University, recognized for its excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship, has once again been named one of the top 100 universities worldwide for securing utility patents by the National Academy of Inventors.
Feb 20, 2024
Using Ultra-Efficient Ising Machines for Complex Problem Solving
Research on “Parametric Frequency Divider Based Ising Machines” conducted by Nicolas Casilli, E’21, MS’21, PhD’26, electrical engineering, in Associate Professor Cristian Cassella’s lab, was accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters.