Matteo Rinaldi
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Office
- 617.373.2751
Research Focus
Understanding and exploiting the fundamental properties of micro/nanomechanical structures and advanced nanomaterials to engineer new classes of micro and nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS) with unique and enabling features applied to the areas of chemical, physical and biological sensing and low power reconfigurable radio communication systems
About
Matteo Rinaldi received his first-level (B.S.) and second-level (M.Sc.) Laurea degrees in Electronic Engineering (summa cum laude) from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, in 2004 and 2007, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 2010. His research interests primarily include Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS) devices with particular emphasis on Aluminum Nitride (AlN) piezoelectric NEMS sensors for physical, chemical and biological detection, AlN Radio Frequency MEMS/NEMS devices, micro/nano fabrication techniques and integration of MEMS/NEMS devices with electronics. He has authored more than 20 publications in the aforementioned research areas and also holds 3 device patent applications in the field of micro/nano mechanical resonant devices.
Matteo Rinaldi was the recipient of the Best Student Paper Award at the 2009 and 2011 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposiums. In March 2011 he was awarded with the S. J. Stein Prize for his superior achievements in the field of new or unique materials or applications for materials in electronics.
Matteo Rinaldi joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Northeastern University as an Assistant Professor in the Spring 2012 semester.
Honors & Awards
- College of Engineering Faculty Fellow
- IEEE Sensors Council Early Career Award
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award
- NSF CAREER Award
Research Overview
Understanding and exploiting the fundamental properties of micro/nanomechanical structures and advanced nanomaterials to engineer new classes of micro and nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS) with unique and enabling features applied to the areas of chemical, physical and biological sensing and low power reconfigurable radio communication systems
Northeastern Sensors & Nano Systems Laboratory
In NS&NS Lab, we are working on the development of miniaturized, low-power and high-performance sensors and radio frequency components. We focus on understanding and exploiting the fundamental properties of micromechanical structures and advanced nanomaterials to engineer new classes of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) with unique and enabling features applied to the areas of chemical, physical and biological sensing and low power reconfigurable radio communication systems.
Selected Research Projects
- CAREER: Nano Electro Mechanical Resonant Sensing Platform for Chip Scale, High Resolution and Ultra-Fast Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Intrinsically Switchable and Programmable MEMS Filter Array
- – Principal Investigator, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Microelectromechanical Resonant Circulator (MIRC)
- – Principal Investigator, DARPA MTO SPAR Program
- Plasmonic Microelectromechanical Infrared Digitizer (PLASMID)
- – Principal Investigator, DARPA MTO N-Zero Program
- Zero Power Sensors (ZePS)
- – Principal Investigator, DARPA MTO N-Zero Program
Research Centers and Institutes
Director
Northeastern SMART Center
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- C. Cassella, Y. Hui, Z. Qian, G. Hummel, M. Rinaldi, Aluminum Nitride Cross-Sectional Lamé Mode Resonators, IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 25(2), 2016, 275-285
- C. Cassella, G. Chen, Z. Qian, G. Hummel, M. Rinaldi, Cross-sectional Lamé Mode Ladder Filters for UHF Wideband Applications, IEEE Electron Device Letters, 37, 2016, 681-683
- Y. Hui, J. S. Gomez-Diaz, Z. Qian, A. Alu’, M. Rinaldi, Plasmonic Piezoelectric Nanomechanical Resonator for Spectrally Selective Infrared Sensing, Nature Communications, 7, 2016, 11249
- Z. Qian, F. Liu, Y. Hui, S. Kar, M. Rinaldi, Graphene as a Massless Electrode for Ultra-High-Frequency Piezoelectric Nano Electro Mechanical Systems, Nano Letters, 15(7), 2015, 4599-4604
Apr 22, 2021
Semiconductor Chip Shortages Hopefully Spur Innovation
ECE Professor Matteo Rinaldi hopes that the shortage of semiconductor chips might spur innovation and re-imagining of the global supply chain and of the chips themselves. Here’s why the semiconductor chip shortage may end up being a good thing Main photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University A shortage of the semiconductor chips that serve as the […]
Feb 17, 2021
Subharmonic Tag for Wireless Sensing
ECE PhD student Hussein Hussein, Professor Matteo Rinaldi, Associate Professor Marvin Onabajo, and Assistant Professor Cristian Cassella had their research on “A chip-less and battery-less subharmonic tag for wireless sensing with parametrically enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range” published in Scientific Reports from the Nature group.
Feb 08, 2021
Investigating Neuronal Networks Through Optogenomics
ECE Associate Professor Josep Jornet (PI), Professor Matteo Rinaldi, and Assistant Professor Hui Fang, in collaboration with Michal Stachowiak and Yongho Bae from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, was awarded a $600K NSF grant for “Control of Information Processing and Learning in Neuronal Networks through Light-mediated Programming of Genomic Networks.”
Aug 31, 2020
The Northeastern University SMART Center Deploys an Evatec CLUSTERLINE® 200 for Manufacturing High Performance Piezoelectric Micro and Nano Systems
The Northeastern University SMART Center added the Evatec’s CLUSTERLINE® 200 to its nanofabrication capability. This is the first Evatec’s CLUSTERLINE® 200 tool deployed in an academic institution in the United States providing the SMART Center with a unique cutting-edge capability to perform research, development and pilot manufacturing of high-performance piezoelectric micro and nano systems.
Jun 04, 2020
Developing ‘Off But Alert’ Wireless Sensors to Protect People and Assets from Fire
ECE Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi and Research Assistant Professor Zhenyun Qian was awarded a $550K NSF grant for “Zero-power Wireless Flame Detector for Ubiquitous Fire Monitoring.” They will be working with industrial partner United Technologies Corporation (UTC).
Jun 03, 2020
Rinaldi and Cassella Awarded Patent for “Microelectromechanical Resonant Circulators”
ECE Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi and Assistant Professor Cristian Cassella were awarded a patent for “Microelectromechanical resonant circulator”.
May 07, 2020
Rinaldi & Qian Awarded Patent Zero Power Plasmonic MEMS
ECE Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi and Research Assistant Professor Zhenyun Qian were awarded a patent for “Zero power plasmonic microelectromechanical device”.
Jan 30, 2020
Eight COE Projects Selected for GapFund360
Northeastern’s GapFund360 program helps Northeastern’s researchers bridge the gap between promising lab results and demonstrating a commercially viable prototype. Awards range from $50K -$100K. Nine projects were selected from a pool of 39 applications from across the university; COE contributed 25 of the applications and seven projects were selected for funding. Congratulations to the following COE researchers whose projects were selected for Phase I or Phase II GapFund360 funding: ChE Assistant Professor Sidi Bencherif, MIE Assistant Professor Safa Jamali, ECE Assistant Professor Sarah Ostadabbas, ChE/COS Associate Professor Carolyn Lee-Parsons, ECE Professor Tommaso Melodia, ECE Associate Research Scientist Salvatore D’Oro, ECE Associate Professor Kaushik Chowdhury, ECE Principal Research Scientist Yousof Naderi, ECE Postdoc Ufuk Muncuk, ECE Professor Vincent Harris, ECE Associate Research Scientist Parisa Andalib, ECE Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi, and ECE Research Assistant Professor Zhenyun Qian.
Oct 25, 2019
Rinaldi Awarded Patent for Integrated PCM Switches for Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators
ECE Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi was awarded a patent for “Piezoelectric MEMS resonator with integrated phase change material switches.”
Aug 23, 2019
Cassella Receives NSF Award to Enable Longer Battery Lifetime and Next-Generation Micro- and Nano-Sensors
ECE Assistant Professor Cristian Cassella (PI), Associate Professor Marvin Onabajo, and Associate Professor Matteo Rinaldi received a $437K NSF award from the CCSS-Comms Circuits & Sens Sys program for “Fully Integrated Parametric Filters for Extensive Phase-Noise Reduction in Low-Power RF Front-Ends and Resonant Sensing Platforms.” The research program aims to exploit, for the first time, […]