Michael J. Burns

Email:

Additional info, including a CV, can be gathered from my Boston College Website.

I've been working professionally in scientific & engineering areas since I was an undergraduate, in a number of application areas. I am sometimes available for outside consulting, depending on the rules imposed by my employer. My technical specialty is Solid State & Physics with special emphasis on thin film process development and electronic & optical properties of materials & devices. Over the years I've applied this expertise to a number of industries & application areas which is why the list below is so broad. I have hourly, daily and weekly rates with substantial discounts for the courser time granularity. Obviously, I can sign a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) if needed.  Topics I can help on include but are not limited to these below. The organization names in brackets [] are employers or clients where these skills have been utilized.

• Solar Cell Technology [Solasta, Boston College, Q1 Nanosystems]
• 3D electromagnetic simulation using tools such as CST Microwave Studio, a Finite Integral Technique (FIT) as well as frequency domain tool, and the MIT finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) tool called MEEP. [Solasta, Boston College]
• Nano-Imprint Lithography (NIL) [Solasta, Boston College]
• Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology, particularly mico/MEMs SOFC technology [Lilliputian Systems]
• MEMs both in silicon technology and soft lithography [Revise Inc, Lilliputian Systems, Solasta, Boston College]
• SOFC electrochemistry [Lilliputian Systems]
• Optical devices [NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Conductus, Hughes Aircraft Company]
• Infrared (IR) devices [Conductus, Hughes Aircraft Company]
• Organometallic chemistry [Revise, Inc., FEI Company, Lilliputian Systems]
• Thin film process development (advisory as well as hands-on)  [UCLA, U. Penn, Harvard, U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Revise, Inc., FEI Company, Lilliputian Systems, Solasta, Boston College]
• Deposition system design such as sputtering (HV & UHV), e-beam & thermal evaporation (HV & UHV), molecular beam epitaxy (UHV), laser CVD [UCLA, U. Penn, Harvard, U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Revise, Inc.]
• Laser microchemical etch (design & hands-on), visible & IR [Revise, Inc., FEI Company, Varioscale]
• Electronic circuit design projects [UCLA, U. Penn, Harvard (Holbrook Lab), U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Revise, Inc., Albany Nanotech Center, Boston College]
• Software projects, especially LabView and Visual Basic [UCLA, Don't Ask Computer Software, U. Penn, Harvard (Holbrook Lab), U. Florida, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Zeasoft, Revise, Inc., FEI Company, Lilliputian Systems, Solasta, Boston College]
• Cryogenic & cryoelectronic projects [UCLA, U. Penn, Harvard, U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Boston College]
• X-ray detectors [NASA Jet Propulsion Lab]
• Plasmonics [Boston College]
• Superconductivity projects (low & high T_c) [UCLA, U. Penn, Harvard, U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Star Cryoelectronics, Boston College]
• SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) projects [Conductus, Star Cryoelectronics]
• Laser-material interaction projects, visible & IR [Revise, Inc. FEI Company, Varioscale]
• Ink jetting of chemicals [Revise,Inc.]
• Automated (robotic) dispense of chemicals & pastes (e.g. Asymtek) [Lilliputian Systems]
• Electrochemistry [Lilliputian Systems, Boston College]
• Plant physiology [U. Florida, Harvard (Holbrook Lab)]
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - ELISA [Boston College]
• IP & patent writing [U. Florida, Conductus, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, FEI Company, Lilliputian Systems, Solasta, Boston College]
• VC technical & business plan due diligence [Advanced Luminescence, Great Bay Ventures, Fronesis Technology, Solasta]

I have broad experience delineated in my bio, my LinkedIn page, my publications, and patents. Please look them over and email me at if you have any questions, including questions about my rates.

Past consulting clients have included:

Albany Nanotech Center (instrument circuit design & cryoelectronics)
Boston College (plasmonics)
Q1 Nanosystems (Advisory Board Member 2012-2016), solar cell technology, thin film process development)
Conductus, Inc. (thin film process development, electronic instrument design, cryoelectronics, deposition system design, SQUID technology)
Don’t Ask Computer Software, Inc. (consulted on personal computer software development)
Fronesis Technology (solar energy load controller technology)
Great Bay Ventures (technical & business plan due diligence)
Harvard University OEB (Holbrook Lab on electronic physiology instrument design & fabrication)
Lilliputian Systems (SOFCs, patent writing)
Solasta (solar cell technology, thin film process development)
Star Cryoelectronics (thin film process development, patent due diligence as well as software, electronic instrument design, x-ray detectors, SQUIDs, cryogenics & cryogenic sensors)
Varioscale (laser CVD & lasers, and laser-material interactions, thin film process development, laser CVD, laser etching)
ZeaSoft (computer security & laptop tracking)

Other collaborations over the years, as an individual or while working as part of a larger organization, have included:

Boston College (solar cell technology, nanostructures, photonic band gap, 3-D Electromagnetic Simulations, ELISA)
Caltech (MRI, superconductivity, plant physiology)
Cambridge Nanotech (atomic layer deposition)
Carnegie Mellon (MRI, plant physiology)
Harvard University (Holbrook Lab on optical physiology measurements, plant physiology, TDR of soils, ichthyology)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (laser processing of materials)
MicroContinuum (Nano Imprint Lithography (NIL))
QD Vision (quantum dots, solar cell technology)
Stanford University (plant physiology, TDR of soils)
University of California, Berkeley (superconductivity)
University of Florida (thin film process development, electrophoresis, superconductivity, plant physiology, TDR of soils)