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Matteo Rinaldi in the Press

Matteo Rinaldi for Northeastern Global News

A nanotechnology research project.

Bicoastal Institute for NanoSystems Innovation launches at Northeastern University

NanoSI is located on the Boston and Oakland campuses. It aims to reshape “the landscape of chip-level technology advancements.”

He’s cooking up thin film pizzas to create cutting-edge inventions

Ever wonder how your phone connects to Wi-Fi or GPS? Inside each smartphone, there are tiny devices that vibrate like guitar strings to create electricity, says Matteo Rinaldi, professor of electrical and computer engineering. And now the technology needed to make them, which resembles a miniature pizza oven, is at Northeastern.

Northeastern University nanotechnology experts awarded patent for smart, zero-power sensors that will help fight forest, warehouse and construction site fires

Northeastern researchers in electrical and computer engineering have been awarded a patent for a smart sensor that consumes no power and can operate for years without a battery change. They plan to use it to prevent fires in places including forests and construction sites.

Crops communicate with one another. These researchers want to listen in.

Researchers at Northeastern have received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to design low-cost, low-power sensors that will help farmers detect pests and disease before they can spread.
Matteo Rinaldi has developed a new type of sensor that consumes no power whatsoever in standby mode, waking up only when it detects an important event. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

New ‘sleeping’ sensors could save costs, make warzones safer

Sensors deployed in remote or hazardous locations could improve intel and safety conditions, but maintaining them is costly. Now, Matteo Rinaldi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has developed a new type of sensor that consumes no power whatsoever in standby mode, waking up only when it detects an important event.

Strumming on the nano-banjo

When you pluck a banjo string, you trigger a vibration that resonates at a frequency unique to the geometry and material of the string. We can distinguish that frequency as a particular pitch, our ears acting like incredibly sensitive detectors. Matteo Rinaldi, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University, has recently […]