Faculty Directory

DeVoe, Don

DeVoe, Don

Fischell Institute Fellow
Mechanical Engineering
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices
5226 A. James Clark Hall

Don DeVoe is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Idea Factory at the University of Maryland, College Park.  He holds affiliate faculty appointments in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and is a faculty member within the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices. Dr. DeVoe completed his B.S. (1991) and M.S. (1993) degrees in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, and received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1997 with a dissertation focused on piezoelectric MEMS sensors and actuators. His current research interests target the development of microfluidic systems for applications in clinical diagnostics, cancer immunology, nanomedicine, and aerovirology. His research has been supported by NIH, NSF, DARPA, ONR, NIST, and diverse industry partners, and he has supervised more than 35 doctoral students, many of whom now hold faculty positions in the U.S. and Asia or technical leadership roles in industry and government laboratories. He has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications, and is an inventor on eight U.S. patents. In 2000 he co-founded Calibrant Biosystems, a biomarker discovery company leveraging technology licensed from the University of Maryland. He later founded Io Scientific to commercialize active nanomaterials developed in his lab for enhanced protein analysis by mass spectrometry. He received a Wilson H. Elkins Professorship from the University of Maryland in 2020, and was named a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in 2023.  He is also a recipient of the 2013 University System of Maryland Regents Award for Research. Dr. DeVoe was recognized with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the National Science Foundation in 1999 for advances in microsystems technology, and was named a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Science in 2008.  He served for over a decade as a Senior Editor for the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (J. MEMS), and as a Board Member and Treasurer for the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

ENME476 Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Fundamentals of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Introduction to transducers and markets. MEMS fabrication processes and materials, including bulk micromachining, wet etching, dry etching, surface micromachining, sacrificial layers, film deposition, bonding, and non-traditional micromachining. Introduction to the relevant solid state physics, including crystal lattices, band structure, semiconductors, and doping. The laboratory covers safety, photolithography, profilometry, wet etching
 

ENME481/740 Lab-on-a-Chip Microsystems

Fundamentals and application of lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic technologies. A broad view of the field of microfluidics, knowledge of relevant fabrication methods and analysis techniques, and an understanding of the coupled multi-domain phenomena that dominate the physics in these systems.
 

ENME441 Mechatronics and the Internet of Things (IoT)

The field of mechatronics integrates dynamical systems, transducers, computation, control, and design to realize systems where complexity is shifted from solely mechanical components to the merged domains of mechanics, electronics, and software. This project-driven course will provide a structured hands-on environment to strengthen students’ understanding of mechatronics principles, and extend these concepts to the Internet of Things (IoT) in which sensors and actuators are embedded into physical objects together with wireless communications, enabling remote interaction with these objects through the Internet. 

Smela Named Elkins Professor

Appointment will support development of an AI-curated assignment database for teaching sustainability.
 

Agonafer Receives Top Presidential Honor for Cooling Research

Award is the highest given by the U.S. government to early-career scientists and engineers.

Dutt Receives NSF CAREER Award

UMD mechanical engineering faculty member investigates scaling up synthetic dimensions for quantum simulation and sensing.

Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices invests $200K in the future of biomedical devices, cultivating up-and-coming investigators and immersing them in successful multidisciplinary teams

Designed to bolster young, postdoctoral researchers by pairing them with existing, proven research teams, the fellowship aims to propel the careers of awardees, enabling them to apply for additional grants or faculty positions in the future.

A Special Ceremony Honoring Bala Balachandran

University leaders and longtime colleagues shared accolades and reminiscences.

Yu Named Elkins Professor

Award to support research on marine ecosystem monitoring, boost collaboration.

Miao Yu selected as Wilson H. Elkins Professor

The endowed professorship is named for the former long-serving president of UMD.

UMD’s Tubaldi Wins NSF CAREER Award

Improved cardiovascular implants could be one result of an ME faculty member’s groundbreaking research.

UMD ME Faculty Ranked in Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide

The department is home to some of the most widely-cited researchers in their fields.

UMD’s DeVoe Pioneers New Approach to Liposome Production

Breakthrough could make it easier to provide sufficient vaccines during public health crises.

Hayes Takes Second in Northrup Grumman AI Challenge

Mtech hosted competition challenges students to innovate AI solutions to complex challenges.

Boundless Curiosity

From cancer research to mountain summits, alumnus Balaji ‘Baloo’ Panchapakesan (Ph.D. ’01) seeks to explore and improve the human condition.

A Game-Changing Education

“Mechanical engineering is a stepping stone to get you where you need to be.”

UMD Co-Leads Study That Could Aid Identification of Cell Defects

Siddhartha Das and collaborators find a link between DNA base pair mismatches and the location of supercoiling.

DeVoe Awarded Elkins Professorship

UMD professor to develop new technology for studying individual cell behavior.

Better, Cheaper COVID-19 Tests

Compact, reusable system could quickly and cheaply test for multiple respiratory viruses.

Srebric to Receive 2020 USM Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Innovation

Award is highest honor bestowed to faculty by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents.

Fall eNewsletter Alumni Feature

Our featured alumni answer questions about their careers and where they see the field of engineering heading.

Kim Receives USM Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching

University System of Maryland award recognizes Kim for his contributions to teaching.

Dasgupta Receives 2015 USM Regents' Faculty Award

University System of Maryland recognizes mechanical engineering faculty for excellence in scholarship.

Recent Clark School Graduate Featured in Lab on a Chip

Renee Hood (Bioengineering, Ph.D., '14) and members of the Maryland MEMS and Microfluidics Lab earn cover story for July edition

Ohadi Awarded USM Regents’ Faculty Award

Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Ohadi recognized for Excellence in Innovation.

REU in Miniature Robotics holds final project symposium

Nine projects range from wings for MAVs to vision sensors for small robots to small grasping hands.

Clark School Faculty Recognized at UMD Invention of the Year Awards

26th annual awards ceremony honors most promising campus inventions.

DeVoe Receives Board of Regents Award for Research

Mechanical engineering professor honored for microsystems and microfluidics research.

Miniature Robotics REU students give final presentations

Ten undergrads from around the country give talks on their summer projects.

ISR welcomes 10 REU microbotics students for the summer

Students will develop interdisciplinary research projects in 10-week program.

Mechanical Engineering Professor Don DeVoe Promoted to Senior Editor of JMEMS

New position provides additional responsibilities for DeVoe with bimonthly MEMS journal. 

Raghavan, DeVoe Introduce New Micromanufacturing Approach in Small

Lab-on-a-chip produces, assembles microparticles in customized order; could be used for drug discovery.

Professor, researchers garner symposium honor

DeVoe, Liu and Yang receive HPLC award for poster presentation

Professor, researchers garner symposium honor

DeVoe, Liu and Yang receive HPLC award for poster presentation

Dr. DeVoe Gets Full Professor Nod

Microfluidics Lab director tapped for promotion

ME Grads Join University Faculty Across the Nation

Department congratulates ME alumni who recently joined the faculty of universities across the nation.

CALCE-Hanyang University Cooperation Established

In June a cooperative relationship between CALCE and Hanyang University in Korea was officially sanctioned by the Korean Government.

2006 ME Research Review Day Highlights

Research Review Day held on March 20, 2006 at the University Inn and Conference Center.

Mechanical Engineering Alumni in the News

ME Faculty alumni making the spotlight.

Associate Professor Don DeVoe Issued Patents

Patents address technology designed which allows complex protein samples to be analyzed faster.

ME Faculty Collaborate with Korean Colleagues

Cooperation between Maryland and Hanyang develops faculty expertise.

First Hanyang University - UMD Workshop Held in Seoul, Korea

The first international workshop held at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea on January 13, 2006.

Mechanical Engineering Alumni News

Balaji Panchapakesan, Mary Lacey, and Steve Schrantz make news.

NIH Proteomics Award to Benefit Cancer Research, Drug Development

The project is awarded by NIGMS through the interdisciplinary Bioengineering Research Partnerships (BRP) program.

MIPS Program, Maryland Companies Award Funds to ME Faculty To Develop Technology-Based Products

Nearly $700K of that amount was awarded to ME faculty MIPS projects, detailed below.

ME Celebrates Many New Additions

Congratulations to the ME families.

ME Celebrates a Few New Additions

Congratulations to the Yang, DeVoe and Hazelwood families.

Dr. Adam Hsieh Joins ME Department in November 2004

Hsieh to Work With Bioengineering Graduate Program.

Profs. Balachandran and Sandborn Winners of OTC Invention of the Year Competition

Professors Balakumar Balachandran and Peter Sandborn were the winners of two of the three (OTC) Invention of the Year Awards.

S.K. Gupta Selected to Receive Presidential Early Career Award

Associate Professor Satyandra K. Gupta has been selected to receive a Presidental Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

3 ME Faculty Promoted to Associate Professor

Three ME Faculty are promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor with tenure.

5 ME Faculty Present Posters at ISR Research Review Day

ME Faculty showcased their research at the poster session of today's ISR Research Review Day.

S.K. Gupta Selected to Receive Presidential Early Career Award

Assistant Professor Satyandra K. Gupta has been selected to receive a Presidental Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

MRI Award Granted to Research Team

This equipment will complement the department's deep reactive ion etcher (DRIE), previously awarded under a Navy DURIP grant

Clark School Team Headed by Don DeVoe Awarded $2M DARPA Grant

A team from the A. James Clark School of Engineering has just been awarded a $2M grant from The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

2001 NSF Design, Service & Manufacturing Grantees & Research Conference Faculty Presentations

Five ME faculty present their research at the 2001 NSF Design, Service & Manufacturing Grantees & Research Conference.