Chris Dwyer

Image of Chris Dwyer

Associate Professor

Dr. Chris Dwyer received his B.S. in computer engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1998, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000 and 2003, respectively.

Contact Information:
Education:

PhDUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill2003
MSUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill2000
BSPennsylvania State University1998

Research Interests:

We study the design and fabrication of nanostructures as applied specifically to the fabrication of future computing systems: devices-to-computer architecture. The term 'nanocomputing' or 'molecular computing' has come to refer to the many challenges that face computer organization and architecture as conventional top-down fabrication techniques (e.g., photolithography) begin to create devices with dimensions near the molecular scale. Defect-prone transistors and interconnect and a changing collection of technological constraints require changes in the way we design and build computer systems. DNA self-assembly is a bottom-up fabrication technique that can be used to achieve molecular scale resolution. The goal is to use these structures to integrate active nanoelectronic devices into a fully self-assembled circuit technology - and to study the new forms of computer architecture that the technology enables. To do this we have adopted a broad and vertical research approach to cover topics in the synthesis and design of DNA nanostructures, nanoscale device and circuit modeling, and studies of emerging computer architectures.

Specialties:

Self-assembled computer architecture
Nanoscale/microscale computing systems
Nanomaterial manufacturing and characterization
Computer Engineering
Computer Architecture
Nanoscience
Materials

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions:

  • Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 2011
  • Computer Science Study Group, DARPA, 2009-10
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2009
  • Young Investigator Award, Army Research Office, 2008
  • Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship, Finalist, 2006
  • Eta Kappa Nu
  • Golden Key National Honor Society
  • Tau Beta Pi

Courses Taught:
  • ECE 590.02 - ADVANCED TOPICS IN ECE

Representative Publications: (More Publications)
    • Pistol, C. and Mao, V. and Thusu, V. and Lebeck, A. R. and Dwyer, C., Encoded multi-chromophore response for simulataneous label-free detection, Small, vol 6 no. 7 (2010), pp. 843--850 [abs].
    • K. Skinner and C. Dwyer and S. Washburn, Quantitative analysis of individual metal-CdSe-metal nanowire field-effect transistors, Applied Physics Letters, vol 92 no. 11 (2008) [abs].
    • Pistol, Constantin and Dwyer, Chris and Lebeck, Alvin R., Nanoscale Optical Computing using Resonance Energy Transfer Logic, IEEE Micro, vol 28 no. 6 (2008), pp. 7--18.
    • Skinner, K. and Dwyer, C. and Washburn, S., Quantitative Analysis of Individual Metal-CdSe-metal Nanowire Field-effect Transistors, Applied Physics Letters, vol 92 no. 11 (2008), pp. 112105.
    • C. Dwyer and A. Lebeck, An Introduction to DNA Self-Assembled Computer Design (2008), pp. 212.