James J. Allen worked as a grad student at Herrick Laboratory receiving his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1981; he was named an “Outstanding Mechanical Engineer” by Purdue’s School of Mechanical Engineering in 2006. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of New Mexico. Jim has been at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, NM since 1985 and worked in MEMS technology for 13 years where he is currently a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff in the MEMS Device Technology department. He has published a number of papers in the areas of MEMS, dynamics and controls over his career. Dr. Allen holds 12 MEMS device patents, with 3 additional patents pending. He has recently published a book by CRC Press on MEMS design: Micro Electro Mechanical System Design, as well as contributed 2 book chapters on MEMS technology in other books. Dr. Allen was the chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) MEMS division 2006‐2007 and is a Fellow of ASME.