Mauricio Pereira da Cunha

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Address: 5708 ESRB-Barrows, Room 249
Telephone: 207.581.2384
Email: mdacunha@maine.edu

Education: 

1994, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

1989, M.Eng. in Electronic Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

1985, B.S. Electronic Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, born in Brazil in 1963, received the Bachelor’s degree, 1985, and the Master’s with Honors in electrical engineering, 1989, from the Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo. Master’s thesis title is “Design and Implementation of a 70 MHz SAW Convolver.” He received the Ph.D. degree, Dean’s Honor List, from McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada, in electrical engineering in 1994.Ph.D. thesis title is “SAW Propagation and Device Modeling on Arbitrarily Oriented Substrates”.

Mauricio has worked with the Microwave Devices R&D Group at NEC (Nippon Electric Co.), Brazil, Laboratório de Microeletrônica, Escola Politécnica, Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada, and SAWTEK Inc., Orlando, FL. He passed a sabbatical year at University of Central Florida, Consortium for Applied Acoustoelectronic Technology (CAAT), Orlando, FL, where he worked in cooperation with Piezotechnology Inc, on the characterization of new piezoelectric materials, namely langatate, langanite, and langasite, and with bulk and surface acoustic wave devices. Mauricio was a Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo until he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maine in 2001, where he presently holds the position of Professor.

Dr. Pereira da Cunha is a member of the IEEE, Sigma Xi, and of the Brazilian Microwave Society (SBMO). He was elected to serve on the SBMO Administrative Committee from 1996 to 1999. He is a reviewer and a past associate editor for the IEEE UFFC TRANSACTIONS, and he has been a member of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Technical Program Committee since 1997. He has served as an elected society representative on the UFFC-Society Administrative Committee from 2002–2004, served as Technical Program Committee Chair for the IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium in 2007 and 2012, in New York, U.S.A., and Dresden, Germany, respectively, as the vice-VP for Ultrasonics from 2007-2008, and as the VP for Ultrasonics from 2009-10. He has more than 180 journal and conference publications and presentations in the area of microwave acoustic propagation, acoustic wave material properties, bulk and surface acoustic wave modeling and devices, and sensors.

Research Interests

  • High-temperature sensors for implementation in harsh-environments, such as turbine, power plants, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing;
  • Wireless sensors and systems;
  • Acoustic wave devices for biosensor applications and biomedical applications;
  • High frequency acoustic wave devices for wireless communication;
  • Gas sensors; detection of fluorinated volatile organic compounds using acoustic wave sensors;
  • Microwave acoustic propagation and modelling;
  • Microwave acoustic device modeling and fabrication (surface and bulk acoustic waves -SAW, BAW – and plate modes);
  • Acoustic wave characterization of piezoelectric crystals for acoustic wave applications;
  • Microwave engineering;
  • Near field antennas.

Recent Publications

  1. Leff, A. Maskay, M. Pereira da Cunha, “Wireless Interrogation of High Temperature Surface Acoustic Wave Dynamic Strain Sensor,” 2020 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Las Vegas, USA, 2020 (accepted).
  2. F. Jilani, D. Leff, A. Maskay, R. J. Lad, M. Pereira da Cunha, “Static Strain Modelling, Calibration, and Measurements for High-Temperature Wireless SAW Resonator Operation,” 2020 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Las Vegas, USA, 2020 (accepted).
  3. Ayes, P. Ohodnicki, J. Baltrus, R.J. Lad, and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Improved Hydrogen Detection through Oxygen Surface Conditioning Verified by SAW Resonators and XPS”, Manuscript submitted to Applied Surface Science, Elsevier (under review).
  4. Maskay, and M. Pereira da Cunha, “High-temperature SAWR Dynamic Strain Sensor”, Manuscript in revision for submission to the Sensor and Actuators A, Elsevier.
  5. Maskay, D. Hummels, and M. Pereira da Cunha, “In-phase and Quadrature Analysis for Amplitude and Frequency Modulation Due to Vibrations on a Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator”, IEEE Transaction on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol. 66, No. 01, January 2019, pp. 91-100.
  6. Ayes and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Influence of Langasite Crystal Orientation on Hydrogen Gas Detection up to 400°C,” 2019 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2019, pp. 735-738, doi: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2019.8925871.
  7. Ayes, P. R. Ohodnicki, R. J. Lad and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Enhanced Hydrogen Gas Detection Using SAW Sensor Through Oxygen Pre-Treatment,” 2019 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2019, pp. 189-192, doi: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2019.8925669.
  8. Ayes, G. Bernhardt and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Removal of Stress Hillocks from Platinum-Alumina Electrodes Used in High-temperature SAW Devices,” 2019 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2019, pp. 727-730, doi: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2019.8925942.
  9. Maskay, D. Hummels, and M. Pereira da Cunha, “SAWR dynamic strain sensor detection mechanism for high-temperature harsh-environment wireless applications”, Measurement, Volume 126, October 2018, Pages 318-321, 126, 318-321.
  10. Maskay and M. Pereira da Cunha, “High-Temperature Microwave Acoustic Vibration Sensor,” IEEE 2018 International Ultrasonics Symposium, Kobe, Japan, 2018, (DOI: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2018.8580106).
  11. Anin Maskay and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Separation of Frequency and Amplitude Modulation Contributions Due to External Vibration on a SAW Resonator,” IEEE 2018 International Ultrasonics Symposium, Kobe, Japan, 2018, (DOI: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2018.8580151).
  12. Ayes, A. Maskay and M. Pereira da Cunha, “Predicted and measured temperature compensated surface acoustic wave devices for high-temperature applications,” Electronic Letters, May 2017, Vol. 53, No. 11, pp. 699–700.
  13. Pereira da Cunha, “Langasite crystal allows surface acoustic wave device fabrication and operation in harsh environments,” Electronics Letters, May 2017, Vol. 53 No. 11 pp. 696.
  14. Anin Maskay, Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, “High-temperature static strain langasite SAWR sensor: Temperature compensation and numerical calibration for direct strain reading,” Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, A 259 (2017) 34–43. 2017.
  15. Anin Maskay, A. Ayes, R. Lad, M. Pereira da Cunha, “Stability of PtAl2O3-Based Electrode Langasite SAW Sensors with Al2O3 Capping Layer and Yttria-Stablized Zirconia Sensing Layer,” IEEE 2017International Ultrasonics Symposium, Washington, DC, 2017, (DOI: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2017.8092421).
  16. Pereira da Cunha, A. Maskay, R.J. Lad, T. Coyle, and G. Harkay, “Langasite 2.45 GHz ISM Band SAW Resonator for Harsh Environment Wireless Applications,” 2016 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, Tours, France, Sept. 18-21, 2016.
  17. Maskay, M. Pereira da Cunha, “High Temperature Static Strain Microwave Acoustic Sensor,” 2016 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, Tours, France, Sept. 18-21, 2016. (Paper received the BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD). DOI: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2016.7728540.
  18. J. Frankel, S.C. Moulzolf, M. Pereira da Cunha, R.J. Lad, “Influence of Composition and Multilayer Architecture on Electrical Conductivity of High Temperature Pt-Alloy Films,” Surface & Coatings Technology 284 (2015) 215-221.

Updated: August 2020