Dr Andrew Fleming

Biography

Dr. Andrew J. Fleming graduated from The University of Newcastle with a Ph.D in 2004. He is presently an Australian Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia. His research includes optical nanofabrication, nanopositioning control systems, high-speed scanning probe microscopy, micro-cantilever sensors, and metrological position sensors. Academic awards include the University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellors Award for Researcher of the Year and the IEEE Control Systems Society Outstanding Paper Award for research published in the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. Dr. Fleming is the co-author of two books, several patent applications and more than 100 Journal and Conference papers.

In addition to his academic outputs, Dr. Fleming has track record of technology transfer. In particular, he is the author or co-author of four patent applications:

• A Positioning System and Method; 2010; PCT: WO 2010/040185 A1, A. J. Fleming

(This patent is presently being examined in 13 countries)

• Power Harvesting From Piezoelectric Transducers; 2002, Australian Provisional; A. J. Fleming, S. O. R. Moheimani

• An Electro-magnetic Vibrational Damping Apparatus; 2002, Australian Provisional; S. Behrens, A. J. Fleming, S. O. R. Moheimani

• An Impedance Synthesizing Arrangement, An Improved Vibrational Damping, Apparatus and a Method for Deriving a Digital Signal Processing Algorithm; 2001; PCT/AU01/00566 US Appln.No.10/295822; A. J. Fleming, S. Behrens, S. O. R Moheimani

Dr. Fleming has co-organized nine invited sessions at international conferences since 2005. These include:

• "Control Techniques for High-Speed Scanning Probe Microscopy” and “Enabling Control in High-Speed Scanning Probe Microscopy” at the American Control Conference, Vancouver, June 2012.

• “Control of Nanopositioning and Scanning Probe-Based Systems” at the American Control Conference,

San Francisco, June 2011.

• “Nanopositioning and Scanning Probe Systems” and “Advanced Control Methods for Nano-Measurements”

at the American Control Conference, Baltimore, June, 2010.

• “Control of Nanopositioning and SPM Systems”, “Modeling and Control of Nanopositioning and SPM

Systems” and “Feedforward Control of Nanopositioning and SPM Systems” at the American Control

Conference, St Louis, 2009.

• “Micro- and Nano-Positioning” at the Joint IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and the European

Control Conference, Seville, Spain, 2005.

Dr. Fleming recently presented the invited workshop “Measurement and Control for High-Speed Sub-Atomic Positioning in Scanning Probe Microscopes” at the IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation in Anchorage, May, 2010.

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Newcastle, 2004
• Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), University of Newcastle, 2000

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Research

Research keywords

• Atomic Force Microscopy
• Micro-cantilever sensors
• Nanometer Position Sensors
• Nanopositioning
• Optical Microfabrication
• Probe Based Nanofabrication
• Scanning Probe Microscopy

Research expertise

Dr. Fleming has made extensive contributions to the dynamics, control and analysis of scanning probe systems. For example in "Bridging the gap between conventional and video-speed scanning probe microscopes" Ultramicroscopy, August, 2010, 110(9), 1205-1214, a combination of new mechanics, control techniques, and a new imaging pattern allow the speed of a scanning probe microscope to be increased by more than two orders-of-magnitude without loss of image quality. The reduction of image acquisition time from 200s to 1s opens up an entirely new range of imaging possibilities where the sample is not static. Examples include the imaging of dynamic polymeric reactions and the live observation of biomolecules and cells. The increases in speed increases also allow a probe-based fabrication technique to practically produce complex micro- and nano-structures.

Another example of Dr. Fleming’s contribution to this research field is journal paper "Nanopositioning system with force feedback for high-performance tracking and vibration control" IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, June, 2010, 15(3), 433-447. This paper describes a new sensor and control system that eliminates the mechanical resonance of a nanopositioner. Due to the elimination of resonance and the low sensor noise, an object can be maneuvered to the resolution of a single atom in less than 1ms. This could potentially enable a probe-based fabrication system to create thousands of features per second with atomic resolution. This work is presently being patented in thirteen countries.

A further example of innovation in scanning probe systems is "Sensorless vibration suppression and scan compensation for piezoelectric tube nanopositioners", IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, January, 2006, 14(1), 33-44. This paper introduces a unique sensorless technique for the actuation and control of piezoelectric tube scanners. A positioning resolution of 10 Angstroms was reported over a wide-bandwidth and range of 100 micrometers. This paper was awarded the 2007 IEEE Control Systems Society TCST Outstanding Paper Award and has received more than 70 citations to date.

Dr. Fleming's earlier research included structural and acoustic control utilizing piezoelectric transducers. In precision machines, such as hard disk drives or milling machines, small amounts of vibration and long settling times reduce the accuracy and speed of the device. Damping augmentation can simultaneously improve both of these performance measures.

Collaboration

Dr. Fleming is a frequent collaborator and visitor to a number of internationally recognized research labs. Recent collaborations include:

• Dr. Kam Leang at the Electroactive Systems and Control Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Reno, Nevada.

• Professor Santosh Devasia at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle.

• Professor Frank Allgöwer at the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control, University of Stuttgart, Germany.

• Associate Professor Georg Schitter at the Centre for Precision and Microsystems Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.

• Mr. Arnfinn Eielsen at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
090600	Electrical And Electronic Engineering	65
029900	Other Physical Sciences	20
010200	Applied Mathematics	15

Centres and Groups

Centre

• PRC - Centre for Complex and Dynamic Systems and Control

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
• Member - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Conference Chair

• Member - International Program Committee - ACC 2013
• Member - International Program Comittee - Mechatronic Systems 2004

Editorial Board.

• Editor - Advances in Acoustics and Vibration

Appointments

Fellowship Australian Research Council (Australia)	01/01/2009
Fellowship APD Australian Research Council (Australia)	01/01/2006 - 01/12/2008

Awards

Research Award.

2011	Best Student Paper Award - Awarded to Mr. Matt Fairbain Australian Control Conference (Australia) The following paper was selected as the best student paper at the Australian Control Conference in Melbourne 2011. "Improving the scan rate and image quality in tapping mode atomic force microscopy with piezoelectric shunt control" by M. Fairbairn, S. O. R. Moheimani and A. J. Fleming.
2007	Researcher of the Year University of Newcastle (Australia) University of Newcastle Vice Chancellors Award for Researcher of the Year
2007	Best Paper Award IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (Australia) IEEE Control Systems Society Award for Outstanding Paper Published in the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology

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Administrative

Administrative expertise

• Member of the University of Newcastle Research Development Advisory Group (2009-2010)

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Control Systems
• Digital Signal Processing