Research
Official Topics (Past & Present)
- Wireless Batteryless Ozone Dosimeter Using SAW RFID Technology (latest)
- 2D+ Surface Phononic Crystals (Finite Element Simulations)
- Laser-induced Ultrasound (Non-Destructive Evaluation using Surface Acoustic Waves)
- Acoustic Biosensors (QCMs, surface chemistry, etc.)
Interests
- Sensors: measurement, perspective, and interpretation
- Wave physics: acoustic (also electromagnetic & probability), dispersion, loss, and mode conversion
- Foundations of physics: symmetry, duality (e.g. of potentials and flows), measurement/dissipation/information
Refereed Publications
Mohammadi S, Eftekhar AA, Khelif A, Moubchir H, Westafer R, Hunt WD, Adibi A. Complete phononic bandgaps and bandgap maps in two dimensional silicon phononic crystal plates. Electronics Letters, 2007.
Conference Publications
Westafer RS, Bergin MH, Levitin G, Hess P, Edmonson PJ, and Hunt WD. Functionalization of High Frequency SAW RFID Sensors for Ozone Dosimetry, IEEE Sensors Conference: Christchurch, New Zealand, 2009.
Westafer RS, Mohammadi S, Adibi A, and Hunt WD. Computing Surface Acoustic Wave Dispersion and Band Gaps, COMSOL Conference: Boston, MA, 2009.
Westafer RS, Levitin G, Hess DH, Bergin MH, Stubbs DD, Edmonson PJ, and Hunt WD. Ozone Sensors for Real-time Passive Wireless Application, 2008.
Lee SH, Massey EW, Westafer RS, Hunt WD. A Novel Method to Investigate Dependence of SAW Resonator Sensor Signatures on Localized Surface Perturbations. 5th IEEE Conference on Sensors, 2006.
Imaginary Research
This is the self-study which seems perpendicular to my “real” work, but it complements the whole; it rounds things out. It is based on reason, intuition, and the philosophical squishy-stuff which won’t get me a Ph.D. in engineering. This is the artsy and creative side of science, the side which can inspire hours of late-night thinking or a moment’s marvel during the day.
Time Turns the Universal Kaleidoscope
http://www.ryanwestafer.com/stuff/wordpress/2008/the-harmonic-universe-and-the-kaleidoscope/
http://arxiv.org/abs/0812.0565
(version 2 on the way… I made mistakes with v1 in my haste to apply to the 2008 FQXi Essay Contest) I need to rewrite the introduction to really say what the paper is: a perspective on the notion of time in a supersymmetric, linear, and unitary existence.
The Zero-sum Game of Physics
This is my entry into the FQXi Essay Contest (2009). It’s only one page; I couldn’t divert any additional time from my thesis work. The amusing thing about this short paper is that it is still too long(short) to be correct(wrong). Even the title leaves the question, “what about an infinite-sum game of physics?” If you’re expecting a game theory treatment of physics, you’ll be disappointed. This is not quantitative and is just a “perspective.”