Thomas B. Thrige Center for Microinstruments

The Thomas B. Thrige Centre for Microinstruments is an externally funded research project at DTU. The purpose of the centre is to perform research into methods and technologies for the design of electronic systems which integrate digital, analog and micromechanical components and embedded software in a single chip – a so-called ”microinstrument” – which can accomplish signal collection, signal processing, data processing, communication and actuation.
The centre was originally set up as a result of a donation of 5 million Danish crowns from the Thomas B. Thrige Foundation and further donations from the companies Oticon, Widex, GN Resound and Microtronic (now Sonion MEMS). Subsequently, a number of companies, institutions, university departments and some research projects have contributed to the co-funding of a series of Ph.D. projects. In addition to those companies already mentioned, the contributors involved have been BK Medical A/S, the Center for Fast Ultrasound Imaging, Ørsted*DTU, Mikroelektronikcentret, 3D Lab, Århus Kommunehospital, the IT University in Copenhagen, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University and the Research School in Microelectronics, which has co-funded 5 Ph.D. projects via a grant from the Danish Research Training Council (FUR).
In total, the activities of the centre have involved funding and running 8 Ph.D. projects and a series of related activities, and the overall budget has been 10 million Danish crowns. The research has focused on two areas: (1) Digital integrated circuits and computer-based systems with focus on optimization of speed, energy consumption and effective use of resources, and (2) design and manufacturing techniques for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).