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• University of Western Ontario

Education

P.Eng. (Ontario)
Ph.D. (Saskatchewan) 1991
M.Sc. (Saskatchewan) 1987
B.E. (Saskatchewan) 1984
B.A. (Saskatchewan) 1984

Research Website

http://www.eng.uwo.ca/research/orl

Dr. Knopf's teaching responsibilities and expertise are in the general field of product design & manufacturing. His current research interests include intelligent systems for design, 3D shape reconstruction, laser microfabrication, biosensor design and manufacture, optical microactuation, and bioelectronic imaging arrays.

Dr. Knopf has contributed to the development of intelligent systems for engineering design including studies on the characterization of micro geometry flaws in product data exchange, efficient packing of 3D parts for layered manufacturing, and the adaptive reconstruction of complex freeform surfaces. The innovative surface modeling algorithms have been applied to the reconstruction of complex bone geometry and fragmented archaeological artifacts. Other contributions include self-organizing feature maps that convert large numeric data sets into geometric forms for interactive data exploration and visualization. Current research focuses on 3D virtual sculpting and shape measurement for developing digital media content.

In recent years, Dr. Knopf's research activities have significantly expanded in the area of optomechatronic system design. This involves both experimental studies and prototype development of several innovative optical sensing, light driven microactuation, and bioelectronic imaging technologies. Included is a unique approach to surface geometry measurement using an unconstrained range-sensor head [US patent 6,542,249], design of an optically driven microfluidic mixer, and development of several bioelectronic devices that exploit the photoelectric signals generated by dried bacteriorhodopsin (bR) films. These light activated transducers represent a new sensor technology that can be fabricated on flexible substrates for creating novel imaging and biosensor systems.

In addition, he has recently co-edited a CRC Press volume entitled Smart Biosensor Technology and several SPIE Proceedings on Optomechatronics Systems. Professor Knopf has acted as a technical reviewer for numerous academic journals, conferences, and granting agencies and has co-chaired several international conferences.

Keywords

interactive concept design; adaptive geometric modeling; 3D virtual sculpting; laser microfabrication; biosensor design and fabrication; optical microactuation; bioelectronics; flexible imaging arrays.

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