Consulting and Advising Services
FemtoSci provides on a consulting basis, from its experienced Leadership expertise for addressing unique issues in the semiconductor and particularly diamond-related electronics field. This includes consulting regarding design, analysis, prototype fabrication, testing and manufacturing of diamond-based nanodiamond and CVD diamond device products. These relationships are typically individually negotiated and tailored to the specific needs of the customer. For further information in this regard, please contact the President of FemtoSci, Dr. Jim Davidson, at 615-530-0750,
Leadership Personnel
Dr. David V. Kerns, Jr. david.kerns@femtosci.com
David V. Kerns, Jr., is CEO of International FemtoScience, Inc. (FemtoSciSM) and Principal Engineer;
David V. Kerns, Jr., is CEO of International FemtoScience, Inc., and Principal Engineer. Dr. Kerns previously served as a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University and as Electrical Engineering Department Chair, Associate Dean and Acting Dean of Engineering. He also served in administrative and faculty positions at several other universities. In 1984 Dr. Kerns was the Founding Department Chair of ECE at the Florida State University – FAMU College of Engineering. More recently he served as the Founding Provost, Chief Academic Officer and Distinguished Professor of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering from 1999 to 2007; Dr. Kerns continues an appointment as Adjoint Professor of Electrical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He was a co-founder and President of InSouth Microsystems, a company later sold to Fairchild Industries which developed the first commercial MEMS accelerometer. Dr. Kerns was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories and has co-founded several successful technology-based companies.
He has received recent awards such as the National Academy of Engineering Gordon Prize in 2013, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the IEEE Educational Activities Board Major Educational Innovation Award in 2005, and the ASEE ECE Meritorious Service Award in 2010. He holds 13 patents, is a Fellow of the IEEE, has authored or co-authored numerous publications and two textbooks, and served two terms as President of the IEEE Education Society. Dr. Kerns has served as PI or Co=PI on over $30M in funded research. His lifelong interest has been in microelectronics research and development, advancing engineering education, and engineering entrepreneurship.
Dr. Jim L. Davidson jim.davidson@femtosci.com
Dr. Davidson is currently President, Principal Engineer, International FemtoScience, Inc. (FemtoSciSM) Nashville, TN. He was Professor and Director of Vanderbilt Microelectronics Laboratory, and now is Professor Emeritus, Vanderbilt University.
Formerly, he was Manager of Advanced Process Development and Director of Product Assurance at Harris Semiconductor, Inc., and Vice President of Operations at InSouth Microsystems Corp. He has led over $100M in applied research programs for government and industry in advanced electronic materials and microelectronic microsensors with development programs in synthetic diamond and other rugged advanced wide bandgap semiconductors for electronic, biological and mechanical applications. He has over 250 publications and Proceedings papers, over 10 seminal patents, including device isolation, original MEMS and diamond vacuum FET technologies. His innovations have advanced electronic materials, devices and processes ranging from ICBM radiation-hardened guidance and control integrated circuits, to the first MEMs devices, to the technology for the airbag deployment sensor, to junctionless electron emission cold-cathode diamond switches for next generation electronics. He is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society and was an invited speaker for the Role of Carbon in Future Electronics, The Hooke Committee, Royal Society at the Royal Society, London.
Dr. Sherra E. Kerns sherra.kerns@femtosci.com
Sherra E. Kerns is the Chief Scientist of International FemtoScience, Inc. (FemtoSciSM) and Principal Engineer; she served as the Founding Vice President for Innovation and Research of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering from 1999 to 2007; she also was and continues to serve as the F. W. Olin Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Prior to 1999, S. Kerns was Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University and Director of the University Consortium for Research on Electronics in Space, a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary national capability for solving wide-ranging engineering and science problems. At Vanderbilt and other institutions, she served as PI on a wide variety of research projects and has published and presented over 200 refereed papers. She provided seminal contributions to the design for the first single-event immune SRAMs, greatly enhanced system dose-rate “operate through” levels and holds patents on electronic improvements for hazardous and extreme environments. She has received recent awards such as the National Academy of Engineering Gordon Prize in 2013, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the Harriett B. Rigas Outstanding Woman Engineering Educator Award and numerous other recognitions for both her technical and educational contributions. She is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the ASEE.