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Meet the MEMS
THE Sept 20 issue of DawnscienceDotcom magazine carried an article on “Smart Dust”. A term MEMS was used in the first few lines. MEMS stands for micro-electro-mechanical systems. MEMS is a cutting-edge technology and has taken off recently in the West. The Third World people remain an audience just appreciating the scientific breakthroughs around the world.
Be it the lack of resources or initiative, most they get is a chance of using it. Seldom do they invent or discover anything. However, in case of MEMS, Pakistan is on the track of research and development. This has been possible due to the courtesy of Higher Education Commission which has given a grant to NED University of Engineering and Technology for the development of a MEMS lab in its premises.
Now what is MEMS? MEMS is a new field of engineering and technology that involves miniaturization of larger size devices.
This miniaturization is technically known as Micromachining in the MEMS world. Generally, MEMS can be explained as a machine whose size is typically in the range from tens of micrometers to hundreds of micrometers. These micron-scale machines/structures can be sensors, actuators, or smaller versions of larger devices. Most of the times, a microeletronic circuit accompanies a micro-structure to activate it. The name Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems is, thus, justified.
A brief look into the diversity of MEMS is in order. There are hundreds of application areas of MEMS, however, few disciplines have emerged where MEMS influence is very strong. These are Bio-MEMS in biomedical engineering, RF-MEMS in mobile telephones, Opto-MEMS in optical communication systems, Inertial-MEMS in automotive industry. Active research in these disciplines has been going on for sometime. Some in-production MEMS applications, which can generate reader interest, are Accelerometer in latest cars, Gyroscopes in aircrafts, Pressure Sensors for blood pressure sensing, Micro-droplet generators in ink-jet printers, and micro-robots in minimal invasive surgery (MIS), etc.
How are MEMS made? The driving force behind the MEMS development has been the ease of their fabrication. Those of us, who have seen the inside of our TVs, VCRs or other electrical appliances, can identify small black color ICs (Integrated Circuits). The fabrication technology of the ICs is based on Silicon and is matured. Luckily the same silicon fabrication technology is used for MEMS fabrication. Therefore, MEMS never involved exorbitant amount of money as it was produced by a conventional fabrication technology.
Who can do MEMS? As MEMS devices are micron-scale versions of larger devices, by and large they obey the same laws of nature obeyed by their larger counterparts. Therefore, MEMS engineers, who are mostly electrical and mechanical engineers, need advice from others in understanding the working operation of a large scale device. For example, a chemical engineer is helpful in visualizing the micromaching of a gas sensor. MEMS has proved itself to be a multidisciplinary field with different kinds of engineers working together. However, electrical and mechanical engineers have the upper hands as they directly deal with the miniaturization.
Why MEMS? The main advantages are ultra small size, low cost (if batch fabricated), low power consumption. The only problem with this technology is the gradual progress. Last decade saw the emergence of MEMS; it is only a decade-old technology. Television was invented in 1926 and it is still being improved after almost seven decades from its birth. Similarly, present day MEMS, despite there popularity, are just the beginning. They will become more reliable in times to come and surely will affect our world.
As far as NED University of Engineering and Technology is concerned, it aims to pursue research and development in MEMS technology. Higher Education Commission is helping in all the possible ways. Some expatriates have also given valuable ideas. The above three entities have all played their parts to initiate research and development in this field. Work has started in NED University on MEMS and it is hoped that full scale research activity will take place soon next year.
The writer
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