An Introductory Multidisciplinary Design Course In Mems

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will likely be one of the 21st century's engineering design achievements. Integration of sensors and actuators with associated electronics on a single platform has added a new dimension to the design of engineering solutions. MEMS devices have already made significant commercial impact in such diverse applications as airbag deployment sensors, inkjet printer cartridges, vaccine delivery systems, digital light projectors and optical switches. With an ever increasing number of applications in automotive, aerospace, medical and other industries, projections have the MEMS market growing to $12 billion in 2002 and experts envision that MEMS will soon be as ubiquitous as microcircuits. As such, educating undergraduate as well as graduate students in this important developing area is no longer an interesting experiment in education but a necessary fact.