NSF Sponsored Workshop on Structured Design Methods for MEMS
Infrastructure
- Finding: Teaching.
One of the major recommendations of the 1994 NSF
New Paradigms for Manufacturing workshop
NSF:94
was to create a national infrastructure for design and
manufacturing of mechanical and electro-mechanical systems. In
particular, it emphasized the creation of a technical community which
will communicate and share design tools, fabrication processes,
educational materials and technical expertise. Development of such
infrastructure played a crucial role for the success of VLSI revolution.
The idea of multiproject chips, the development of silicon brokerage
service like MOSIS and the availability of public domain VLSI design
tools linked to the fabrication facility provided a fertile ground
for the university researchers and graduate students to conduct new
experiments on computer architectures and contribute to the development
of fundamental research on structured design methodology. The rapid spread
of so-called "VLSI culture" was also enhanced by the introduction of VLSI
design classes for faculty members, often conducted with NSF sponsorship,
who brought the VLSI revolution in the classroom and into the curricula.
- Recommendation:
Drawing from the VLSI experience, this workshop recommends the creation of
a national infrastructure for design and manufacture of MEMS. In
particular, we recommend the creation of a set of standard MEMS processes
in surface, bulk and LIGA micromachining, creation of a MEMSIS - a MEMS
implementation service and development of courses and curriculum materials
for MEMS design and fabrication. As part of this effort, we also recommend
that courses be created specifically for faculty members and an annual
Workshop with participation of industry and academia to stimulate future
research and facilitate curriculum development in MEMS area.
Previous: Fabrication Process Simulation Group Report
Return to NSF MEMS Design Workshop Index