Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Microfabrica | Subject: 3D MEMS design challenge
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 17 January 2003
Competition kick starts micro-device
innovation
Memgen Corp has launched the world's first micro-device design competition.
Memgen Corp has launched the world's first micro-device design competition The "3D MEMS design challenge" is made possible by the company's proprietary EFAB micro-manufacturing technology, which allows micro-devices to be designed with commonly available 3D CAD software tools and fabricated in a matter of a few weeks using the company's automated system
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 3 Sep 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Memgen's design contest is open to all individuals who have commercial or research interest in micro-device design, manufacturing or use.
This includes electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, design contractors, university faculty and students.
There is no limit to the number of entries per person or organisation.
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The company will award the top customer and two runners up with prototypes of their designs.
In addition, they will receive cash prizes of GBP 6200, GBP 3000 and GBP 1500.
The overall winner will also receive a SolidWorks, Office 2003 3D CAD package.
Entries must be submitted to Memgen by 15th April 2003, and the winners will be announced on 1st May 2003.
The first 25 contestants to submit an application before 13th February 2003 will also receive special gifts.
The submissions will be judged by a panel composed of independent industry experts, including Al Pisano, PhD of UC Berkeley, Elliott Brown, PhD of UCLA and Marlene Bourne, Senior Analyst at In-Stat/MDR.
Selection will be based on design novelty, creative use of 3D and commercial utility.
"This competition is the first of its kind for MEMS and micro-scale devices.
Until we invented EFAB micro-manufacturing technology, truly 3-D designs were cumbersome, constrained and impractical.
Micro-devices could only be created by experts using exotic silicon micromachining techniques; and even then they took a long time to design and build.
The ability to create arbitrary, complex 3D geometries with tens to hundreds of precision metal layers was a distant dream", said Vacit Arat, President and CEO at Memgen.
"Those days are over.
Our EFAB technology enables a straightforward and intuitive design process, thereby opening micro-device design up to anyone with the need and a little bit of imagination", added Arat.
Memgen's EFAB technology enables unprecedented flexibility in 3D design, allowing devices to be built with multiple layers of metal (tens to hundreds, if required).
This enables a wide range of applications, including: RF devices, biomedical devices, sensors and actuators, and optical devices.
In addition, the unique ability of the EFAB process to cofabricate a package around the MEMS device - essentially building a box around the device - enables extremely low-cost packaging, which can also be hermetically sealed.
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