As scientists study interactions at incredibly small levels, the implications of their work grow larger and larger.

Imagine an automobile air bag system that can calculate not only when but with how much force, to deploy an airbag based on the passenger's size and weight. Picture a home water filter system that monitors pollutants as they pass through, sensing when levels rise too high and automatically adjusting the filtration process. Or, think about working in an office that could sense the your movements and reconfigure the office technology accordingly—for example, from shared video conference to private work mode.

Welcome to the world of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), an emerging field that uses microfabrication techniques to bring together electronic circuitry and three-dimensional structures and devices such as sensors and acuators onto silicon chips. In these systems that are measured in the millionths (micrometers) and billionths of a meter (nanometers), a working gear, sensor, or filter may be no larger than a grain of sand. More importantly, the behaviors of particles and individual electrons at this scale don't follow the rules of classical physics. Engineers and scientists are working to document the basic behaviors of particles and electrons on the micro- and nanoscales. Their work could bring about reliable, low-cost integrated systems-on-a-chip that are "smart" enough to sense and respond to the needs of the user.

"Our ultimate goal is to create embedded systems that result in smart surfaces," says Umberto Ravaioli, a University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor and a researcher with the Alliance Nanodevices team. Ravaioli says scientists are "just beginning to get their feet wet" in MEMS. He is one of three U of I researchers who are dipping their toes into the field by using the Alliance's high performance computing systems at NCSA to conduct research into the behavior of air particles as they flow through microfilters no more than the diameter of a human hair. Narayan Aluru, an assistant professor in the U of I department of general engineering and a researcher in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and graduate research assistant Ozgur Aktas, are also part of the research project.

Access Online | Posted 11-7-2000