The results of R&D on measuring and evaluating theproperties of thin materials, conducted as part of the NEDO
Research and Development for Standards project that ended in2001, were considered for inclusion in proposals forinternational standards.

III. Exchange and Cooperation with Worldwide
Organizations Involved with Micromachines
1. Participated in the 8th Micromachine Summit(Maastricht, the Netherlands: April 30-May 2, 2002)

2. Investigation and research on micromachine
standardization

2. Held the 8th International Micromachine/Nanotech
Symposium (Science Museum in Kitanomaru
Park, Tokyo: November 14, 2002)

The results of this research have been transmitted
worldwide, encouraging international standardization while
exercising initiative in establishing international standards.
With regard to terminology, MMC submitted a specifications
proposal to IEC/TC47 and supported deliberations through suchactions as compiling comments. With regard to measurement
and evaluation, MMC continued selecting and prioritizing items
standardization items. An international standardization
workshop was also held at the 2nd International
Standardization Forum in Tokyo in July.

3. International Exchange and Dispatch of Researchers
Norichika Fukushima, manager of the Research
Department, visited the Netherlands (Twente University) andGermany between January 30 and February 6, 2003, to examin
R&D trends in micro fluids-related fields.

4. Constructing a foundry network system
In order to further the industrialization of micromachines,
particularly MEMS, upgrading of foundry facilities is vital. To
this end, MMC established the Foundry Service Industry
Committee to organize businesses providing foundry services,
to set up a network system to improve services and to consider
ways such a system could be developed. As means ofdisseminating information, the MMC also set up its own Internet
homepage and participated in various lectures and seminars.

V. Dissemination and Education about Micromachines
1. Publication of a Public Relations Quarterly
Magazine "MICROMACHINE"
Vol. 39 to 42 were published in Japanese only.
English versions are available on
website:http://www.mmc.or.jp/

theMMC

2. Micromachine Drawing Rally (Implemented in
2002 as a small-scale means of gathering andutilizing micromachine drawings)

5. Establishing a forum for the exchange ofmicromachine technology
A workshop on micro fluids was held; lecturers were invitedfrom universities to speak on technology trends at international
conferences on micro-fluids-related topics and information andopinions exchanged.

3. The 13 t h Micromachine Exhibition (ScienceMuseum in Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo: November
13-15, 2002

IV. Standardization of Micromachines
4. Administration of the Federation of MicromachineTechnology

In micromachine technology and other newly establishedfields of systemized techniques as well, there is an urgent needfor the standardization of terminology, measurement, andevaluation methods. The MMC worked towords it, taking
international initiatives into perspective.

Served as secretariat for the Federation of MicromachineTechnology to link and strengthen micromachine-relatedorganizations.

5. Workshop presenting the results of grantrecipient projects for the 8th MicromachineTechnology Research Grants (FY 2000) on
September 17, 2002

1. Creation of an international standard as a methodfor evaluating the properties and measuringmethods of thin film materials

An Introduction of MMC's Activities: Future Vision for Micromachines
It is certain that micromachine technology will play animportant role in a variety of social and economic fields in the 21stcentury and will contribute to improving the quality of our lives.
However, today's severe socioeconomic environment does notallow us to foresee the prospects for micromachines accurately.
With the successful completion of Japan's first national
micromachine project, conducted over a ten-year period, we are now
working on new endeavors aimed at further development of
micromachine technology. One of these endeavors is to create
viable industrial applications based on results obtained through R&D
on advanced technologies.
Among other things,
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology is increasingly
used for various applications and furthering its industrialization has
become a major objective of ours. The second endeavor is a topdown approach to the nanotechnology research that originated fromthe U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Nanotechnology
is not truly useful unless it is complemented by a seamless interface
with human-sized technology, which is the role micromachinetechnology should assume.

There is no precedent for any nation having attempted toaccomplish these objectives. Given the fact that Japan remains
in structural change ten years after the economic boom ended,pursuing these objectives entails great financial risk andconsiderable effort, as well as requiring diverse expertise andknowledge of researchers in industry, government, andacademia. Therefore, a compass is needed by which we canproceed to unexplored disciplines based on the current
developments in micromachine technology.
Last year, the Micromachine Center formed a committee fordeliberating the long-term prospects of micromachinetechnology (Chairman: Prof. Isao Shimoyama, Department of
Mechano-Informatics, Graduate School of Information Scienceand Technology, The University of Tokyo). The committee hascompiled their deliberations and investigations in an interim
report entitled "A Future Vision for Micromachines."

Contents of the report:
1. Introduction: Why is a vision required now?

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2. Prospects for micromachine technology (short-, mid-,and long-term)
3. Approaches to the development of industrial applications
4. Collaboration among industry, government, and academia(the roles of business, government, universities, and MMC)
5. Technical roadmaps in ten major fields, including a
support system to improve the quality of life for theelderly (safety, security), a bio-nanosystem, a medicalcare roadmap (applications of microtechnology andnanotechnology in the medical field), a health careroadmap, environment-related sensors, intelligent tagging(logistics system), information and telecommunications(sensor-based network), next-generation robotics, aspace-based MEMS system, and a roadmap for innovative
micromachine manufacturing technology

manufacturing know-how• Developing such infrastructures as a foundry and a design
center enabling start-up companies to design andmanufacture new devices and products immediately without
the burdens of initial investment and personnel management• Expanding the opportunities for personnel recruitment
training and developing tools to assist in design and simulation

4. Collaboration among industry, government,
and academia
While Japan's move toward global development has put its
economic and industrial structures in a transitional stage,
collaboration among industry, government, and academia isindispensable for accomplishing new objectives. Industry
expects the government to support long-term, high-risk
research and development and to promote infrastructure.
Industry, on the other hand, must commercialize its developedtechnologies. Academia is expected to create human resources
and information on basic and advanced technologies.

An outline of the interim report is given below.
2. Prospects for micromachine technology(short-, mid-, and long-term)

5. Technical roadmaps in ten major fields

Micromachines have been developed for use in a wide range
of industrial products, including sensors, moving microparts,
chemical analyzer parts, optical parts, and the like. In addition,
micromachine technology is expected to support technologicalbases in the information and telecommunications industry, thebiomedical industry, and the automobile industry. Optical
MEMS, RF-MEMS and sensors show promise for micromachineindustrialization in the short term, while there is considerable
potential for industrialization in fields based on biotechnology
or microfluid systems from a long-term perspective.

These roadmaps were developed with a focus on systems
adopting micromachine technology. The roadmaps werecreated for ten fields, while devices and element technologies
required in each field were examined based on each of theenvisioned systems. As an example, we have included aroadmap for the support system to improve the quality of life
for the elderly (5-1). Households with single and marriedelderly people account for nearly 50% of the aging society inJapan. We have examined systems and MEMS devices neededfor these systems that are primarily designed for elderly people
who do not need nursing care. An objective of these systems is
to improve the quality of life for these people by preventing
diseases and eliminating anxiety.

3. Approaches to the development of industrial
applications
The following issues must be resolved in order to progresssmoothly from the current R&D phase to a new phase in which
new devices and products are created and put into practical use.
• Meeting needs from potential technical users• Sharing intellectual properties, such as designs and0005

The achievements based on recommendations in thisinterim report will be published in a book around this fall.

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