Activities of the Micromachine Center

Research Studies
1. First Semester Survey of Industrial Trends

2. First Semester Survey of TechnologicalTrends at Home and Abroad

In order to conduct a survey of industrial trends in the fieldof MEMS, we attended the Microtech/Nanotech Conference &Our survey of technological trends in the first half of 2010

Expo 2010 (June 21–24, Anaheim, CA), which is held annuallyfocused on the Asia-Pacific Conference on Transducers andin the U.S. At the conference, we studied trends inMicro-Nano Technology (APCOT) 2010. APCOT is antechnological development and industrialization in MEMS-

international conference held biannually in the Asia-Pacificrelated businesses.

region to present R&D findings in MEMS and nanotechnology
fields. APCOT 2010, the fifth meeting in the conference’s

With the goal of promoting exchange among businesses andhistory, took place in Perth, Australia on June 6–9, 2010.

between companies and universities, the conference featured
many distinctive sessions that included companies giving

The 253 papers submitted to this conference marked apresentations, universities publicizing their acquired patents,

radical drop from the 589 papers submitted to the previous

major firms describing solicitations for joint research withconference held in Taiwan. Of these total submissions, 240

universities and venture businesses, venture capital firms giving

papers were selected for presentation. Fig. 1 breaks down theinformative presentations, and a presentation on government

numbers of presentations given by country.

funding.
70

The conference featured a series of vibrant presentations bycompanies,

centeredon

guest

speechesfrom60

STMicroelectronics and others who have produced results in

Poster presentations

50

the MEMS industry. Throughout the conference, presenters

Oral presentations

offered common viewpoints: that the fields of MEMS

40

applications and the MEMS market will expand dramatically in30

the future, and that innovative technological development andsuitable business strategies will enhance business opportunities

20

considerably.

10One trend in MEMS technology is the development ofdevices that integrate multiple functions, such as monolithic

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CMOS multi-axis motion sensors, many of which are already on
the market. Developers are also actively working on reducing
the size and cost of such devices.

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Fig. 1 Numbers of presentations by country

There are an increasing number of startup companies in thefields of RF-MEMS, silicon oscillators, and electronic

Fig. 2 illustrates the numbers of presentations broken down

compasses, which are the latest industrial trends in newby field. Two of the more prominent fields areapplications. It is apparent that these startups work in groups

Radiation/Material Substance Sensors and Optical.

applying a horizontal specialization model, or a slightly modified4030

Some of the most common aspects of the venture companies

as successful cases of both can be seen throughout the world.
In the second semester of this fiscal year, we will continue
surveying industrial and technological trends at home andabroad, analyze these trends, and compile proposed courses ofPower-MEMS 2-9

Optical 2-7

RF-MEMS 2-8

Fluidic 2-3

Cells & Subcellular components 2-5

conclude straight away that one model is better than the other,

Tissue/Organ & Medical Applications 2-6

employing a vertical specialization model. It is not possible toBiomacromolecules 2-4

Japan is mostly configured as branches of major companies

Radiation/Material Substance Sensor 2-2

companies through speed. In contrast, the MEMS industry in

Others 1-7

0

Mechanical Sensor 2-1

horizontal specialization; and they compete against major

Material 1-6

5Actuators 1-4

fields rather than niches; the preferred business model is

Design and Modeling 1-5

10Packaging Technologies 1-3

15

is a minimum requirement; their applications target growing

Fabrication Technologies(Silicon) 1-1

20

new technologies that are superior to conventional technologies

Fabrication Technologies(non-Silicon) 1-2

25

giving presentations were as follows: developing and patenting

action for Japan’s MEMS industry. For more information, pleaseFig. 2 Numbers of presentations by fieldvisit http://beanspj.cocolog-nifty.com/mems/ (Japanese only).

2Others 2-10

OtherKorea
Australia
Singapore
China
TaiwanJapan35

business strategy for competing with the major companies.

Technologies outside the above categories 3-1

version called a semi-horizontal specialization model, as a