Micro-manufacturing in the classroom and laboratory

Abstract

The products that occupy the attention of manufacturing engineers can be separated, in one context, into three categories, determined by geometric dimensions: ordinary or customary; very small; very large. The engineering challenges of manufacturing parts in customary dimensions have migrated, in large part, from the technological into the arena of lean thinking. The technological frontiers of manufacturing, in the early portion of the 21 st century, lie in the very small and the very large. It is arguable that manufacturing in the very large is a mostly straight-forward extension of how we make parts of ordinary size, albeit with significant challenges of scale and rate. In the micro- and nano-realms, however, the technology is most-definitely-not a simple extension of the well-known. Here, the governing physics are different, new or vastly modified processes are required, and fixturing, gauging and assembly demand completely different approaches. Innovation rules. And applications of products centered on micro- and nano-technologies are now the fastest-growing segment of commerce. Hundreds of nano-enabled new products appear every year. Thus, one of the critical challenges of manufacturing engineering education is to devise means of introducing knowledge of processes and production for fabrication at micro- and nano-dimensions. This paper opens with a brief summary of sub-millimeter and sub-micron manufacturing and assembly processes, both in research laboratory and in factory. Then, an assessment of micro-machining processes is presented, paired with representative applications. The paper concludes with an outline and critique of a new course in mechanical micromachining initiated by the author. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.