#MEMS

MEMS are what happens when mechanical engineering and semiconductor fabrication are forced into a microscopic marriage, producing devices too small to see without a microscope. Their diminutive scale ensures that the slightest dust particle or temperature fluctuation will throw them into fits, dooming them to fail somewhere despite enormous development costs. They stand as monstrous symbols of scientific progress, yet require livestock-like environmental control to maintain their vaunted precision. Born of humanity’s runaway curiosity, they are lauded when functional and utterly forgotten the moment they malfunction. In short, they are the tiny challengers reminding us that some problems only get more complicated as they shrink.