Academia and industry both face the challenge of how to transfer technology from research to commercial production. Passing technology from university to industry or from one industrial research group to another involves the transference of skills, knowledge of manufacturing practices, patents and, often, moving operations to a different facility.

Dr. Eric W. Forsythe, staff physicist for the Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Md., agreed to discuss the development of flexible electronics and flexible displays with MICROmanufacturing. Forsythe is the team leader for display technologies and is an associate program manager for the Army’s Flexible Display Center. One of the Army’s goals is to develop electronics for use in advanced communications devices with flexible displays. One of the main challenges is to increase the performance levels of flexible electronics to more closely match those of traditional printed circuit boards.

The versatile and amazing silicon devices that are microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), such as microphones and inertial, light and pressure sensors, have already found their way into a multitude of consumer electronics devices and automobiles, among other products. As exemplified by the proliferation of iPhone apps that utilize motion sensing, there seems to be no end to what one can do with MEMS devices, from the sublime (lifesaving automotive stability control systems) to the ridiculous (the iBeer app).

Manufacturing is a rapidly changing industry and, to remain competitive, manufacturers must stay on top of many different technologies. Here, we examine several processes manufacturers of microparts may be hearing more about in the near term. Not all are new and some are currently being applied, but all will likely make an important impact on micromanufacturing in the coming years.