January 29, 2001
The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that Kaigham (Ken) J. Gabriel, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Robotics, and John Seely Brown, chief scientist at Xerox Corp., will head a new MEMS Industry Group. The consortium of industry leaders will work to advance the MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology featured in computer chips in electronic products from airbag sensors, home theater systems, and pacemakers, to wireless phones.
The organization will be a resource to industry analysts, investment bankers, and government employees, providing annual road-mapping meetings, reporting on statistics such as revenue and employees, and identifying national experts to help fund businesses and research. MEMS' members, who are domestic designers and manufacturers, may be from Fortune 500 companies, but most will represent start-ups and smaller businesses advancing MEMS technology.
A federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) study identified the need for an industry association.