Published Articles:
MEMS and Sensors
Many more articles addressing various MEMS and Sensors technologies and applications, including Automotive and IoT, are available. Please email Roger at [email protected] to request additional articles.
Please refer to Roger's bibliography and send any article requests to [email protected]
Results of 2022 Study See Positive Turnaround in MEMS Commercialization
Fierce Electronics: August 1, 2023
An unprecedented increase in virtually all of the grades of the 14 subjects (a.k.a. critical success factors) in the recently concluded Roger Grace Associates 24th annual MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card Study was realized and summarized in this article.
The aggregated grade increased from C+ to B-, thus demonstrating the resilience of MEMS Industry participants to significantly mitigate the negative effects of Covid which continued to exist into the Report Card year of 2022.
The article includes two Report Card graphics and addresses:
• Study rationale
• Study methodology
• Individual grade results for the 14 topics a.k.a. critical success factors for MEMS commercialization from the study’s inception in 1998 to the present
• Summary / Results / Recommended Actions
How COVID and the Downturning Economic Uncertainty are Affecting the Successful Commercialization of MEMS and What to Do About It: The MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card
MEPTEC Report Fall 2022, Front Page
This extensive feature article is a summary of the results of the 2021 MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card (a complimentary copy of the Final Report is available). The article addresses the results of the actual grades plus selected verbatims of the approximately 125 verbatims that were submitted. Most noteworthy were the results of the impact of Covid on several of the grades. The overall grade decreased from B- to C+ thus ending the six years string of B- grades. 13 of the 14 grades (critical success factors), decreased at least one grade with “Established Infrastructure” declining two grades…certainly as a direct result of supply chain issues. Barriers to the successful commercialization of MEMS were presented as well as recommended strategies for overcoming these barriers
2021 MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card Final Report
Roger Grace Associates, July 2022
The results of the 2021 microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Industry Commercialization Report Card (Report Card) Study, first published in 1998, have been issued in a 30-page Final Report. The Final Report provides the grades of the 14 subjects a.k.a. critical success factors and included over 50 of the approximately 125 verbatims that were provided by the attendees. A summary and recommended actions for successful commercialization are also provided. The final grade declined from B- to C+ breaking a string of the previous six years with 13 of the 14 subjects losing a grade and the grade of “Established Infrastructure” declining two grades. It was apparent from the grades and the verbatims that Covid and especially supply chain issues had a most significant effect on several of the grades.
How COVID and the Downturning Economic Uncertainty are Affecting the Successful Commercialization of MEMS and What to Do About It: The MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card
MEPTEC Report Fall 2022, Front Page
This extensive feature article is a summary of the results of the 2021 MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card (a complimentary copy of the Final Report is available). The article addresses the results of the actual grades plus selected verbatims of the approximately 125 verbatims that were submitted. Most noteworthy were the results of the impact of Covid on several of the grades. The overall grade decreased from B- to C+ thus ending the six years string of B- grades. 13 of the 14 grades (critical success factors), decreased at least one grade with “Established Infrastructure” declining two grades…certainly as a direct result of supply chain issues. Barriers to the successful commercialization of MEMS were presented as well as recommended strategies for overcoming these barriers
Forecast for 2022 for MEMS/Sensors
Tech Briefs, June 2022
It gives me great pleasure to kick off 2022 with a forecast of technology and business
trends for sensors/MEMS (Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems). Contributors to this technology and business trends outlook represent the worldwide
sensors/MEMS industry based on their industry role, extensive experience, and
knowledge. They are from China, Germany, Austria, and the U.S. The full spectrum of
the industry is represented: device/system design, infrastructure vis-à-vis wafer
foundry, industry association, and marketing/sales by me.
Janusz Bryzek Tribute Retrospective
Roger Grace Associates, December 2022
The sensor community mourns the
loss of one of its most favorite sons…
Janusz Bryzek Ph.D., who passed peacefully
at his Oakland Hills, California
home at the age of seventy-four on
November 10, 2022 surrounded by his
loving family. In discussions with Bette
Cooper, past MEPTEC Executive Director,
and Ira Feldman, MEPTEC Executive
Director, who were also good friends
and colleagues of Janusz, we concurred
that a retrospective article as a tribute
to Janusz would be a fitting and proper
gesture to honor this great man.
Industry Insiders Share Their Sensors/MEMS Industry Forecasts for 2022, Including the Impact of COVID
Fierce Electronics. January 18, 2022
It gives me great pleasure to kick off 2022 with a forecast of technology and business trends for sensors/MEMS (Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems). I am best known for my annual MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card Market Study, published annually since 1998 as a critical assessment of the results of MEMS commercialization efforts for the previous year. With the help of my colleagues and co-contributors, we are now looking forward instead of back.
COVID and supply chain woes help drive dramatic drop in 2021 MEMS report card
Fierce Electronics - August 1, 2022
The results are in and the grades are in for the 2021 microelecticalmechanical systems (MEMS) Industry Commercialization Report Card Study. Not surprisingly, due to COVID and supply chain woes, the final grade declined from B- to C+, breaking a string of the previous six years.
Marketing in a Recession: How to Survive
Sensors Daily, April 8, Edition
Considering the current state of affairs worldwide, I was compelled to author this article which will address the major impact of the current unprecedented global pandemic resulting from the Covid-19 virus and its effects on the resulting financial-economic crisis (slowdown…yes…recession?) relating to business and marketing strategies...
How to Become a MEMS (and other High Technology) Millionaire: Strategies and Case Studies
Commercial Micromanufacturing International, Vol. 9, No. 1
Here, I will take a deep dive into the issues, which have in the past and currently can serve to help create MEMS Millionaires. This updated report is partially based on recent interviews of four of the MEMS industry’s most recognized successful and serial entrepreneurs.
Printed/Flexible/ Stretchable Sensors: New Technologies Enable High Volume Applications
Commercial Micromanufacturing International, Vol 8, No. 7
The MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card (Report Card), introduced in 1998,
has the objective to track and report on the progress (and sometimes lack thereof) in
the commercialization of the worldwide MEMS industry. The impetus of the Report Card was based on my invitation to participate in a panel
discussion on "Why aren't there more MEMS millionaires?”
Design and Manufacturing Process Considerations for the Creation of Printed Sensors and Sensor-Based Systems
Commercial Micro-Manufacturing International, Vol. 12, No. 1
The rapid commercialization of printed sensors and sensor-based systems’ time has come. As previously stated, printed sensors are the third wave in the innovation of sensors1. The first was discrete electromechanical and the second was MEMS/silicon, both of which have achieved maturity.
Though printed technology has been available since the mid-80s when Interlink Electronics and Tekscan established patents on their force sensing resistor (FSR) technology2, many barriers to commercialisation have existed.
MEMS (and Sensors) Marketing: Oxymoron or Opportunity? (Part 1 of 3 Parts)
Commercial Micro-Manufacturing International, Vol. 9, No. 4
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
In my over 30 years as an independent technology marketing consultant, I have worked with literally scores of clients, the majority of which have been in the MEMS/sensors sector that have engaged my consulting services to assist them in increasing their success in the market, either to successfully accelerate their existing products into the market, launch new products or even launch new companies.
The 2020 MEMS Industry Commercialisation Report Card: How the Impact of COVID-19 Is Reflected in the Critical Success Factor Grades
Commercial Micro Manufacturing, Oct. 18, 2021
The recently issued Final Report of the MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card Study provides detailed information on the background of the report’s creation and the process by which it has been conducted by Roger Grace Associates. Since its inception in 1998, the Report Card has addressed the 14 critical success factors i.e. subjects for commercialization and their performance vis-à-vis assigned letter grades provided by respondents. Most interesting for this year’s report is the assessment of Covid on the Report Card’s grades and especially the respondents’ candid verbatims on key subjects including those directly affected by Covid including infrastructure, marketing, profitability, and R & D. Recommended pivoting strategies for succeeding in overcoming the continuing effects of Covid and the embracing of the “new normal” are provided.
Smart Sensors…Defined and Redefined
Product Design and Development (PD&D), May/June 2016
The bottom line is that products need to be smarter… a.k.a. more functional and possess more “bells and whistles” to be successful in today’s marketplace. Simultaneously, they must be more reliable and have a lower bill of materials to reduce costs.
MEMS: Think Outside the Chip at the Package Level (with Maryann Maher, Ph.D.)
Electronic Products, November 2010
The packaging for a MEMS device is a critical component of delivering a successful MEMS-based system solution to the market. Our research has found that, for today’s typical MEMS-based products, the cost of packaging can be 20% to 40% of the product’s total material and assembly cost. Since testing after packaging is much more costly than testing at the device level because of yield factors, it is crucial that the package be correctly selected/designed for the application.
MEMS Commercialization Report Card – Episode 6: Marketing (Part 1 of 4 Parts)
Sensors Daily, April 22, 2020
Marketing is one of the 14 critical success factors in the commercialization of MEMS as well as virtually for all products. “Marketing is Everything” [1] is the title of the Harvard Business Review article authored by Silicon Valley marketing luminary Regis McKenna.
MEMS Commercialization Report Card – Episode 7: Marketing
(Part 2 of 4 Parts)
Sensors Daily, May 6, 2020
This article will provide an overview of marketing principles and a brief review of the results of the MEMS Commercialization Report Card. When conducting interviews, it became apparent to me that, when following up on the 30 plus respondents to my annual Report Card study, it would be interesting to take a deep dive into the rationales for their submitted grades.
Sensors for Advanced Automotive Applications
Electronic Products, February 2015
Last month’s CES clearly indicated the ever-growing, mainstream role of electronics in automobiles — several years ago there were no automakers at the event, and this year there were 10, from Audi to Volkswagen. Many automakers were demonstrating their novel and advanced Infotainment and display systems as well as safety systems using radars lasers and cameras to enable so-called “self-driving cars.”
MEMS Sensor Solutions for IoT in Transport and Buildings
Electronic Products, November 2010
The good news is
that all of the hardware
for the realization
of MBSS to support
Internet-of-Things
(IoT) applications is
virtually off the shelf,
with the exception of
the package and an energy
system (batteries
are frequently being
used for this purpose,
sometimes in conjunction
with energy
harvesting).
Thermally-Based MEMS Sensors
(with Yongyao Cai and James Fennelly)
Commercial Micromanufacturing International, Vol. 6, No. 1
The electronic system designer is truly fortunate when it
comes to specifying a sensor to optimally satisfy a specific
system function. This results from the myriad of sensor
technologies that currently exist to measure the various
parameters to meet the system’s design requirements. This
applies to accelerometers and gas flow sensors. This article
will address the topic of acceleration.
Thermally-Based MEMS Sensors (with Yongyao Cai and James Fennelly)
Commercial Micromanufacturing International, Vol. 6, No. 2
We have addressed in Part 1 of this article, which appeared
in the March/April issue (Volume 6, Number 2) of this
publication, the ability of thermally-based MEMS sensors to
measure acceleration. This article, which is the conclusion of
this two-part series, will address the very same mechanism
of thermal sensing to measure gas-flow.
Technology Clusters and Their Role in the Commercialization of Micro and NanoSystems
Commercial Micromanufacturing International - Vol. 5, No. 2
Industrial clusters have existed since the very beginning of the industrial revolution. Technology clusters first become prominent in the Route 128 area of Boston in the early 1940s to support the U.S. military involvement in W.W.II. Silicon Valley saw its first technology cluster develop to support the meteoric growth of the semiconductor industry in the early 1960s.
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