4 Such factors may present problems that cannot be
overcome. If they can be surmounted, however, micro
engineering may usher in a revolutionary new machine
age. We may see the creation of all kinds of teensy
devices combining electronic detectors called sensors
with mechanical parts called actuators that do work.
In addition to performing microscopic surgery, such
micro machines might pump minute amounts of chemicals,
focus laser beams in optical computers, and power tiny
tools whose uses can only be guessed at for now.
5 A handful of relatively simple micro devices have
already made it to the marketplace. Some computer
printers, for example, form letters by spraying tiny
amounts of ink onto the paper through microscopic
nozzles developed by engineers at the International
Business Machines (IBM) Research Laboratory in San Jose,
Calif. But most currently available micro devices are
sensors which react to changes in their environment,
for example, by bending under pressure. Engineers at
the Honeywell Corporation’s Physical Sciences Center
in Bloomington, Minn., have developed micro sensors
that measure airflow in the ventilation systems of
