> From: "Zhang Xuming" 
>
> Dear All:
>
> I have a question haunting for a long time. It's well known
> that "MEMS" represents for Microelectromechanical Systems. Do
> you know who first used/proposed this term, in which paper or where?

   I just happened to be looking through Al Pisano's foreward to Maluf's
"Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems Engineering."  I quote:
"According to my best recollection, the acronym for
Microelectromechanical Systems, MEMS, was officially adopted by a group
of about 80 zealots at a crowded meeting in Salt Lake City in 1989
called the Micro-Tele-Operated Robotics Workshop... Discussion at the
workshop about the name of this new field of research raged for over an
hour, and several acronyms were offered, debated, and defeated. When the
dust settled, I recall that Professor Roger Howe of the University of
California at Berkeley stood up and announced, 'Well, then, the name is
MEMS.' In this way, the group came to a consensus."
   Any other recollections?

John Maloney
MEMS Engineer
MicroCHIPS, Inc.
http://www.mchips.com
http://john.maloney.org