The 2010 edition of DTU summerschool in “micro mechanical system design and manufacture” gathered twenty students from all over the world!

Of course a great majority are affiliated with universities in Europe but some are pretty far from Europe in terms of their country of birth. This year a student from the USA joined the course as well, thanks to the link provided by the 4M Association with the ICOMM group. As in previous years they were treated to two weeks of mainly lectures in the morning and practical work in the afternoons. The final goal had been shifted from the actual production of parts to fully justified design reporting: technical drawings with tolerances (both manufacturing-wise and from a functional point of view), process chain choice and description, and project management scheme.

This year's task was to create two kinds of fluidic passive mixers: one device was using the ever popular meanders while the other device created a porous media by piling sand into a small cavity. Both devices were produced by injection moulding, therefore the moulds were successfully manufactured following design provided by the students. Some working prototypes were tested and ways to improve and step up to production were investigated.

In terms of collaboration, the 4M Association gave 3 bursaries to 4M Association members' students. Furthermore the Embassy of France provided us with two scholarships for French students and some money to invite a French guest speaker. Dr Sébastien Hentz from LETI-CEA in Grenoble gave a talk on mechanical issues in MEMS and NEMS design and manufacture. He also acted as a censor for the evaluation during the last day.

Thanks again as well to our industrial partners: many thanks then to Esprit, Sarix and DesmaTec.