http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=2182
Design Rules
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was written by one of A.P.’s
auxiliary staff scientists. Dr. Fausz holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace
Engineering from Georgia Tech and serves as liaison to the NASA Marshall
Space Flight Center. (All images in Dr. Fausz’ article are Courtesy of
Sandia National Laboratories, SUMMiTTM Technologies,
www.mems.sandia.gov.)]
One of the most fascinating areas of modern engineering research is the
development of what has become known as MicroElectroMechanical Systems,
or MEMS. Imagine a closed-cycle steam engine no
bigger than a pinhead that operates on a single drop of water (e.g.,
Frechette, et al., 2003, pp. 335-344), or mirror mechanisms for
micro-optical systems with structures that can be obscured by a single
dust mite (McWhorter, 2001; McWhorter, 2006). These devices are so
miniscule that their operational performance has to be verified through a
microscope. MEMS devices are used to actuate
airbags in automobiles, precisely control optics in digital projectors
and video cameras, and perform a variety of other functions (see
“SAMPLES Program,” 2005; “MEMS Technology,” 2006). Yet, we have barely
scratched the surface of possible applications for MEMS.
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Spider mite on mirror assembly
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The fabrication process for MEMS devices is the
epitome of exacting, painstaking effort, requiring the highest levels of
intricacy and precision. Built on technology developed to fabricate
integrated circuits, the procedures for building MEMS
must follow methodical rules and be carried out in a tightly controlled
environment. This requires very expensive, high fidelity robotic
assembly lines operating in clean rooms with extremely low contaminant
concentrations (one speck of dust could be the proverbial monkey wrench
for these mechanisms). As in the case of micro-chips, MEMS
fabrication controls must be followed strictly for the devices to have
any chance of carrying out their design functions once their fabrication
is complete (“SAMPLES Program,” 2005).
Thus, in the design, fabrication, and operation of MEMS
devices, it is clear that “small” is not synonymous with “simple” or
“easy to understand or fabricate.” As seen through the microscope, MEMS
parts are easily as complex as their counterparts on the larger scale,
if not more so. Furthermore, due to the strict requirements imposed by
the meticulous fabrication process, the MEMS
designer must exercise much more care in laying out the configuration of
his design than would a designer working on a larger scale.
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The incredible MEMS clutch mechanism. The miniscule
gears are 50 microns across. Keep in mind that there are 25,400 microns
to an inch.
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To aid the designer in accounting for the tight constraints of a particular MEMS
fabrication process, the developers of that process typically provide
him a set of design rules to follow in laying out the design. In turn,
these rules usually are incorporated within the fabrication process
itself through software that checks designs against these rules, and
will not admit a design that violates them (“SAMPLES
Program,” 2005). So, we see that the design rules and the fabrication
process work together to produce devices that ideally will fulfill the
desire of the designer throughout its operational life. The design rules
characterize fundamental aspects of the fabrication process and, thus,
leave an indelible imprint of those process characteristics on each and
every new design. These design rules, then, represent a bridge between
the mind of the designer and the finished product, in a sense “guiding”
the design through the fabrication process.
It is amazing that many of the engineers and scientists who have worked to make MEMS
technology a reality believe that the vast, intricate, mechanical
workings of the Universe, a Universe that appears to conform to
immutable natural laws, came about through mostly random processes. They
have witnessed the microscopic complexity of MEMS,
yet they admit reasoning that suggests the galaxies, solar systems,
planets, and stars evolved from “simpler” particles of matter that
somehow came into existence at the beginning of time. They hold these
beliefs in spite of their understanding of the painstaking process that
is required to design and fabricate a single MEMS mechanism.
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Fully-functioning MEMS transmission
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Scientists continue to discover with increasing clarity that the
elementary particles of matter that make up everything in the observable
Universe, though extremely small, are far from “simple.” In his book,
A Brief History of Time, well-known physicist Stephen Hawking states:
Up to about twenty years ago, it was thought that protons and neutrons
were “elementary” particles, but experiments in which protons were
collided with other protons or electrons at high speeds indicated that
they were in fact made up of smaller particles. These particles were
named quarks by the Caltech physicist Murray Gell-Mann, who won the
Nobel prize in 1969 for his work on them.... So the question is: What
are the truly elementary particles, the basic building blocks from which
everything is made? (1988, p. 65).
Since science so far has been incapable of even identifying the most
elementary components of the Universe, it is unreasonable to conclude
that “small” means simple or easy. Given this unexpected complexity at
the sub-microscopic (quantum) level, it is incredible that otherwise
reasoned thinkers would conclude that everything we observe resulted
from random processes.
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Close-up view of one vernier; the teeth are two microns wide and the spaces between them measure four microns.
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Likewise, small structures in biological study exhibit extremely high
levels of order, complexity, and information content. Now that
scientists actually are able to observe single-cellular life, accounts
of the immense complexity in these “simple” life forms are becoming
increasingly abundant. Consider Dean Overman’s summary of the research
of Sir Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe in his monograph,
A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization:
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Sitting atop some MEMS gears, this spider mite is the size of the period at the end of this sentence.
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Because there are thousands of different enzymes with different
functions, to produce the simplest living cell, Hoyle calculated that
about 2,000 enzymes were needed with each one performing a specific task
to form a single bacterium like E. coli. Computing the
probability of all these different enzymes forming in one place at one
time to produce a single bacterium, Hoyle and his colleague, Chandra
Wickramasinghe, calculated the odds at 1 in 1040,000. This number is so vast that any mathematician would agree that it amounts to total impossibility.... [T]he total atoms in the observable universe are estimated to be only approximately 1080 (1997, pp. 58-59, emp. added).
The performance observed in such a system (a bacterium) is so intricate
and complex on such a small scale, that so far humans are incapable of
duplicating it—MEMS is about as close as science
has come to doing so. Yet, in stark contradistinction, many scientists
seem to accept that a “simple” life form must have organized by accident
and, in turn, given rise to all of the life that we observe on Earth.
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Complex MEMS ratchet mechanism
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The complexity inherent in MEMS, especially in
comparison to larger scale systems, suggests a more natural conclusion
regarding the existence of the Universe. If one were looking through a
microscope in a science class, or working in a laboratory, and
unexpectedly saw tiny gears turning or pistons moving, what would he
conclude? This scenario actually has been used as a story line in
multiple science fiction shows, and the conclusion reached was not that
the microscopic machines had evolved naturally through random processes.
Besides the fact that such a conclusion might make for a rather boring
story, it is simply an unsound conclusion under the circumstances.
Complexity on such a small scale, as we have noted, is not easy to
design, so why would we ever conclude that it came about by accident? As
in the science fiction scenario depicted, the intricate complexity that
we observe on such a small scale is not only evidence of a designer,
but also evidence of an incredibly advanced design capability—not of
undirected random processes.
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The world’s smallest functioning triple-piston steam engine. One piston is five microns across or 1/5080 of an inch.
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The fact that the Universe operates under seemingly immutable natural
laws is further evidence of a designer. We have noted that MEMS
designers utilize design rules to ensure the viability of their
designs. While science has not fully characterized the rules that govern
the Universe, or even proved their existence, scientists firmly believe
in them. Countless observations and experiments have demonstrated that
the Universe appears to behave in repeatable and predictable ways,
indicating that there is an inherent yet unobservable constraint being
enforced on that behavior. Similar to MEMS design
rules, the natural laws of the Universe determine what structures can
viably exist in the system (Conservation of Matter and Energy), how they
will behave (Causality, Laws of Motion, Relativity, etc.), and how long
they will last (Thermodynamics). It simply is no more reasonable to
assume that random processes gave rise to the behavior of the Universe
than to assume that random fabrication processes could give rise to
operational MEMS devices.
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Drive gear chain and linkages, with a grain of
pollen (top right) and coagulated red blood cells (top left, lower
right) to demonstrate scale.
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Indeed, experience with MEMS illustrates that
the ordered complexity we observe at every level within the Universe,
but especially on the small scale, is indisputable evidence of a
Designer whose capability far exceeds human accomplishment. MEMS
research is impressive and fascinating, but pales in comparison to what
we observe at the microscopic level, and what we theorize at the
sub-atomic level. The science and engineering of mankind has not come
anywhere close to duplicating the intricate functional complexity that
exists in the realm of nature’s small scale. The Designer responsible
for these micro- mechanisms fully understands the fabrication process
parameters that are required to bring them into existence and sustain
their operation, and has used that process to its utmost effectiveness
in the creation of everything we observe. Furthermore, the “design
rules” that have been employed to accomplish this are nothing less than
the natural laws that, in turn, continue to constrain and direct the
ongoing operation of His design.
REFERENCES
Frechette, L.G., C. Lee, S. Arslan, and Y.C. Liu (2003), “Design of a
Microfabricated Rankine Cycle Steam Turbine for Power Generation,”
American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical
Engineering Congress, International Meeting on Energy Conversion
Engineering, pp. 335-344, November.
Hawking, Stephen (1988),
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes (New York: Bantam).
McWhorter, Paul (2001), “Intelligent Multipurpose Micromachines Made at
Sandia,” Sandia National Laboratories, [On-line], URL:
http://www.sandia.gov/media/micro.htm.
McWhorter, Paul (2006), MEMS Image Gallery, [On-line], URL: http://www.memx.com/image_gallery.htm.
“MEMS Technology” (2006), [On-line], URL: http://www.memx.com/technology.htm.
Overman, Dean (1997),
A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield).
“SAMPLES Program” (2005), Sandia National Laboratories, [On-line], URL: http://mems.sandia.gov/samples.
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