Engineering research at Lancaster has led to optimised performance of Apple iPhone, Nintendo Wii and Switch

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are miniaturised components made from material that doesn’t require mechanical assembly and can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost. The technology is well suited to sensing and actuation with applications including aerospace, defence, medicine and transport. As such, quality on-line testing and efficient reliability modelling is crucial.

Research by Professor Andrew Richardson into reliability modelling technologies has been commercialised by ST Microelectronics (STM), a world-leading electronics manufacturer. It has allowed them to achieve mass market penetration of inertial MEMS. Richardson’s research validated the shock resistance of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors to demonstrate the necessary robustness for consumer applications.

• Accelerometer and gyroscope MEMS were used in the iPhone 4 and 4S, iPhone 5C, the Nintendo Wii and Wii U and the Nintendo Switch. Conservative sales estimates for these products are 37 million units and 81 million units sold respectively.
• In the automotive market, evaluation methodologies proved an ability to deliver very low field failure rates at low cost or as STM put it “Aerospace Quality at Automotive Prices”. As such, STM has established a solid platform for success in the airbag market with growing applications in roll detection and advanced driver assistance systems.
• ST Microelectronics (STM) is a world leading French- Italian multinational electronics and semiconductor manufacturer with 46,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue of $9.7 billion. Inertial MEMS devices alone contributed $3.5 billion in sales revenue for STM since 2014.
• As of September 2012, STM had shipped 2 billion MEMS sensors that confirmed its leading global position in MEMS technology for consumer and portable application. By August 2020 this had grown significantly to 17 billion.