The bigger the breakthrough, the smaller the technology – at least when it comes to miniaturisation. Commercial devices have shrunk over recent decades, with giant engineering and scientific advances bringing us inversely proportionate devices.
Sleek computers and thin, powerful phones are perhaps the most recognisable result, but other sectors are going through the same process and having even greater impacts on people’s everyday lives. Smaller biomedical devices – such as hearing aids and implantable medical tools – can be utterly transformative for users.
American firm Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) aims to meet growing demand for miniaturised parts with a manufacturing technology that might not have seemed suitable even a few years ago.
“When the parts are very, very small, there haven’t historically been 3D printers able to do things at that scale,” says CEO John Kawola, speaking to Professional Engineering ahead of his 22 July session at the free Engineering Futures webinar series. “One of the workarounds was just ‘Make it bigger.’”
