Microsystems in the Far East-a review

This presentation provides a brief overview of two recent missions to the Far East. The missions aimed to assess the status of microsystem technologies in Japan, Taiwan and Korea. In November 1999, the presenter of this paper was nominated to lead a "Benchmarking" mission to Japan and Taiwan, on behalf of the European Collaborative Network on Microtechnologies-NEXUS. Early this year, the presenter joined a British Government mission, sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), to Taiwan and Korea. The report detailing the results of the NEXUS Mission has been published and is available on the NEXUS Web-Site (http://www.nexus-emsto.com). The report on the DTI mission will be issued in conjunction with a major presentation by the mission delegates scheduled for Autumn this year.