Evolutionary design optimization of MEMS: A brief review

The limitations of the conventional automated design tools for Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) design optimization (DO) are discussed in this paper. In order to overcome these difficulties, a recent trend in DO of MEMS is inspired by the natural evolution mechanism. Various techniques, especially the evolutionary computation (EC), have been adopted for the DO of MEMS. This paper presents a review of the achievements in this infant research area which utilizes EC methods for the DO of MEMS and points out the challenges that it is facing.