Communicating Microtechnology In The Space Sector
- Paper number
IAC-07-C2.8.07
- Author
Mrs. Theres Gustafsson, Angstrom Aerospace Corporation (AAC), Sweden
- Coauthor
Mr. Petrus Hyvönen, Angstrom Aerospace Corporation (AAC), Sweden
- Year
2007
- Abstract
With the current attention to the maturing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) development, a division between academic and industrial views can be identified. There is a bidirectional need of communicating MEMS effectively with the industry in order to achieve a successful commercialization of MEMS-based products and in particular when introducing microtechnology in the space industry. The space industry is conservative when it comes to introduction of new technologies and building concepts, as a result of the high reliability needs in this business. There is an obvious barrier to overcome in order to successfully integrate MEMS in the space industry and the communication will be particularly important in this process. A top-down approach is one way of promoting the advances of microsystems to space business, meaning that possibilities are presented to top level managers, decision makers and directors. Another way is to communicate more detailed technology advances to managers working closer to the technology. A market study has been carried out on this topic, implying that a combination of these approaches may be successful. Furthermore, the choice of MEMS aspects to communicate to different categories of people in a company are important to consider. The technology adaptation profiles will differ among different groups. There is also a great need of supporting the MEMS promotion with test results and quality assurance strategies, provided by universities in order to give space business faith in this technology. The technology adaptation profiles and communication strategies for different user groups are presented and discussed.
- Abstract document