In the past decade or so microengineering and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have found wide use within such diverse areas as biomedicine, automotive applications, sensors and actuators. Researcher and practitioner Banks focuses on the practical in this overview of the current state of the technology, covering basic terms. photolithography, silicon micromachining, nonsilicon processes, mask design, microsensors, microactuators, micro total analysis systems, integrated optics, assembly and packaging, nanotechnology, amplifiers and filtering, computer interfacing and output drivers. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)