Switching to Microswitches

Micro switches are a big deal at Norcada Inc. The miniature scale switches developed by the Edmonton MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) development company fit the bill perfectly for today's fast-moving telecommunicatons field.

Their miniscule size allows many of them to be arrayed in a row in less than the space needed for one traditional mechanical switch. They're high-performance and low-cost - and they meet the needs for high-speed Internet reconfiguration and radio frequency (RF) testing perfectly, says Dr. Yuebin Ning, company co-founder and Vice-President of Research.

"Our microswitch matrix will route ADSL Internet access through the telephone line by remote control," says Ning. "That way the Internet provider can just type in a command to connect the ADSL service for a customer instead of sending a technician."

Likewise, the microswitches stand up well when it comes to RF testing - specifically for measuring signal quality in various kinds of wireless communications networks.

Ning co-founded Norcada in 2001 with regional smalltech pioneer Graham McKinnon. Having been involved in this emerging industry from the early days, the two innovator-entrepreneurs have a combined total of more than 30 years of experience in MEMS product development. Since its inception, Norcada has established a wide range of MEMS design and fabrication capabilities which enable the firm to conduct numerous MEMS development projects with applications ranging from fibre-optic communications to thin-film devices and microfluidics.

Now in the early stages of prototyping, the small switches could hit the market in two to three years.