BioMEMS technology is the miniaturization of mechanical devices and their combination with biotechnology, enabling a variety of innovative applications such as enabling paraplegics to control computers and restoring sight to the blind. My goal is to use this technological advancement to dramatically improve the lives of people with disabilities, fulfill social responsibility, and create a new paradigm.
Surrounded by hundreds of Smith’s agents, Nio summons all his strength. After soaring through the agents, Nio breathes a sigh of relief and enters a secluded alley. The sound of a phone ringing echoes through the alley. Picking up the receiver, Nio feels dizzy and comes face-to-face with the ceiling of Nebuchadnezzar’s ship. Back in reality, through his disheveled hair, the hallway to the Matrix is faintly visible, illuminated by the dim lights of the ship.
The disorientation Nio must have felt is a reflection of the confusion anyone can experience when the boundaries between reality and virtuality collapse. This moment of connection is like the moment we wake up from a dream. As the boundaries between dream and reality blur, we are freed from our daily routine and explore new possibilities. These connections are not just fiction, but are becoming more and more common in our lives as technology advances.
The human-machine connection in the movie “The Matrix” can be realized through BioMEMS (Bio Technology and MEMS, Micro Electro Mechanical System), a bio-mechanical system interface technology. It is this field of BioMEMS that I would like to introduce here.
As my childhood nickname “Philosopher” suggests, I enjoy analyzing the forces that shape and change the world logically. My passion for understanding phenomena and the implications behind them led me to the world of math, science, and engineering, and I could feel my passion stirring in my heart when I saw the changes that mankind has made through engineering. ‘Let’s do something big to benefit the world through engineering.
With this dream, I went to Seoul National University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and studied various fields of mechanical engineering such as heat transfer, solid mechanics, applied fluid mechanics, robotics, automotive engineering, MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System), and BioMEMS, and became interested in BioMEMS as a field to realize my dream.
BioMEMS is a combination of Bio Technology and Micro Electro Mechanical System. Therefore, in order to understand the field of BioMEMS, it is necessary to understand MEMS. MEMS is a technology that uses semiconductor processes to integrate mechanical devices into a space as small as a micrometer (10-6m). Just as semiconductor technology allowed large electronic devices such as vacuum tubes and transistors to be integrated into incredibly small spaces, transforming the pocket-sized Aniak (the first computer) into a much higher-performance, palm-sized calculator, MEMS technology can miniaturize existing mechanical devices such as coolers and sensors, allowing them to be mass-produced at low cost, while improving their responsiveness, efficiency, accuracy, and portability.
In particular, the micro-scale structure of mEMS devices enables them to detect very weak signals from living organisms and to be precisely controlled at the cellular level, taking biotechnology research from qualitative, visible scales to quantitative, cellular-level accuracy. This application of the fine control and responsiveness of mEMS technology to biotechnology is called biomEMS. With this technology, it is possible to connect machines and the human brain by recognizing electrical signals between cells through precise bio-mechanical interfaces, as shown in the scene from The Matrix.
While still in its infancy, there have been successful experiments in which a paraplegic patient was able to control a computer’s cursor with his will by inserting electrodes into his brain using MEMS technology, and a blind man’s vision was restored to some extent by a MEMS device that connected a tiny camera to his brain. There are many other applications of biomemes, such as biochips that can diagnose diseases on their own or sensors that can detect biomolecules.
I realized that biomembrane technology could change the world in the future, so I took several courses on membranes and biomembranes to gain theoretical knowledge. In addition, experimental experience is very important for biomEMS, so I joined the Multiscale Biomedical Engineering Laboratory as an undergraduate research student to develop biomEMS devices that can simulate human tissue and devise models to characterize them.
Based on these efforts, my goal is to contribute to the advancement of the biomEMS field, which is still largely unexplored, and to develop various technologies that can be widely used in real life. In particular, I would like to advance the technology so that people with disabilities, such as the aforementioned paraplegics and the blind, can fundamentally overcome their disabilities. To this end, I have planned to attend graduate school and have received offers from several graduate schools and will begin my research as a researcher this September.
In my future research, and in life, I will change the big picture of the world through hard work and innovative ideas. The challenges I will face in this process will not only be technical, but also deeply related to social and ethical issues. To solve them, I will collaborate with experts in various fields, constantly learn, and fulfill my social responsibility. In doing so, I hope to present a new paradigm for harmonizing technology and humans and pave the way for a better future.
