Meaning & use
microengineering
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The design and making of extremely small mechanical or electronic parts and devices, often measured in micrometers.
Grammar: No plural and no article needed: microengineering is growing fast.
Patterns
- advances in microengineering
- microengineering of something
Advances in microengineering made the tiny sensor possible.
She is studying microengineering at a technical university.
Hearing aids depend heavily on microengineering.
Common combinations
- advances in microengineering
- Advances in microengineering have shrunk medical implants.
- microengineering company
- A microengineering company produced the valve.
- precision microengineering
- Precision microengineering is needed to build such a pump.
- microengineering research
- Microengineering research is funded by the university.
Synonyms and how they differ
- microfabrication
- This stresses the manufacturing process, while microengineering covers design as well as production.
- micromachining
- This is narrower and means cutting or shaping tiny parts specifically.
- miniaturization
- This describes making things smaller in general, not necessarily to the micrometer scale.
Word family
- microengineer noun
- a person who works in microengineering
- engineering noun
- the design and building of machines and structures
- microscopic adjective
- too small to see without a microscope
Commonly confused: microengineering or nanotechnology?
microengineering vs nanotechnology
Nanotechnology works at an even smaller scale, billionths of a meter, while microengineering works at millionths.
Practice
Which job would involve microengineering?
Choose one answer.
Microengineering deals with extremely small devices. The other tasks involve large-scale work.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “microengineering”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.