Designer wins competition with worlds smallest chess board

on Wednesday,June 16,2010 19:06

Many designers have grand ambitions for their careers, with their sights set on creating enormous works that will captivate the mind and spirit. Yet some designers prefer to make items so small that they can only be seen with a special microscope. That was the case at this year's Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Design contest, which tasked burgeoning designers with creating unique works of art on a small scale.

Held at the Sandia National Laboratories, the annual event draws some of the greatest minds in both science and design - and this year's victors represent a compelling mix between them.

Taking home the prize in the Novel category was a team of engineering students from Texas Tech, who created a microscopic chess board about the diameter of four human hairs. The board is completely playable and comes with its own traditional chess pieces fitted with small stubs, allowing them to be moved by a microbiotic arm.

There is even a space on the side of the board to hold captured pieces, according to Azonano.com.

For the Educational category, the winning entry came from the University of Utah, who designed a micro-barbershop capable of servicing individual hairs by using tiny grippers, cutters, movable mirrors and even a blow dryer.