Fast algorithms for 3-D simulation

One difficulty associated with computer simulation of micromachined devices is that the devices are typically geometrically complicated and innately three-dimensional. For this reason, attempts to exploit existing finite-element based tools for micromachined device simulation has proved difficult. Instead, micromachine device designers have been early adopters of the recently developed accelerated boundary-element methods. In this short paper the author will describe a little of the history of these methods, primarily to point the interested reader to the relevant literature.