Successful development of MEMS and microsystems requires a number of technologies for their fabrication, assembly, and low-cost packaging. Integration of new materials is especially critical for both sensing and packaging, and dictates cost, environmental compatibility or biocompatibility, long-term reliability, and manufacturing yield of many microsystems. Techniques that are compatible with wafer-level fabrication, low-temperature processing, vacuum and hermetic encapsulation, and standard MEMS postfabrication approaches are needed. Many challenges remain, particularly with respect to material diversity and package integration. The research projects include topics in four general areas: wafer-scale bonding and vacuum packaging; assembly, interconnect, and related thin-film technologies; etching and deposition methods for new materials; and mechanical protection and thermal issues.