NanoVance is a startup, says CEO Ellery Buchanan, that can talk to customers, figure out their needs, design a device and make it on a fabless model. NanoVance's business model is that of a general contractor for microelectromechanical sensor (MEMS) projects, and NanoVance uses extra fabrication (fab) capacity available from other manufacturers. Siwave, in contrast, built a fab plant that can produce almost three times as many MEMS as Siwave plans to sell under its brand. Siwave primarily makes MEMS for gyroscopes for digital cameras, but also does some MEMS contract work and wants to raise revenues from that market. The fact that Siwave has extra capacity is not intentional, but instead is a reflection of the under-performance of the MEMs market, which, says Buchanan, has not met its full potential. The value of the MEMS industry is $5 billion in 2003, and there are still many difficulties to be addressed in all market segments, says an analyst. However, says Ellen McDevitt, managing director of the MEMS Industry Group trade association, MEMS penetration cannot be compared with the semiconductor industry's, since MEMS have moving parts MEMS and a different economy of scale and processes. NanoVance plans to benefit from the convergence of MEMS and a whole new type of nano-electronic integrated circuits that will be used in such markets as homeland security. For instance, a market for sensing devices that detect lethal materials is emerging that would require a combination of biological electrical and fluidic properties. NanoVance would provide some of its own expertise, find more among network partners such as Siwave, and run the gauntlet to guide design, development, and manufacturer of the devices.