Acknowledgements

J. Berthier

I would like to thank all my colleagues who have contributed with photographs and sketches: R. Berthier, N. Sarrut, P. Dalle, J. Wagh, P. Clementz, P. Pouteau, F. Baleras, N. Chiarutinni, M. Bestehorn, and G. Morris.

I am grateful to E. Berthier and his colleagues B. Casavant and D.J. Beebe at University of Wisconsin for their discussion on “Suspended microfluidics” and sketches for chapter 8 “Open microfluidics”.

Many thanks to J.C. Mourrat (EPFL) for the fruitful discussion on the analytical model for the twist mode of chapter 11 “Capillary Self-assembly for 3D Microelectronics”. I also am indebt to L. Di Cioccio, S. Mermoz and C. Frétigny for their help for this same chapter.

I am also grateful to D. Peyrade for the interesting discussions on capillary alignment of gold nanospheres in chapter 9 “Droplets, Particles and Interfaces”.

I would like to thank my company for having given me encouragements and support for this project, especially L. Malier director of the Leti, and C. Peponnet my group leader.

Finally I thank my children Erwin, Linda and Rosanne for constantly encouraging me during this work.

K. Brakke

I would like to thank my Ph.D. advisor Fred Almgren for introducing me to the mathematics of soap films and liquid surfaces and his support and encouragement during the early development of my Surface Evolver. I would also like to thank the Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota for numerous summer visits and a sabbatical, which greatly contributed to Evolver development.