Manipulation of bio-fluids in microchannels faces many challenges in the development of lab-on-a-chip devices. We propose magnetically actuated artificial cilia which can propel fluids in microchannels. These cilia are magnetic films which can be actuated by an external magnetic field, leading to an asymmetric motion like that of natural cilia. The coupling between different physical mechanisms (magnetostatics, solid mechanics and fluid dynamics) is numerically established. In this work we quantify the flow through a microfluidic channel as a function of its geometry for a characteristic set of dimensionless parameters. © 2009 Materials Research Society.