Panels
MEMS are showing up in all facets of our daily lives. While much attention has been paid to applications such as the iPhone, there are many more consumer applications fueling this rapidly growing market. Today, consumers are demanding more functionality of their products, and MEMS are helping to dramatically improve the user experience for all. This panel will discuss how European companies are leading the world in the innovative use of MEMS for consumer products such as mobile devices, tablets, remotes, television, consumer health devices; and the list continues to grow. Are there advantages in corporate structure or government funding in the EU that allow for more or better innovation than in other places? Is there a more developed relationship between consumers and OEMs in the EU that allow for consumer desires to be met faster or more innovatively? Panelists will also discuss the intense pressures of this highly lucrative but competitive market; does market leader also mean revenue leader? This panel asks and will try to answer these and other tough challenges in consumer products MEMS.
MEMS have been critical to advancements in the automotive industry for decades, starting with low-cost pressure sensors and accelerometers in airbag crash sensors and other automotive safety and environmental control applications. Innovations in automotive MEMS continue today, where modern sensor applications are opening a whole new world of safety, energy-efficiency and performance features. Cars that park themselves are just the beginning. Thanks to MEMS, we are moving towards cars that drive themselves, zero-emission vehicles and automobiles that meet the ubiquitous connectivity needs of today’s consumer. This panel will examine how MEMS is enabling ground-breaking innovation beyond crash sensors in the well-established yet highly competitive and consumer driven automotive industry. Additionally panelists will address how MEMS components matured into a vital element in every new automotive technology and (if?) how the lessons learned on the journey can be applied in other applications and industries.
The energy industry is undergoing significant change – from deregulation in existing markets to expansion into new energy sources and regions to the rapid increase of energy costs, to the actual understanding that current energy sources will not meet future global demand. These changes require new solutions to meet the increasing demand for portable and highly efficient energy technologies. With global adoption of European alternative energy innovation taking place, the EU has a unique perspective to offer both in terms of harnessing alternative energy and the role of MEMS in that process. And as the industry evolves and grows, there is an increasing role for the use of MEMS technologies. MEMS devices are well suited for energy harvesting and power generation applications and have the ability to dramatically improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. This panel will discuss current MEMS initiatives for energy applications and explore areas of the energy industry which might benefit from integration with MEMS.
Panel sponsored by Tronics
Medical and quality of life applications that allow people to live longer and more independently are gaining mindshare—and market share. As medical-device manufacturers increasingly pursue growing commercial opportunities, they are turning to MEMS for patient monitoring, management, rehabilitation, replacement and drug delivery, including microfluidics. Panelists will address the MEMS’ connection to lifesaving and life-enhancing applications. As people in the developed world live longer, and expect a high quality of life to the very end, how can MEMS help to meet the needs of a vast and aging populace? Frank Bartels, founder, Bartels Mikrotechnik; president, IVAM, will moderate.
