SEMI’s first edition of the European MEMS Summit, which took place in 2015 in Milan, was a stellar success, attracting 265 attendees from 21 countries. The second edition will take September 15-16, 2016 in Stuttgart Germany; a fitting location as many MEMS producers are headquartered nearby. 3D InCites caught up with Yann Guillou, Membership Services Manager at SEMI and organizer of the MEMS conference to learn more about this year’s event.
3DInCites: Last year’s European MEMS Summit topic was Sensing the Planet, MEMS for Life. This year it’s Make Every Market Smarter, besides being a clever acronym, what will this year’s topic focus on vs. last year?
Guillou: Smartphone, smart home, smart building, smart city, smart lighting, smart manufacturing, smart grid, smart watch, etc… I could continue for hours as everything you read today is or should be “smart.” Based on our analysis, to make all these markets or products “smart,” MEMS, or more generically speaking, sensors and actuators, will be key enablers. Consequently, we decided to use the motto “Make Every Market Smarter,” for our event which is naturally a reference to the MEMS acronym.
When it comes to specific topics, this year we will continue to focus on the business challenges faced by the industry, new technologies, and we will spend time on automotive, consumer and wearable electronics markets ─ and of course IoT.
3DInCites: The MEMS Summit is in its second year, and SEMI has made a significant effort to increase its activities to support MEMS. How is this initiative being received by SEMI members?
We kicked off the 1st European MEMS Summit last year due to requests from MEMS companies to have SEMI become more engaged with the MEMS and Sensor supply chain. Members contacted us as they identified gaps in the actual landscape and believed SEMI was the best organization to play a leadership role and contribute to the growth and prosperity of the ecosystem. The MEMS Summit in Milan was a great success with more than 250 international attendees and naturally became the flagship SEMI event for MEMS and Sensors. This event is not the only SEMI event dedicated to MEMS. We offer now a diversified and complementary set of events. Some of these events are technical while some are more manufacturing related. A few of them are organized in partnership with complementary organizations (like the MSIG-SEMI Joint Workshop at SEMICON West and presentations at SEMICON Japan and SEMICON Europa), and some are run during SEMICON shows (like the MEMS Forum at SEMICON Taiwan). Events are not all we offer. We additionally investigate what can be done in standardization as part of our Standards program and run surveys to determine the business and technical challenges and try to tackle them.
3DInCites: Can you speak specifically about this year’s program – will the format be different than last year? Who will be delivering the keynotes? Will there be a panel discussion?
I’m really excited with what the steering committee put together for this year. I cannot share all the names as we are still confirming the last ones but I believe the line-up proposed will be a “Grand Cru” in 2016. Already confirmed and publicly announced, we will have as keynote speakers, executives from Bosch, STMicroelectornics, and Qorvo. Udo Gomez, CTO of Bosch Sensortec will talk about “Smart Connected MEMS Sensors – Enabler for The IoT.” From the other large European IDM, we will have a man who no longer really needs an introduction, Benedeto Vigna from delivering a talk entitled “MEMS Sensors and Actuators – Opportunities and Challenges.” No doubt he will share his visionary outlook and how STMicroelectronics prepares for the future. Qorvo significantly grew its MEMS business in the recent years in RF. Qorvo’s Robert Aigner, senior director, will present “BAW and the ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ in wireless communication: Innovate. Ramp. Repeat.” A final keynote will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
In addition to these keynotes, we have an impressive list of speakers from NXP, Intel, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, AMKOR, and Teledyne DALSA, as well as market research companies such as IHS, Roland Berger, and Yole Développement; additional speakers will be confirmed soon. Last but not the least, this year we decided not to organize a panel discussion but instead we have identified and invited great start-up companies. Founders and CxOs from companies such as Polight, Innoluce, USound and more will be there to pitch. If you do not know them, but would like to or if you simply want to connect, come to the European MEMS Summit.
3DInCites: Why did you select Stuttgart as the location for this year’s MEMS Summit?
This is quite simple. We try as often as possible to align a strategic location with the Summit. Robert Bosch began in Stuttgart in the 19th century and still has headquarters of its Automotive Electronics Division, as well as Bosch Sensortec, located nearby. If you look at the top MEMS manufacturer rankings, Robert Bosch successfully grew over the recent years and as of today is positioned as a leader. So hosting the event in Stuttgart was obvious, especially as Bosch has been very responsive and supportive of the idea since the beginning. SEMI Europe has definitively been lucky; similarly, in 2015, when SEMI organized the 1st edition in Milan we had strong support from STMicroelectronics.
3DInCites: What is the value proposition for attendees to attend this year’s Summit?
The SEMI European MEMS Summit (15-16 September in Stuttgart) has a strong program with executive speakers, unique start-up companies, lots of networking opportunities with key stakeholders, a focused exhibition, and all this is located in one of the world’s major sensor hub. Come and we will show you. You’ll be happy you attended.
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