For the second consecutive year, SEMI Europe is co-locating its MEMS and Sensors/Imaging and Sensors Summits in Grenoble, France, in the heart of the Rhone-Alpes. Rather than Minatec Campus, where the event was held last year, both summits will take place at The World Trade Center Grenoble.
After last year’s successful and information-packed event, I’m looking forward to attending this year’s event. If you haven’t registered yet. Stop reading right now and go here to secure your spot. (then come back and read the rest of this, it will help you get the most out of the event).
If you’re already registered, relax and read on to find out what you’ve got to look forward to next month (September 19-20, 2018).
Because this event runs two tracks concurrently, the tricky part is figuring out what you absolutely must attend, and what you can miss. Luckily there are several common tracks designed to appeal to both audiences. Additionally, this year, exhibiting companies will showcase their offerings from a combined MEMS, Imaging, and Sensors exhibitor area.
Combined Session
The Wednesday evening keynote kick-off and the Friday applications session will be combined offerings. Keynote talks will hit all the current hot buttons in the industry: sensors for automotive applications (Lars Reger, CTO, NXP Semiconductors); the role of sensors from data acquisition through embedded information (Emmanuel Sabonnadiere, CEO, Leti); cloud vs. edge computing, from Claud Habfast, Grenoble-Alps Metropolitan Council.) The speaker from Renault will be a surprise, and the final keynoter, Teng Gao, FIOT-LAB, appears to be keeping his topic a secret.
The applications sessions will address a myriad of ways MEMS, imaging and sensors can be put to work in AI, virtual and augmented reality, and virtual machines. Speakers from Qualcomm, Schneider Electric, Léman Microdevices, and Zimmer and Peacock will explain how these technologies will impact everything from agriculture and healthcare to semiconductor device manufacturing.
Choices, Choices
Thursday, those interested mostly in MEMS technologies and related sensors should head to the MEMS and Sensors Business Market Forecasts to be updated on the impact of megatrends (Eric Mounier, Yole Développement), disruption in the authentication market (Manuel Tagliavini, HIS Markit), and future trends and drivers (Michael Alexander, Roland Berger).
Image sensing enthusiasts will want to attend the Overview and Market Session, to learn about 3D sensing (Markus Rossi, AMS), miniaturized LiDAR (François Simoens, CEA-Leti), and the imaging and sensing market status (Pierre Cambou, Yole Développement.) Again, Taner Ozcelik, ON Semiconductor, prefers to surprise us with his topic.
Always one of the event highlights, the MEMS and Sensors and Imaging and Sensors Technology showcases will run concurrently on Thursday, from 11:00-Noon. These fast-paced competitions give both start-ups and established companies the opportunity to showcase their newest ideas, with a 5-minute demo followed by Q&A. The winner of each gets a free booth at next year’s event. Check out the shortlists for both showcases here. Be sure to stop by and see last year’s winner, Si-Ware Systems, at Booth #55.
General Sessions
The general sessions for the MEMS and Sensors Summit follow a logical format beginning with MEMS and sensor technologies, followed by MEMS manufacturing technologies, and concluding with MEMS applications. Likewise, the Imaging and Sensors Summit sessions will explore technology and manufacturing, the image sensors themselves, and applications. So plan your day accordingly.
My plan is to pick out some of the newest and most compelling talks from both agendas on topics I haven’t heard about before. Low-cost, Portable and Automated Characterization of Semen, Based on Al-enabled Computational Microscopy Innovations caught my eye (yes, you read that right) as an interesting AI application. And of course, AI Enabled Imaging at the Edge is on my dance card, as Xperi is a loyal sponsor of 3D InCites (that’s how it works, folks!).
Networking Opportunities
From the welcome reception through to the final luncheon, there is no shortage of opportunities to network, while also sampling the region’s finest food and wines.
For those who really want to get down to business, be sure to register for the B2B matchmaking, which will be available throughout the event on Thursday and Friday. Details for how it all works can be found here.
You won’t want to miss this year’s Gala Dinner, which takes place on Thursday, September 20, at Le Téléférique. Always the shining event, this dinner is guaranteed to top them all – quite literally – as transportation to the venue means a ride on a cable car to the Bastille. (Note that the Gala is not included in your registration, so be sure to get your tickets for this event here.) Be sure to let me know if you’re attending, and we’ll save you a spot at the Cool Table. ~ FvT
