From basic webinars and Zoom happy hours (like our SemiSister Social Hour above), to full-blown technical conferences, trade shows, and even some hybrids, we’ve all been dabbling in virtual events for about six months now. But based on the emails flooding my inbox, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
But Wait… There’s MORE!
One by one, every organization that we engage with as media partners has had to change gears mid-plans – initially holding out hope that we’d be able to safely gather in a physical location – and face the inevitable and rolling out plans for virtual events. On the bright side, the elimination of travel expenses and (mostly) lower attendance fees means this season will be nirvana to the conference junkie, with even more food for thought than usual. What I’m looking forward to most is seeing all the different virtual platforms organizations are using to see which one found the most user-friendly option.
Most of these virtual events are scheduling “Live Days” and then archiving content for several weeks. That means you will have the opportunity to feast on great content just about daily from now until late November. The tricky part will be fitting it all in and around a regular workday. You’ll also need to pay close attention to time zones if you want to network with other attendees or engage with booth attendees in real-time.
To help you get started with some creative organization and careful planning, we’ve put together the following guide to our media partner virtual events. Bookmark it for easy access.
KDG Powering More than Moore
It all starts with MEPTEC’s 20th annual Known Good Die (KDG) Workshop from September 16-18, 2020. This one is FREE thanks to MEPTEC sponsors. It’s designed to not take over your life for three days. Ira Feldman and Bette Cooper have organized this event into three easy-to-digest sessions that run from 8 am-10 am/10:30 PT.
KDG is essential for emerging chiplet and other advanced packaging approaches to heterogeneous integration. Experts from Nvidia, Cisco, AMD, Advantest, NHanced Semiconductors, Techsearch International, PDF Solutions, Muhlbauer, and Onto Innovation will share their views on The Need, The Strategy, and The Solutions. Check out the impressive speaker line-up and register here.
Automotive LiDAR 2020
Did you know that LiDAR is one of the key sensor technologies to enable autonomous driving? With a reported 85 companies developing auto-grade LiDAR sensors, and $2.1 Billion funds raised to date, it’s no wonder our community member, Microtech Ventures, launched this exclusive annual event three years ago. It is the only event in the world focused entirely on automotive LIDAR technologies and applications.
From September 22-24, 2020 be ready for three days of full-immersion LiDAR. In the transition to an online event, the organizers, Mike Pinelis and Jessica Ingram have kicked it up a notch, using Brella, an AI-based event networking platform that boasts “intent-based matchmaking” and can be accessed from either your mobile device, laptop, or desktop. Note that the “live sessions” take place from 9:30-3:00 pm EASTERN Time but will be recorded and available to registered attendees after the event. Check out the details, costs, and registration here.
SEMICON Taiwan 2020
SEMICON Taiwan is now being billed as the industry’s only HYBRID event – with 550 exhibitors across 2,000 booths at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1 (TaiNEX 1), as well as a virtual platform featuring an expo hall, live streaming forums, and virtual reality (VR) technology for an immersive online experience accessible around the world. This year’s program focuses on advanced, smart, and green manufacturing; as well as enabling technologies, 5G, and artificial intelligence, all of which are booming due to COVID-19-caused needs for cloud computing, work-from-home environments, and telemedicine. There are also several concurrent events, one of which is the SiP Global Summit, which I’m hoping will be offered as part of the live-streaming technology. I’m also curious to see how this virtual experience compares with SEMICON West. Details of SEMICON Taiwan and registration information is found here.
Strategic Materials Conference 2020
Right on the heels of SEMICON Taiwan, SMC 2020 kicks off September 29-October 1, with the theme: “Leading Future Technology Innovations with Materials” and a focus on market trends and developments in advanced materials. Live and “simul-live” presentations take place from 10 am – 4:30 daily, with speakers weighing in from around the globe. You can find the star-studded line up here. Presentations will be available on-demand until October 30.
IMAPS 2020 International Symposium
This brings us to October, with Virtual IMAPS running from October 2-9, 2020, with a full conference complete with professional development courses and virtual exhibits. This year’s theme is, ironically, “Always On! Enabling a Connected World.”
Industry thought leaders such as Babek Sabi, Intel; Bryan Black, AMD; Ron Ho, Facebook; Martin Weigart, Broadcom; and Jeff Pauza, Globalfoundries, will present keynotes. Jan Vardaman, Techsearch International, will preside over the featured panel discussion titled: The Future Advanced Packaging Ecosystem: Who Will Be in the Driver’s Seat? Additionally, a Fraunhofer IZM & Fraunhofer USA Featured Workshop on System Integration is included in the symposium registration fee.
The five keynotes, the panel discussion, and the Fraunhofer workshop will be presented live and timed to not overlap with professional development courses (PDCs). All technical sessions and the Poster Session will be available On Demand 24/7 through the end of November. The Poster session will also feature a live Q&A session. Exhibits will be available live, from 10-3 pm Eastern for live chat and face-to-face virtual meetings. Virtual booths will also be available around the clock through the end of October. Exhibitor only passes are available free of charge. PDCs run all week in 2-hour time slots aligned with the Eastern time zone and are “live only” options. Find out more in this overview.
The International Wafer Level Packaging Conference 2020
Take the weekend to recover from all the live activity of the IMAPs Symposium and get ready to dive into Virtual IWLPC 2020, which continues along last year’s theme, Bridging the Boundaries: Wafer, Panel and Beyond. The event content reflects the enablement of 5G communications, AI, and IoT, automotive, and more.
Live presentations include a keynote by Samsung’s Dan Oh, as well as a panel discussion and Q&A session. These, plus the virtual exhibit take place on October 13-14, running on Pacific Standard Time. There will also be two live professional development courses that take place on October 27 and 29. Additionally, 45 technical presentations will be organized into three tracks: WLP, 3D Integration, and Advanced Manufacturing and Test. These are pre-recorded and will be available on-demand from October 13-30. 2020. Find out how you can participate here.
Virtual MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress—MSEC 2020
This is where it gets a little tricky because MSEC 2020 overlaps with both IMAPS and IWLPC, with live sessions over six mornings (8-10:30 PDT) and spanning two weeks, October 6-8 and 14-16. This year’s sessions will focus on opportunities and challenges in key MEMS and sensors markets including medical, entertainment and augmented reality, virtual reality, environmental, food/agriculture, ultrasonic applications, and wearable devices. This virtual event will feature three keynotes and 14 speakers from thought leaders in these areas. You’ll also have the opportunity for face-to-face networking, (although I’m still not sure yet how this works for this event.) If you can’t make the live version of the event, never fear, because the content will be recorded and available until November 15. You can find more details on the agenda, registration, and more here.
November Virtual Events
While all the details aren’t yet available, The International Test Conference 2020, which will once again feature a 3D Test Workshop, will be held November 3-5, 2020. We’ll be sharing details of the workshop soon. And just this week, Messe Munchen pulled the plug on Electronica 2020, making the show a virtual event. As a result, SEMI Europe made the difficult decision to cancel SEMICON Europa 2020, which was to be co-located with Electronica. There are plans to take the content to a virtual platform, and details will be shared soon. You can find out more here. No doubt the content of both of these events will be available post-show, on-demand, to registered attendees. So that should take us almost to Christmas to digest it all.
So as you can see, you won’t have to worry about what to watch on Netflix in your spare time for the next three months! There’s plenty out there to bring you up to date on everything that touches our industry. Don’t forget the popcorn! ~ FvT
