April 3, 2012 — The innaugural MEMS Industry Group (MIG) MEMS Executive Congress Europe, held in March in Zurich, included keynotes on automotive, healthcare, and consumer micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) applications.
Smart industrial systems will use sensors and software algorithms to interpret data from electronic devices, said Siemens’ Thomas Scheiter. Scheiter called MEMS “the nervous system of machines.” Along the same vein, VTI Technologies’ Hannu Laatikainen called MEMS a way for automobiles to "see, feel, hear, smell and taste."
Gyroscopes and radio-frequency (RF) MEMS enable biofeedback for athletes in multi-level sensor networks, noted Suunto’s Terho Lahtinen. This is one of many healthcare applications, where MEMS are "essential" to bringing the patient and healthcare closer together, said Philips Research Laboratories’ Hans Hofstraat. MEMS can help promote self-management of chronic disease, and are the basis of many effective, minimally invasive therapies, Hofstraat said.
Speaking on the industry as a whole, Karen Lightman, managing director of MEMS Industry Group, noted that "MEMS is growing at an exponential pace," in consumer, automotive, smart industrial systems, and quality of life (QoL)/biomedical devices. "MEMS is enabling functionality that we have only just begun to imagine, such as cars that drive themselves, or biomedical systems that minimize surgery and miniaturize therapy for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s. While the design of these applications is vastly different, a common interest in integration, mass production, safety and reliability applies across the board.”
Read Lightman’s op-ed on the MEMS conference here
MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2012:
Attendees: 150+
Ssponsors:
Platinum- EV Group.
Gold- Applied Materials and SPTS Technologies.
Silver- Analog Devices and Semefab.
More- ACUTRONIC, AEPI, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, Asia Pacific Microsystems, Bosch, Bosch Sensortec, CEA Léti, CSEM, Freescale Semiconductor, Fries Research & Technology (FRT), GSA, IHS iSuppli, imec, iNEMI, IVAM, Plan Optik, Maxim, MST BW, NMI, Okmetic, Smart Systems Integration, SEMICON Europa, Solid State Technology, SVTC and Yole Développement.
The US edition of MEMS Executive Congress will be held November 7-8, 2012 at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ. MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is a trade association for advancing MEMS across global markets. For more information, visit www.memsindustrygroup.org.