When the 15th European Microwave Week takes place at the RAI Amsterdam Conference Centre from the 28th of October to the 2nd of November, it will be dedicated to making Space for Microwaves. Every effort has been made to fill that time and conference/exhibition space with as much substance, variety and innovation as possible, while maintaining the intimacy and friendliness that EuMW is renowned for and why it is established as the premier RF and microwave event in Europe.

With the focus also being on Microwaves for Space EuMW 2012 will see a galaxy of familiar and new initiatives revolving around the established stars that are the three conferences: the 42nd European Microwave Conference (EuMC), the 7th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC), the 9th European Radar Conference (EuRAD); and the European Microwave Exhibition, which will feature more than 250 exhibitors spread over more than 7000 m² (gross).

Bringing industry, academia and commerce together, the Week will attract an estimated 1700 conference delegates and over 5000 visitors. With more than 830 papers submitted from around 50 countries, the conferences promise exciting presentations both in oral and poster sessions. The opening and closing plenary sessions of all three conferences will feature keynote speeches by leaders in their respective fields and a selection of workshops and short courses will be presented by internationally recognized lecturers.

On Tuesday evening, the EuMW Welcome Reception will be held in the Elicium, Amsterdam RAI. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception at 18:30 at which guests will be addressed by the 2012 EuMW chairman who will hand over to the 2013 EuMW chairman for Nuremburg, followed by platinum sponsor Agilent Technologies. After that, a seated buffet for 1000 people will be served.

European Microwave Week appeals to engineers and scientists from both industry and academia, working in any area related to the growing field of microwave applications. It is a platform for exchanging ideas and opinions across technology domains and offers the opportunity for students, industry and eminent experts to interact, network and establish working relationships.

The following quick reference guide gives more information on what European Microwave Week 2012 has to offer but is designed to complement the Conference Programme and Exhibition Show Guide, in which you will find more detailed information.

The Conferences

Each with their own dedicated time slots throughout the Week are the three focused conferences:

• The 42nd European Microwave Conference (EuMC) extends from Monday 29 October to Thursday 1 November
• The 7th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC) takes place on Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 October
• The 9th European Radar Conference (EuRAD) ends the Week and runs from Wednesday 31 October to Friday 2 November

The conferences focus on the needs of engineers and researchers and offer them the opportunity to discuss the latest trends and developments in the application of microwaves. Microwave devices, systems for telecommunications (both terrestrial and space-borne), transportation, medical, radar and new areas of application are included in the programme, with particular emphasis given to space-related technologies and applications.

Registration, sponsored by Rohde & Schwarz, opened online on 12th June and remains open until 2nd November. Those who have not pre-registered can do so at the onsite registration area, which is located in the Diamond Lounge and will be available from Saturday 27th October (16:00 to 19:00) and from 7:30 each morning from Sunday 28th October to Friday 2^nd November. All those who have pre-registered should bring their badge barcode and confirmation with them to the conference where they can print out their badge by scanning their barcode at the Fast Track desk onsite.

Using onsite registration terminals, delegates will be able to enter their details and pay immediately by swiping their credit or debit cards through the card readers attached to the terminals. Alternatively, payment can be made at the Cashier Desk if a printed receipt is required. Delegates should register for one, two or all three of the conferences. Registration at one conference does not allow any access to other conference sessions. Those who wish to register for two or more conferences will receive a discount on these registrations. Please note that reduced (early bird) rates are available for registration in advance of 27th September. Delegate bags, sponsored by NXP and ESA, can be collected from collection points to the right of the registration area. The bags will include a USB stick containing the conference presentations.

The European Microwave Conference

As the central event of European Microwave Week EuMC exists in harmony with EuMIC and EuRAD, with which it shares several sessions. The conference offers a blend of workshops, short courses – both on Sunday and Monday – and regular and focused sessions – mainly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The workshops cover subjects with their roots in tradition, such as filters and power amplifiers, while equally addressing subjects for the future, such as graphene nanoelectronics, biomedical applications and Terahertz technologies.

The regular (oral and poster) sessions, take a similar approach by covering a very broad range of topics, typical of the EuMC: passive components, filters, interconnects, metamaterials and EBGs, packaging, antennas, phased arrays, reconfigurable antennas, power amplifiers, field theory, EMI and biological interaction, measurements, active circuits design, THz, etc. – spiced with a bit of ‘space applications.’

Both the opening and closing sessions feature an overview presentation by an expert in the field, in conjunction with a provocative reflection on the future of research by an experienced research manager with a background in industry, academia and public office. For the Opening Session, the protagonists will be Yrjö Neuvo (presently at Aalto University and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology) and Constantine A. Balanis (Arizona State University), while the Closing Session will feature Ingo Wolff (IMST GmbH) and Jacob Fokkema (Delft University of Technology and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research).

The European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference

As part of European Microwave Week, EuMIC continues to find stability in the two organizing bodies: the European Microwave Association (EuMA) and the GAAS® Association, which has supported this conference and its predecessor since 1990. Joint sessions also run in conjunction with EuMC and EuRAD.

Always strong in microwave models, technologies, devices and applications, this year’s conference particularly solicited papers in specific areas. In the microwave modelling domain, topics include complex and multidomain modelling and measurement set-ups. In the technology area, papers cover wide-bandgap devices and technologies, as well as NEMS and space-aspects of IC technologies. In the circuit design and applications track, millimetre-wave and THz devices and circuits, mixed-signal, tuneable and reconfigurable ICs, as well as integrated receivers and transmitters are featured. And, in keeping with this year’s theme, EuMIC provides space for microwaves and space for microwave ICs.

As usual, there are strong plenary speakers who will address four key topics: The industrial quest for microwave technologies (Hooijmans, NXP), emerging possibilities by engineering nanomaterials for microwave applications (Blank, Twente University), the frontier of III-V THz transistors (Rodwell, UCSB) and their on-wafer measurement (Weikle, University of Virginia).

The European Radar Conference

With its very strong foothold, especially in continental Europe, this Radar Conference is the major European forum addressing the present status and future trends in the field of radar technology, system design and applications. The accepted papers are organised in 11 regular EuRAD sessions, adding up to 54 podium presentations, three focused sessions and four EuRAD/EuMC combined sessions, plus a poster session with 22 additional papers.

The conference will be held from Wednesday, when the Opening Session will be part of the Defence, Security and Space Forum for the first time, to Friday. The programme covers a very wide and interesting range of radar topics like radar architectures, radar systems, applications and processing (e.g., MISO/MIMO radar, remote sensing, high resolution techniques, automotive radar, target classification and microDoppler analysis).

In the opening and closing sessions, three internationally recognized experts will give keynote presentations illustrating the very wide range of radar applications. Holger H. Meinel (Daimler AG) will elaborate on: Automotive radar – history, state-of-the-art and future trends, and Capt Rob Hendriks MA (Netherland Defense Materiel Organization) will consider: RF technology as an enabler for future above water warfare, discussing the requirement package for future surface combatants and the impact on the radar, sensor and communication fit of these naval platforms. During the closing session, Rene de Jongh (Thales Nederland B.V.) will speak on: Radar innovation challenges - from technology breakthroughs to customer added value: an industrial viewpoint.

A complimentary lunch will be offered to all attendees on Friday before the closing session. This lunch will give the opportunity for the audience to meet and exchange ideas with the worldwide radar experts attending the conference.

The Exhibition

It is important to note that for the very first time the exhibition will begin on Monday (see Exhibition Opening Hours below) and run to Wednesday in Halls 2 and 3 of the RAI. The FREE to attend European Microwave Week Exhibition has become the focus of leading companies from around the globe that want to reach the international audience that EuMW attracts. Of course, western European companies are well represented, along with the USA and Asia, with a significant increase in the number of Chinese companies making their presence felt. The French Pavilion has maintained its presence since 2006 and for the first time there will also be a Spanish Pavilion, which will bring together the country’s large and small companies and distributors, all under one defined roof.

Proving that the exhibition is driving innovation, for the first time, the exhibition halls will house five vehicles that will demonstrate that automotive technology is emerging from the lab and onto the road. All of the cars will be equipped with different 24 GHz, as well as 77 GHz radar sensors. Three cars will feature radar sensors from Bosch, Conti and Valeo respectively, while two cars from Mercedes-Benz – an S-class and a brand new A-class -– will demonstrate the upcoming democratization process of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) with sensors from Conti, Bosch and Autoliv.

Hall 3 will also feature the MicroApps Auditorium, where, following its successful introduction in Manchester in 2011, the European Microwave Week Microwave Application Seminars (MicroApps) will be held. The AWR, Horizon House and National Instruments sponsored seminars will begin on Monday 29 October (first MicroApps presentation at 12:30) and continue through to Wednesday 31 October.

The established and popular exhibitor workshops offered by leaders in their respective fields will continue, offering attendees the opportunity to see live demonstrations and gain hands-on experience.

To find out which companies will be exhibiting at Amsterdam RAI, see the latest exhibitor list, starting on page 184.

Exhibition Opening Hours

• Monday 29th October: 12:00 to 18:00
• Tuesday 30th October: 9:30 to 18:00 (followed by the Welcome Reception)
• Wednesday 31st October: 9:30 to 18:00

CYBER CAFÉ AND WIFI

CST is sponsoring a Cyber Café located within the Exhibition Hall for all delegates, exhibitors and visitors to use, as well as free WiFi (4 Mb/s) access to emails for delegates in all conference areas.

POSTER SESSIONS

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the poster sessions will be located near the coffee break locations in the exhibition halls, while on Thursday they will be found in the Topaz Lounge on the 1st floor of the conference area.

GETTING TO THE AMSTERDAM RAI

From Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the RAI Conference Centre can be reached in less than 15 minutes by car or public transport. It is situated next to the Ring A10, exit S109. There is a stop for tram 4 in front of the building and the railway station, Amsterdam RAI, is within walking distance.

By Tram and Bus

From Amsterdam Central Station (CS) take the Amstelveen express tram 51 (travelling time: 12 minutes, exit at the Amsterdam RAI station) or tram 4 (travelling time: 30 minutes, exit at the RAI Europaplein). If travelling by train to the Amstel station, take the Amstelveen express tram 51 (travelling time: 5 minutes) or the bus 62 (travelling time: 10 minutes), which goes to RAI Europaplein. From Amsterdam Sloterdijk station, the best way to reach the RAI is via express tram 50.

By Train

NS-station Amsterdam RAI is 300 meters from the RAI and has regular connections to all parts of the Netherlands, including Schiphol, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague. It is also linked to the international train network. More information can be found on www.ns.nl.

By Car

The RAI is alongside Amsterdam’s A10 orbital motorway (exit S109) and has its own underground car parks. All the main motorways can be reached easily from the orbital motorway and numerous signs indicate the way to the RAI. During large exhibitions orange signs displaying ‘P RAI’ direct visitors to additional parking places, where a free shuttle bus connects to the RAI.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS

The Amsterdam RAI Hotel and Travel Service claims to be able to offer considerable savings in money, time and hassle. Make a reservation in three easy steps by visiting: www.rai.nl/hotelservice.

SHOPPING and SIGHTSEEING

Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most exciting and dynamic cities and reflects the openness and friendliness of its people. It offers the culture, entertainment and history of a big city, while also affording the charm and warmth of one much smaller.

The city boasts a fascinating and varied history and is blessed with great restaurants, hip bars and wonderful museums. The numbers speak for themselves: there are 51 museums, 141 galleries, 206 van Gogh paintings, 40 concerts a day, 755 restaurants, 1402 cafes and bars, 36 nightclubs, 600,000 bicycles, 1281 bridges, 6 windmills and  200 km of canals, not to mention the nearby fascinating cities of Den Haag, Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Shopping and sightseeing guides can be found in the delegate bags, and in the EuMW registration area there is a helpdesk, providing support in booking tourist trips, purchasing public transport tickets, etc. For information on shopping and sightseeing, visit www.amsterdamtourist.nl.