Grüß Gott and welcome to the 16th European Microwave Week, which will be held at the Nürnberg Convention Center (NCC), from Sunday 6th to Friday 11th October 2013. As our motto suggests, we invite you to Meet Experts, Make Friends as Nuremberg, the regional metropolis of Franconia in the northern part of Bavaria, plays host to three conferences: the 43rd European Microwave Conference (EuMC), the 8th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC) and the 10th European Radar Conference (EuRAD), alongside the European Microwave Exhibition and complemented by workshops, short courses and seminars.
Although it is the first time that EuMW has been held in Nuremberg, exactly 30 years ago, in the days when Germany was divided into East and West, the city was the venue for the 13th European Microwave Conference. In the three decades since, the Wall has come down, along with barriers to trade, and superseded by the building of a structure of cooperation that advances initiatives and funding in Europe aimed at nurturing and encouraging technological innovation. Since its inception, European Microwave Week has played its part in marrying the needs and aspirations of academia and industry, grown in content and stature and established itself as the premier RF and microwave event in Europe.
Due to its active and productive industry, both established and developing, geographical location and robust economy, Germany is a key destination for EuMW. The 2013 event aims to capitalize on the strength of national and local industry and academia to build on the event’s strengths, develop initiatives and move forward.
It will also embrace theinternational audience that the week attracts and encourages to participate. This is demonstrated by the fact that the opening and closing plenary sessions of each of the three conferences will feature keynote speeches by world leaders in their fields and a welcome address by the president of the IEEE. Acknowledging the increasing significance and influence of the Asian market, there is a special all-invited session on the Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference.
Three exciting panel sessions will be integrated into the week’s programme. The increasingly popular Women in Microwave Engineering (WIE) event will focus on the challenges induced by the current trends towards the Internet of Things and cyber physical systems. How can we do better for the microwave community? – a key question raised by the rapidly changing knowledge and information based society will be addressed by the presidents of EuMA, IEEE, IEEE MTT-S and VDE/ITG in a Presidents’ Panel. An equally significant issue will be addressed by an executive panel session featuring experts and executives involved in today’s electronic systems development trends who will discuss whether Europe can afford for its capabilities to produce and test electronics to increasingly be shifted to Asia.
The success story of the Defence and Security Forum continues, with the event that began in 2010 as a two-hour Executive Forum now spanning one and a half days. It will encompass the Opening Session of EuRAD for the second year and the EuMIC Closing Session for the first time. The forum features presentations from industry leaders and concludes with the Executive Forum. More information can be found on page 72.
An integral and vital constituent of EuMW is the European Microwave Exhibition, which, this year, will expand to take up over 8500 square metres of gross space and has attracted over 300 exhibiting companies. The exhibition hall will not only be a focal point for innovation where companies from around the globe will showcase and demonstrate their products and services, but will also be a platform for interaction.
As in 2012, the latest in automotive radar sensor technology will be demonstrated on the show floor and beyond, while a valuable bridge between industry and academia will be provided by the European Microwave Week Microwave Application Seminars (MicroApps) that will take place in the MicroApps Auditorium for the entire three days of the exhibition. The exhibition hall will also be the home of the conference poster sessions, coffee breaks, Publisher’s Corner and the ever popular Cyber Café.
EuMW has a valuable past, embraces current activities and also looks forward, both in terms of technology and the development of the engineers who will shape the future. At EuMW 2013, two European microwave schools and two student competitions will be offered especially for students and PhD students. The European Microwave Doctoral School features world leading microwave scientists and engineers as distinguished lecturers, whereas the European Microwave Student School is devoted to microwave measurement techniques; here the students can earn credit (ECTS) points. In addition, eligible students will compete in the Student Challenge, which is a poster competition, as well as in the Student Design Competition, which is a design and measurement competition.
The Meet Experts, Make Friends motto will not be epitomised better than at the Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening. It is designed to be both convivial and favorable for networking and to encourage interaction between delegate and industry. Furthermore, mixing business and pleasure can be enjoyed throughout the week through the strong calendar of social events.
From conference sessions to coffee breaks and exhibition stands to excursions, every effort has been made to make the week memorable. So on behalf of the Local Organising Committee, we would like to thank the Technical Programme Committees of the three conferences along with over 500 reviewers who worked tirelessly to shape the conference programmes. We would like to acknowledge the EuMA board for its continued advice and guidance and thank the Horizon House personnel assigned to EuMW for their indispensable expertise and support in organising this major event. Recognition should also go to the organizers of workshops, special sessions and student events and we also acknowledge the significant financial and in-kind sponsorship of many industrial companies and organisations.
Nuremberg is ready and waiting to host and welcome the RF and microwave community and we are looking forward to seeing you there.