The IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2018 returns to the east coast after taking place in Phoenix, San Francisco and Honolulu from 2015 through 2017. It makes its return to Philadelphia, taking place June 10-15, after last visiting the city in 2003. IMS is the largest gathering for the RF and microwave industry, consisting of a full week of conference sessions, workshops, short courses, panel sessions, student activities, social events and commercial exhibitions. In addition to the normal inclusion of the RFIC and ARFTG conferences, IMS is once again including the 5G Summit and, new for just this year, the 2018 International Microwave Bio-Conference (IMBioC 2018), following in the theme of this year’s event, “Microwaves, Medicine and Mobility.”
IMS is a great place to network and there are several nice opportunities to do so, including the Welcome Reception on Monday at 7:00 p.m. at the famous Reading Terminal Market, directly following the Plenary session (IMS will parade the attendees to the terminal area). On Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., there is the Amateur Radio Society event at the convention center and at 7:30 p.m. there is the Young Professionals networking event at Lucky Strike. On Thursday at 7:00 p.m., the Women in Microwaves will host a guest speaker and networking event at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Finally, there is the three-day exhibition starting Tuesday, with the opportunity to meet with industry professionals from around the world representing more than 600 companies.
Philadelphia is the economic and cultural center of the Delaware Valley, located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The city is just coming off a Super Bowl win for the Philadelphia Eagles (over my New England Patriots) and NCAA Basketball Championship for Villanova, so will likely still be celebrating in June. Philadelphia is famous for the Liberty Bell and Amish population, among other attractions, so make some time to get out and see some of the historical sites and area attractions.
Microwave Journal has put together the following summary of the main conferences written by the general and technical chairs organizing each event. After this article is a list of exhibitors by booth number and new products section highlighting many of the products that will be on display in the exhibition.