Microwave Journal Editor
For complete coverage of the EuMW 2020 conference, event news, exhibitor product information and special reports from the editors of Microwave Journal, visit our online show coverage at mwjournal.com/eumw2020.
EuMW 2020 was originally scheduled to take place this fall in Utrecht, the Netherlands and was delayed until January 10-15 in an attempt to still hold the event in-person. While the Covid-19 virus has continued to take hold around the world restricting travel and making it unsafe for an in-person event in Europe. The organizers, EuMA and Horizon House, were well prepared for this scenario and have organized a full virtual event that will take place on the same days and times as the scheduled physical event, January 10-15, plus will be on demand for three weeks after the event ends.
The event still holds onto its identity with the theme of “The Art of Microwaves” as represented on our cover with Van Gogh’s famous Starry Night painting enhanced with Cube SATS representing the Military & Government Electronics theme of the issue. The Netherlands is rich in artistic history with Van Gogh and Rembrandt being two of the many famous painters from the country. The country is also home to several R&D organizations related to aerospace activities which are featured in our cover story along with other local companies in the microwave industry.
The European Microwave Week is made up of three conferences: The European Microwave Conference (EuMC) January 12-14, 2021, The European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC) January 11-12 and The European Radar Conference (EuRAD) January 13-15. EuMC is Europe’s premier conference on microwave, mmWave and terahertz devices, systems and technologies. This is the 50th edition of Europe’s largest conference that covers a broad range of high frequency related topics, from materials and technologies to integrated circuits, systems and applications. The EuMIC conference is jointly organized by the GAAS® Association and EuMA. It is the premier European technical conference dealing with microwave integrated components whether based on silicon, III-V materials or photonics. It has established itself as a key contributor to the success of the overall European Microwave Week and remains the largest scientific event in Europe related to microwave integrated circuits. The EuRAD conference is in its 17th year and covers future trends in the fields of radar research, technology, system design and applications.
There are also special areas of focus that are organized as forums. There is the Defence, Space and Security Forum that will focus on Space Situational Awareness topics this year with experts from industry and government. The 5G Forum will host a mix of technical presentations from industrial experts that will address 5G strategic and market needs including how these can be met with technology solutions. The Automotive Forum will feature technical experts from the automotive industry throughout the whole supply chain. The speakers will present their views on special technical solutions as well as regulatory and strategic market issues.
The European Microwave Week was started in the Netherlands in 1998 and today it continues to be the largest event of its kind in Europe. This will be a unique year in that it is the first time the event is held virtually, so the Netherlands will also be the first EuMW event to go online. The organizers will record most of the sessions and play them online during their scheduled times of the physical event, holding to the original plan for the conferences. Each session group will be followed by a live question and answer period where attendees can address questions to the presenters in real time. The advantage of being an online event is if you cannot make the time of any sessions, you will be able to view it on demand for about three weeks after the event takes place, until February 5. Most sessions will be presented virtually except for panels and group forums since it is more difficult to coordinate these with people from around the world in different time zones.
Figure 1 Virtual lobby mock-up for EuMW 2020.
The virtual event will re-create the feeling of attending in-person. The opening and closing sessions of EuMC, EuMIC and EuRAD, including the keynotes, will take place in the virtual auditorium which can be accessed right from the lobby of the event (see Figure 1). From the lobby, attendees can enter the auditorium, lounge and two exhibit halls. Exhibit Hall 1 will contain the larger company stands that are represented in 3D virtual stands (see Figure 2), and Exhibit Hall 2 will contain the smaller company stands as standard virtual stands. Some of the virtual stands will be exact representations of the stand design that was planned to be built onsite as the original CAD drawings and graphics will be used to prepare the virtual stand.
Figure 2 3D virtual stand example for EuMW 2020
In the exhibition, attendees can view/download company information about how to design and test products plus learn about new products via brochures, datasheets and other types of literature. They can also listen to company presentations and training sessions for those companies that offer them in the conference. Videos will also be available for demos and additional information along with the ability to text or video chat with company representatives. Attendees can also utilize Zoom, MS Teams, WebEx and other video conferencing tools to meet virtually, if provided by the companies. The virtual platform has many advanced capabilities to replicate the in-person event as much as possible. There will also be a Meeting Lounge for attendees and exhibitors to meet and discuss topics of interest plus make appointments to see the stand’s products and presentations with company experts.
Please join us for the first virtual EuMW event January 10-15. The virtual platform will re-create many of the activities and opportunities for learning and networking like the physical event, but we do hope to see you in-person in about nine months for EuMW 2021, taking place in London. While virtual events have come a long way in the past year, it is not a replacement for in-person trade show events which we hope will resume later in 2021.