The 24th European Microwave Week (EuMW) is taking place at ExCeL in London, U.K., 2-7 April 2022. EuMW 2021 is taking place during April 2022 as the European Microwave Association (EuMA) delayed hosting the event so that it is more feasible to hold a successful in-person event due to restrictions on social interactions and worldwide travel. We hope that February will be enough time for the COVID restrictions to be relaxed and hope the virus infections are greatly reduced by then so we can gather safely.
As discussed in the welcome message, the moto for this year’s EuMW is ‘United in Microwaves.’ This reflects the traditional feeling of unity in our community and demonstrates how we can use this conference to re-establish and further develop this feeling within our community of colleagues and fellow professionals. EuMW 2021 comprises three co-located conferences: European Microwave Conference (EuMC), European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC) and European Radar Conference (EuRAD). There are also many workshops and short courses associated with each of these conferences, along with several Special and Focused Sessions. Two highlights are Special Sessions on the life and works of two prominent members for our community who sadly passed during 2020: Professor Peter Clarricoats and Professor Roberto Sorrentino. Peter Clarricoats was chair of the first EuMC, held in London in 1969, and chair of the 9th EuMC in the U.K. in 1979; he received a EuMA Distinguished Service award in 2005. Roberto Sorrentino was a founding member and president of EuMA from 1998 to 2009.
There is also a large exhibition—the largest RF and microwave trade show in Europe—where the leading companies from our industry exhibit their latest technological developments. The exhibition will feature more than 100 companies ranging from devices to components, software to test/measurement and distribution to services. The MicroApps presentations will also be part of the exhibition featuring product technologies from various companies.
EuMW 2021 also has several activities aimed specifically at students. These include: the Tom Brazil Doctoral School of Microwaves, the European Microwave Training School, the Career Platform and IEEE Young Professionals. There is also the Women in Microwaves event, in which both women, and men, are encouraged to participate. In addition, there are three Forums covering: Automotive; Defence, Security and Space; and Beyond 5G Technologies.
In 2019, EuMA for the first time organized the Automotive Forum to provide an open platform for industrial experts to discuss technical aspects, concepts and radar architectures as well as market issues in the area of microwaves in the automotive industry. The forum takes place on 14 February consisting of a good mix of technical presentations, plenary and panel discussions as well as networking time. This year’s event will focus on the following topics: radar testing technologies, virtual radar testing, imaging radar for autonomous driving and radar market, technology and game changers. The forum is mainly devoted to technical experts from automotive industry throughout the whole supply chain. Keynote speakers will present their views on special technical solutions as well as regulatory or strategic issues.
The Defence, Space and Security Forum will kick off with the EuRAD opening and then hold an all-day series of sessions focusing on Space Sensing on 16 February. It will cover the current state-of-the-art in spaceborne RF sensing and discuss its key technical enablers as well as the challenges it faces moving forward. World-renowned experts from aerospace primes, SMEs, space agencies and government across Europe will present their work in this area. Lunch boxes are provided to registrants of the forum for free, compliments of Microwave Journal.
The 5G and Beyond Forum focuses on technologies beyond 5G into 6G taking place on 17 February. The forum is for one day with invited speakers from academia and industry. It covers a wide range of subjects that pertain to next-generation communications including 6G standardization, environment aware networks, advanced sensing and low-power radars. The forum will include a panel session, coffee breaks and packed lunch.
This year is the 16th EuMIC Conference, which has been jointly organized by the GAAS® Association and EuMA since 2006. For the second year, the conference will not happen in autumn but will be held on 14-15 February 2022. EuMIC is the premier European technical conference for RF and microwave microelectronics as part of the EuMW. The aim of the conference is to promote the discussion of recent developments and trends and to encourage the exchange of scientific and technical information covering a broad range of microwave, mmWave, terahertz and related topics, from materials and technologies to ICs and applications that will be addressed in all of their aspects: theory, simulation, design and measurement.
This year is the 51st edition of EuMC, returning to London, the city where EuMC was first hosted back in 1969. EuMC is the largest event in Europe dedicated to a broad range of high frequency topics ranging from novel semiconductor and packaging technologies, photonics, passive and active microwave/mmWave circuits and antenna (arrays), up to system level, with innovative solutions for many applications including for example, biomedical, mobile and IoT.
The 18th EuRAD 2021 will be held from the 5-7 April 2022. This radar conference is the major European event for the present status and the future trends in the field of radar research, technology, system design and applications. The EuRAD conference will bring together a global network of researchers, practitioners and institutes working on topics related to the following four areas of focus: 1) Radar Sub-systems and Phenomenology, 2) Radar Signal and Data Processing, 3) Radar Architecture and Systems and finally 4) Radar Applications.
For many delegates, this will be the first face-to-face large-scale event they attend in a long time and hope to have an excellent conference by bringing world-class researchers, industry and academia together. The ability to interact in person at conference is a brilliant opportunity that is difficult to replicate and as the first physical conference for many in two years, let’s hope attendees can enjoy this experience and get the most out of it.