Sensors Expo 2013 to emphasize MEMS and energy harvesting

When the annual Sensors Expo & Conference convenes at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, next month, attendees will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in learning about two of the most important areas affecting sensor development: microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and the harvesting of energy from ambient power sources. Over the three days of the conference, from Tuesday, June 4, through Thursday, 6, full-day symposia and conference tracks will be devoted to examining each of those areas in depth. Further, two separate areas on the exhibit floor are reserved for products related to these technologies.

That is not to say that other critical topics will be neglected. There are also technical discussions sensors and the Internet of Things, the application of new sensor technologies to modern test and measurement challenges, wireless sensing, sensor innovations and new applications, gas sensing, and “big data” analysis, to name a few. But MEMS and energy harvesting will certainly get the most attention.

Tuesday, the day before the exhibit hall opens, will be devoted to symposia. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. the MEMS symposium, sponsored by MEMS Industry Group (MIG) and chaired by MIG Managing Director Karen Lightman, will focus on MEMS Sensor Fusion — which the group defines as the intelligent combination of data from several sensors for the purpose of improving application or system performance. It brings together a veritable Who's Who of MEMS industry experts: AM Fitzgerald
and Associates Founder Alissa Fitzgerald, Bosch Sensortec Senior Marketing Manager Marcellino Gemelli, Freescale Semiconductor Systems Engineer Mike Stanley, IHS iSuppli Principle Analyst & Director Jeremie Bouchaud, Intel Director of Customer Technical Support Ken Foust, Kionix Director of Product Engineering John Chong, and many more. The symposium amounts to a mini convention in and of itself.

At the same time on Tuesday, Randy Frank, President of Randy Frank & Associates, will chair a series of tutorials on energy harvesting for powering wireless sensors networks. In this effort, he is aided by Robert Andosca (President and CEO of MicroGen Systems), David Blaker (Director of Customer Solutions, Laird Technologies), Mark Buccini (Director, Texas Instruments), Sam Nork (Design Director for Linear Technology), and Chris Townsend (Senior Manager of Embedded Sensing Systems, MicroStrain, a LORD Company). The goal of the session is to give attendees an improved understanding of how to match the energy-harvesting technology to specific applications, the importance of the energy/power budget, the current status of available technologies, and the direction in which energy-harvesting technology is headed.

For a complete list of activities and exhibitors at Sensors Expo, and to register, visit www.sensorsexpo.com.