From Location-Aware Gaming, Tiny Digital Cameras, Intelligent Insulin Pumps, Energy Harvesting and Smart Home Automation, Execs Explore Innovation in MEMS at MEMS Executive Congress

Market Wire, September, 2007

At MEMS Industry Group's annual MEMS Executive Congress, commercial manufacturers will share with an executive audience the innovative ways that they are employing Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) technology. From Debiotech's tiny insulin pump, which comes close to matching the physiological delivery of insulin, to EnOcean's battery-less radio sensors, which combine miniature energy harvesters with radio technology to enable light switches, thermostats, leak detectors and other embedded sensing devices for home automation, MEMS technology is being used in applications as diverse as environmental monitoring in vineyards, digital cameras in cell phones, miniature microphones in PC laptops and location-aware mobile gaming.

Companies at the forefront of MEMS design, such as Analog Devices, Freescale, InvenSense, Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc. and Texas Instruments (TI), will join their counterparts on the applications' side in panel discussions on mobile media, medical and consumer goods.

"MEMS Executive Congress is the only industry event that captures the perspective of both companies that make -- and use -- MEMS technology," explained Karen Lightman, Managing Director, MEMS Industry Group. "It provides a forum in which applications vendors can talk candidly with MEMS technology providers about their specific functionality requirements for market segments such as automotive, communications, consumer electronics, medical and robotics. These groups, so often viewed as separate audiences, thereby become collaborators with the singular goal of bringing the best possible products to market."

Innovative Uses of MEMS

Debiotech will open the Congress with a keynote on new MEMS-based drug delivery systems, including its new, tiny insulin pump, Insulin Nanopump(TM), which is being industrialized by STMicroelectronics. GE Sensing will offer a keynote on the many applications of MEMS-based sensors, from monitoring temperature and CO2 gases in incubators to improving the visual accuracy in ultrasonic applications used to look at a patient's heart or a baby in utero. The evening pre-conference reception will feature Fullpower Technologies discussing the role of MEMS in the convergence of life sciences and wireless.

Presenting the first MEMS digital camera for cell phones, Siimpel will explain how MEMS enables the reduction in size of digital cameras without compromising their optical performance. Microvision will elaborate on its tiny laser-based projectors, which are expected to enable a "big screen" viewing experience for mobile devices. SiRF will discuss its dead reckoning hybrid location platforms, which combine GPS and MEMS sensor measurements to produce a robust solution for navigation, enabling a variety of location-based applications in portable environments where GPS alone may not be sufficient.

Global leaders in the cell phone technology market, Nokia and Qualcomm, will address advancements in next-generation wireless devices. Diversified technology and manufacturing leader Honeywell will provide an inside look at how MEMS is endowing applications such as neurosurgical implant devices and vital signs' measurement products with the intelligent sensing that improves quality of life for millions of people. OMRON will discuss how its MEMS sensors enable consumer healthcare products such as pedometers, heart rate monitors and body fat analyzers. These are just a few of the stories that users and developers of MEMS technologies will share with an audience of business leaders at MEMS Executive Congress.

About MEMS Executive Congress

Highlights of the MEMS Executive Congress agenda include:

--  Evening pre-conference reception presentation by Philippe Kahn, CEO,
    Fullpower Technologies, with an introduction by SVTC Technologies (SVTC);

--  An opening keynote by Dr. Frédéric Neftel, President and CEO,
    Debiotech SA, with an introduction by EV Group (EVG), Platinum Sponsor;

--  A Mobile Media panel, moderated by Venkat Bahl, Vice President,
    Marketing, Discera;

--  A Medical panel, moderated by Raymond C. Wiley, Vice President, North
    America Sales and Marketing, IceMOS Technology;

--  A Consumer Goods panel, moderated by Dr. Kaigham (Ken) Gabriel,
    Chairman and CTO, Akustica;

--  A MEMS in Smart Homes, Market Review and Q&A Session, with Jim
    O'Callaghan, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, EnOcean; Jean-Christophe
    Eloy, Managing Director and Founder, Yole Développement; and Jérémie
    Bouchaud, Head of Market Research, Wicht Technology Consulting; with an
    introduction by Surface Technology Systems, Silver Sponsor; and

--  A closing keynote by Brian Wirth, Global Product Manager, MEMS, GE
    Sensing, with closing remarks by SUSS MicroTec, Gold Sponsor, and MEMS
    Industry Group.
    

Event sponsors include EV Group (EVG), SUSS MicroTec, Surface Technology Systems (STS), STMicroelectronics, Freescale Semiconductor, Coventor, Inc., Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc., SVTC, Micralyne, Analog Devices and MEMS Investor Journal.