MEMS & Sensors Industry Group Tackles Technical Challenges at Annual Technical Congress

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Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors suppliers are targeting a rapidly growing global market for their devices, key components that increase the intelligence and interactivity of billions of electronic products. Despite this unprecedented growth, suppliers face shared technical challenges that limit expansion, including energy and power management, security, integration, and machine learning. MEMS & Sensors Industry Group’s (MSIG’s) 2017 MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC), to be held on May 10-11, 2017 on the campus of Stanford University, offers attendees a collaborative approach to resolving these shared technical challenges. 

From smart homes and smartphones to wearables, robotics, drones, and connected cars, MEMS and sensors represent huge growth areas for suppliers. Yole Développement forecasts that the MEMS industry will reach $20B by 2021, which represents 8.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2016-2021 for the value of MEMS markets.[i] The market for sensors is growing slightly faster. In a soon-to-be-released report, BCC Research estimates that the global market for sensors will reach nearly $240.3B in 2022, with a five-year CAGR of 11.8% from 2017-2022.

“The size, diversity and growth of MEMS and sensors markets is exploding,” said Karen Lightman, vice president, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group, SEMI. “To succeed in these large, increasingly challenging and fast-moving markets, MEMS and sensors suppliers need to work together, delving deeper into the issues and possible solutions of their shared challenges. MSTC 2017 gives suppliers a forum for freely exchanging information with peers through breakout sessions. It also gives them access to some of the top technical minds in the industry, including our two keynote speakers: Scott Borg, director and chief economist of U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, and Chris Ré, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University.” 

Borg will discuss how economics is driving both the deployment of MEMS and sensors and their exploitation by attackers. “As MEMS and sensors enable the Internet of Things, building cyber security into them is going to be critical,” said Borg. “Letting cyber attackers take control of these increasingly ubiquitous devices could result in chaotic and even dangerous situations. Individual home appliances, for example, that do not seem to pose a threat, taken one by one, could present a serious risk if a cyber attacker could manipulate millions of them at once. Because cyber attacks can be carried out on vast numbers of targets simultaneously, this is a real possibility.” 

Ré will share new approaches to improving machine learning systems -- which are indispensable to applications such as voice recognition, image search and natural language processing. “Developing machine learning systems is typically a laborious process, hampered by large training sets that require hand-labeled data,” said Ré. “We are employing new techniques that overcome a major bottleneck to developing machine learning systems, making the building of these systems easier for an increasingly larger set of people.” 

Featured presenters from AMFitzgerald, Coventor, Excelitas Technologies, Plasma-Therm, Silicon Microgravity, Si-Ware Systems, Stanford University, STMicroelectronics and Tohoku University will address topics spanning integration, easier customization, manufacturing, material analysis, high-performance micromirror arrays, and smart sensors for robotics. 

A panel of industry and academic experts will explore Academic and Commercial Perspectives on Capturing Value from MEMS and Sensors. 

Breakout sessions will include: 

• Technology Transfer for Dummies (How to Get to a Stable High-yielding Process)
• Back-end Challenges of MEMS and Sensors (Packaging, Testing & Reliability)
• Integration Opportunities (Technological & Business Considerations)
• Emerging MEMS, Sensors and Systems Incorporating Them
• Piezoelectric and Other Emerging Materials for MEMS and Sensor Applications 

About MEMS & Sensors Industry Group 

MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, advances MEMS and sensors across global markets. MSIG advocates for near-term commercialization of MEMS/sensors-based products through a wide range of activities, including conferences, technical working groups and industry advocacy. As a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, MSIG now reaches a global membership of more than 1,900 companies and industry partners.