MEMS Industry Group's Annual Executive Conference Shows Why MEMS Is Growing 2x Faster Than Semiconductors

PITTSBURGH, PA--(Marketwired - Nov 14, 2013) -  MEMS Industry Group (MIG)'s MEMS Executive Congress® -- held November 7-8, 2013 in Napa, CA -- showed why the MEMS industry is outpacing the semiconductor industry, in both growth and innovation. With a ten percent increase in attendance over 2012 and market analysts such as IHS Inc.'s Jérémie Bouchaud predicting that the MEMS industry will grow twice as fast as the semiconductor industry -- MEMS Executive Congress highlighted innovation through presentations, panels and awards.

Gregg Bartlett, chief technology officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, captured the buoyant mood during the opening keynote presentation. "MEMS is an innovation race, not an arms race. If you can dream it, it can be built," said Bartlett. "That's the beauty of MEMS. It is limited only by someone's ability to conceive it."

From market analysts such as Yole Développement's Laurent Robin, who described a wider variety of MEMS in the smartphone of 2018, to HTC America's Gary Yao, who predicted that watches, glasses and wearable patches will join smartphones in our connected world of 2020, event speakers cited the critical role of consumer and mobile markets in the growth of MEMS.

The Winners: MEMS Innovation Awards and MEMS Technology Showcase
MEMS Executive Congress also celebrated innovation through MIG's first MEMS Innovation Awards. "We are delighted to recognize STMicroelectronics as a multiple award-winner in our MEMS Innovation Awards," said Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group. "ST won device of the year for its 2x2 eCompass and MEMS Company of the Year as well as MEMS Executive of the Year for Benedetto Vigna."

"We are also thrilled to announce that SPTS Technologies earned MEMS Supplier of the Year, Samsung won MEMS Integrator of the Year, and Maxim Integrated's Demetre Kondylis was recognized for a Lifetime Achievement Award."

MEMS Executive Congress attendees also had the chance to vote for the best live demo given during MIG's third annual MEMS Technology Showcase®. For the first time in its history, there was a tie: DigitalOptics' mems|cam product and MicroGen's BOLT™ Power Cell both shared the crown.

More Recognition: MIG's Hall of Fame
MIG also used the forum to induct two new MIG members into its annual Hall of Fame: Alissa M. Fitzgerald, founder and managing member, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, and Michael Gaitan, group leader, NIST.

MEMS Executive Congress Sponsors
Premier sponsors of MEMS Executive Congress US 2013 include: Platinum Sponsor EV Group; Gold Sponsor SPTS Technologies; Silver Sponsors Analog Devices, Freescale Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics and SUSS MicroTec; and Bronze Sponsor Applied Materials.

Event sponsors include: ACUTRONIC, AEPI, Akustica, Bosch Automotive Electronics, Bosch Sensortec, LETI, Coventor, Electronic Engineering Journal, Fries Research & Technology (FRT), IHS Inc., Kionix, Maxim Integrated, MCA Public Relations, MEMS Journal, MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange, Micralyne, Movea, Okmetic, Plan Optik, Rock Health, Semico Research, Silex Microsystems, Solid State Technology, Teledyne Dalsa, X-FAB and Yole Développement.

Upcoming Events
MIG's featured upcoming events include a MEMS conference track and MotionTech show-floor exposition at the 2014 International CES (January 7-10, 2014, Las Vegas) and MEMS Executive Congress EU® (March 11, 2014, Munich, Germany). For more information, please contact MIG via phone: 412/390-1644 or email: info[at]memsindustrygroup.org.

About MEMS Industry Group
MEMS Industry Group (MIG) is the trade association advancing MEMS across global markets. More than 160 companies comprise MIG, including Analog Devices, Applied Materials, ARM, Bosch, Broadcom, Freescale Semiconductor, GE, Honeywell, HP, Infineon, Intel, InvenSense, Murata Electronics Oy, OMRON Electronic Components, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments. For more information, visit: www.memsindustrygroup.org.

MEMS Industry Group, MEMS Executive Congress, MEMS Technology Showcase and the MEMS Industry Group logo are registered trademarks of MEMS Industry Group. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.