Welcome to the European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2010 in Paris!
There will be many welcome addresses the week of the show and so you may ask what EuMA is about. It stands for European Microwave Association, the organisation behind the Week. We are a non-profit international association based in Belgium, with the mission to promote microwaves in Europe and to foster networking between microwave scientists and engineers in Europe. European Microwave Week is not only the Association’s flagship event but also a vital component for serving this purpose.
EuMW has evolved into the premier microwave conference and exhibition event in Europe, achieving excellent figures in recent years: more than 1,000 paper submissions, some 1,500 conference attendees, around 7,000 square meters (gross) of exhibition space, housing the leading players in the industry, and a total number of visitors in the range of 4,500. What makes the Week particularly strong is its combination of conferences and exhibition.
The 2010 event demonstrates that fact very well. The conference team around Gilles Dambrine, 2010 General Chair, and Horizon House as the exhibition organizer, have worked hard to deliver an outstanding technical and scientific program for you. Furthermore, Paris is one of the most attractive venues for EuMW – an exciting city that is easy to reach, with an excellent microwave "environment", both academic and industrial. So I am confident that we will have a great event.
Personally, 2010 is the first year for me as EuMA President. As General Chair of EuMW 2007 in Munich I have hands-on experience and know what EuMW is about. I took over a successful and well-run event from Roberto Sorrentino and it is one of my main goals to keep EuMW up-to-date and lively. The Week is intended to be both a scientific event and a forum for microwave researchers and practitioners, so we have to work on the quality and reputation of the conference as well as on providing a suitable setting for the exhibition, tightening the links to EuMW attendees and to local industry.
It is essential to continually develop EuMW in order to adapt to changing needs and priorities and to take on new challenges. One major decision has been taken already: From 2011 onwards, the European Wireless Technology Conference (EuWiT) will be merged into the European Microwave Conference (EuMC). This offers degrees of freedom for new events within the Week. As a starting point, Horizon House and EuMA are organizing a Defence/Security Executive Forum at European Microwave Week 2010, to be held on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010, with a view to extending the Defence/Security coverage, which will be taken forward to future events.
I am curious to see how such ideas will evolve and I am open to your suggestions and recommendations. Enjoy 2010 EuMW!
Wolfgang Heinrich
President
European Microwave Association