If you joined us at our inaugural EDI CON USA last year in Boston, we have greatly increased the educational, networking and demonstration opportunities available. If you are joining us for the first time, be sure to thank the alumni attendees for their input in helping to grow EDI CON USA!
This year, the three-day conference of in-depth educational and training opportunities (September 11-13) is matched by an impressive array of industry-leading exhibitors demonstrating high-frequency and high-speed products on the show floor from September 12-13.
Conference Highlights
The conference opens on September 11 with a day of intense short courses, designed to stretch conference attendees’ capabilities and provide new methods, techniques and understanding to help get the job done. Here are some of the planned short courses:
- Practical Antenna Design for Wireless Products
presented by Henry Lau, Lexiwave Technology Inc. - Radar, Phased-Arrays, Metamaterials and MIMO—Basics, Advances and Breakthroughs
presented by Dr. Eli Brookner, Retired, Raytheon - Power Integrity 101
presented by Steve Sandler, Founder, Picotest - Transferring Board Design into PCB Design: Get it Right the First Time
presented by Shalom Shlomi Zigdon, iTech iCollege Israel - Five Steps to Engineer Transparent Vias in High-Speed Circuit Boards
presented by Eric Bogatin, Signal Integrity Journal Editor and Dean of Signal Integrity Academy; sponsored by Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Company - Practical Board Level Power Integrity Measurement and Design Principles
presented by Eric Bogatin, Signal Integrity Journal Editor and Dean of Signal Integrity Academy; sponsored by Teledyne LeCroy - RF & Bench Essentials for IoT Device Debugging
presented by Greg Bonaguide; sponsored by Rohde & Schwarz
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the conference provides peer-reviewed technical sessions across 10 tracks, including test & measurement, power integrity, low-power RF/IoT design, RADAR/defense, signal integrity, 5G, EMC/EMI, RF/microwave, broadband and antenna design. All of these abstracts were reviewed, rated and recommended by members of the EDI CON USA Technical Advisory Committee, which was led by Dr. Istvan Novak, Senior Principle Engineer, Oracle, and Dr. Thomas Cameron, CTO, Analog Devices.
Tuesday and Wednesday will also see panel sessions take place, led by intrepid members of Microwave Journal's editorial team. These sessions will feature industry experts who will discuss the latest technological trends and field questions from the audience. Panel sessions include:
- Look Ma—No Steering Wheel! The State of the Self-Driving Car
moderated by Gary Lerude - Bandwidth or Bust—Commercializing 5G mmWave Technology Today
moderated by Patrick Hindle - The Ferrari of Amplifiers: How Can We Maneuver Around the Current Challenges Facing High Performance GaN
moderated by Patrick Hindle
Engineering experts from the show floor will take to the podium during sponsored workshops, which are in-depth talks from industry-leading vendors on technologies and techniques. Workshops will be presented from representatives of Analog Devices, Rohde & Schwarz, Anritsu, National Instruments, RF-Lambda, ANSYS, Cadence and Copper Mountain Technologies, among others.
Those working on high-speed designs should be sure to check out the High-Speed Digital Symposium on Tuesday afternoon, for can’t-miss sessions on materials characterization and challenges from leading thinkers in signal integrity. Led by Signal Integrity Journal editor and renowned SI guru, Eric Bogatin, this symposium will also include a panel Q&A after the expert presentations. Presenters include Brandon Gore and Scott McMorrow, SAMTEC Inc.; Chris Caisse, Allen F. Horn and Patricia LaFrance, Rogers Corp.; Alfred P. Neves, Wild River; Jason Ellison, The Siemon Company; and Bert Simonovich, Lamsim.
Conference attendees working on high-frequency designs should plan on attending the European RADAR Summit, which will also be held on Tuesday afternoon. Led by session chair Alfonso Farina, Selex ES retired (Italy), this special event is sponsored by Microwave Journal and includes papers from European engineers working on the latest in radar systems, architectures and phased arrays.
Exhibition Highlights
While the sessions highlighted are available exclusively to conference pass holders, EXPO pass holders can take advantage of a number of excellent educational and networking events. Conference pass holders are also welcome in all of the events outlined below.
The EDI CON EXPO experience kicks off with the plenary session keynotes on Tuesday, September 12 at 10:30 a.m. This year’s invited speaker is Scott McMorrow, CTO of Samtec, whose talk is entitled, “Betting Your Job—Finding Your Voice and Being a Change Agent in a Corporate World.” McMorrow will bring his perspective on how we can be the ones to make things happen, including some heartening horror and success stories. McMorrow will be joined by Thomas Cameron, CTO of ADI, who will speak on 5G, while Faride Akretch from Rohde & Schwarz promises a look behind the scenes of test and measurement.
The EXPO opens on Tuesday directly after the plenary session and will feature up to 100 industry-leading vendors working in high-frequency and high-speed digital. Have a design challenge? Bring it to EDI CON USA! In addition to the ad hoc networking that happens all over the show floor and in the conference halls, EDI CON USA has scheduled some specific networking times for attendees to catch up with peers, suppliers and competitors. These include a Monday Training Day Luncheon and Welcome Reception, a Tuesday Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall (5-7 p.m.), and Coffee Breaks in the Exhibition Hall.
For those on the show floor looking for some educational opportunities, the Frequency Matters Theater offers ongoing speed trainings, case study analysis, student R&D papers and panel sessions. The High-Speed Zone offers demo pods from vendors working in the high-speed digital industry, and is also home to the SI/PI Measurement Lab, sponsored by Picotest and Rohde & Schwarz. Bring your boards to test, or, if yours are too secret, borrow the donated boards to learn how to make a particular measurement—this measurement lab comes with a "no sales pitch" promise.
So, whether you opt for the full-conference pass or the EXPO pass, EDI CON USA has plenty to offer engineers working in high-speed and high-frequency designs. It’s time to make your travel plans, put together your schedule and make the most of your time at EDI CON USA! Microwave Journal subscribers can save 20 percent off the conference pass price with the code READ20MWJ. Local attendees can sign up for luxury charter busing from Quincy, Newton and Woburn during registration. Partner programs for exploring Boston are also available, including a Whale Watching Tour and Trolley Tour. See you in September!