We were pleased that the MTTS 2010 IMS Chairman, JK McKinney, was able to find a few minutes to spend with us for an update on how the conference and show preparations are coming as it kicks off next week in Anaheim, CA. McKinney said the registration and exhibitor sign up is going well and ahead of previous show numbers. He stated that there are over 250 technical papers being presented orally in about 60 sessions within the four major areas of Microwave Field & Circuit Techniques, Passive RF & Microwave Components, Active RF & Microwave Components, and RF & Microwave Systems & Applications. There are also 122 papers being presented in an interactive forum. The table shows a breakdown of papers submitted by topic area with a total of 858 papers and the pie chart shows the breakdown by country.

Madhu Gupta, Chairman of the Techical Program Committee, had 32 sub-committees reviewing the papers and this year added a new category of New Emerging Technologies that authors could submit into for review. The committe then found appropriate experts in each area to evaluate them. New sessions were added for RFID, high power microwaves for industrial/material processing and power scavenging technologies.

There are also the student paper and design contests, panel sessions, workshops, short courses, MicroApps seminars on the show floor and the historical exhibit, which means there is no shortage of technical content for the week. The plenary presentation is Tuesday at 10:10 with the Honorable Zachary J. Lemnios, CTO for the Department of Defense (DoD), discussing an overview of a number of defense related technology opportunities and challenges.

The RFIC Symposium takes place Sunday through Tuesday with workshops, sessions and a plenary session Sunday evening on "RF Power Amplification: Can CMOS Deliver?" by David J. Allstot of the University of Washington and "RF Application Trends of the Next Decade" by Gregory L. Waters, Executive VP and General Manager of Skyworks.

The ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference takes place on Friday and includes technical presentations, an interactive forum and exhibition. The conference theme is "Measurement of Modulated Signals for Communications" covering various subjects.

Here is a short audiocast of our interview with JK McKinney addressing a few key questions about the conference and show.