SEMICON Europa to rotate between Dresden and Grenoble
Beginning in 2014, SEMI, which represents the nano- and micro-electronic manufacturing supply chains, has changed the venues where its conferences will be held in Europe
SEMICON Europa will be held in Grenoble, France and alternate with Dresden, Germany in future years to better address pan-European opportunities and challenges in semiconductor design, technology, manufacturing and applications.
The new pan-European strategy was developed with input from exhibitors, major chip manufacturers, representatives from Europe's semiconductor clusters, and other government authorities and constituencies in order to leverage Europe's renewed commitment to semiconductor technology and manufacturing leadership.
Major players chosen to speak at the SEMICON Europa conference include Altis, Analog Devices, Bosch, Colibrys, CSR, Freescale, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon, Intel, IBM, Lfoundry, Micron, Nanium, Nokia, Numonyx, NXP, Osram, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Thales, and X-Fab.
This rotation strategy strongly supports the recently announced European Union's 10/100/20 initiative, in addition to providing increased business opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors.
Following SEMICON Europa taking place from October 8th to 10th, 2013 in Dresden, Germany, SEMICON 2014 will be held at Alpexpo in Grenoble, France on October 7th to 9th, returning to Dresden in October 2015.
The German industry association Silicon Saxony e.V. supports the new exhibition strategy. "SEMI's decision now is another step to further strengthen the idea of a competitive European semiconductor industry," says Heinz Martin Esser, president of Silicon Saxony e.V.
He adds, "It was Saxony where the European cluster alliance "˜Silicon Europe - The Leaders for Energy Efficient ICT Electronics' was born. We are joining forces in the spirit of a pan-European strengthening. Our connection with Grenoble will also entail further benefits for Dresden."
The City of Dresden also supports SEMI's decision. "We are very proud that for five times in a row the industry chose Europe's largest micro- and nanoelectronics site to discuss current topics and trends. Dresden has been the origin of critical input that led to a re-evaluation of the semiconductor industry by the European Commission," says Dirk Hilbert, deputy mayor of Dresden:
He adds, "Coexisting European semiconductor sites more and more become cooperating alliance partners." Hilbert expects Dresden and Grenoble to further work together in interdisciplinary topics such as Industry 4.0 in the future."
"The city of Grenoble is very proud to welcome SEMICON Europa 2014 for the first time and in rotation with the city of Dresden, with which we have a longstanding collaboration. Our region has been deeply involved and active in the microelectronics field since many years with the presence of industrial world leaders as well as world-class research institutes and numerous startups. I am convinced that SEMICON 2014 will definitely confirm our international visibility," comments Michel Destot, mayor of Grenoble and member of the French Parliament.
"This decision is very good news for the microelectronics ecosystem of Grenoble and for the collaboration of European clusters. We wish to contribute to the success of the SEMICON Europa event for the benefits of European SME's, startups, research and large groups enabling networking and collaborations of all stakeholders," continues Loic Lietar, president of Minalogic.
"SEMI strongly supports the expanded commitment to the European microelectronics industry and is confident that rotating locations for SEMICON Europa is the best strategy to serve our exhibitors and help accelerate the growth of European industry," comments Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. "This new plan will engage more sectors, more constituencies and play a vital role in the expansion of Europe's technology industries."