“Nano Micro Biz” and “ROBOTECH” announce dates for 2015

“Nano Micro Biz”, the fair which has been playing a leading role in the development of the Japanese nano-micro industry with focuses on Micro/MEMS, nanotechnology and sensor/monitoring & wearable/IoT (Internet of Things) since 1990, will be held again together with “ROBOTECH”, an exhibition on next-generation service robot manufacturing technologies. The shows are scheduled to take place from 22 – 24 April at Pacifico Yokohama in Japan.

Following the success of the previous year, the shows guarantee further success for the coming 26th edition. The 2014 edition welcomed 162 exhibitors (Japan: 145, Overseas: 17) from 11 countries and regions and offered a business platform that connected professionals in micro-fabrication technology and business. The shows were held jointly with “OPIE － OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Exhibition (OPIE ‘14)”, which covered a wide range of technology such as lasers, photonics, positioning, space & astronomical optics, lens design, and manufacturing technologies. The three shows attracted 18,237 visitors from 27 countries and regions, a big increase from the previous edition. An onsite survey revealed that more than 90% of exhibitors were already planning to come back to the 2015 edition.

According to the survey conducted in 2012 by one of the organisers, Micromachine Center, the MEMS market volume in Japan was JPY 720 billion in 2010, and is expected to be JPY 1.55 trillion with its main application area of automotive, information processing and precision equipment in 2015. It is predicted to reach up to JPY 3.13 trillion in 2020 by expanding its application area to biotechnology, medical services, management of social infrastructure, telecommunication and agriculture.

With this positive outlook, the shows will strengthen their presence as a platform to support the exhibitors’ and visitors’ business performance. In response to market needs, organisers will divide the 2015 edition of “Nano Micro Biz” into five new zones as follows: ‘Sensor/Monitoring & Wearable/IoT’ (sensors and sensor modules, smart monitoring systems, and energy harvesting),‘Micromachine & Nano Micro Processing’ (nano-micro processing equipment, printed electronics, nano/micro functionality materials, packaging technology/equipment/

materials, design tools/technologies, NMEMS actuators, micro total analysis system (Micro-TAS), MEMS foundries, and robot manufacturing technologies) ‘Measurement, Inspection & Reliability Testing Equipment’ (mask/rectile defect inspectors, package inspectors, surface profilers, roughness meters, film thickness measurement systems, microscopes, reliability testing equipment, probers, and analysing systems), ‘New Manufacturing Technology/Platform’ (3D printers, minimal fab, and smart manufacturing) and ‘Open Innovation’ (nano-micro processing equipment, R&D centres, domestic universities).

The concurrent event “ROBOTECH” introduces the elemental technologies which support the practical application and advancement of next generation robots (service robots), a field in which MEMS devices are applied as sensors. Service robots, which can compensate for low birth rates, aging populations and labour shortages, are the second largest growth field after the motor industry.

There will be fringe programmes during the fair, such as ‘The 21st International Micromachine/Nanotech Symposium’, ‘TIA N-MEMS Symposium’, ‘Green Sensor Network System Seminar’, ‘Social/Industrial Infrastructure Monitoring System Project Seminar’, and ‘Exhibitor Presentation’. These shall attract visitors who are seeking information and ideas regarding application systems, devices and solutions

For further details on Nano Micro Biz and ROBOTECH, please visit the official website at http://www.micromachine.jp/en/