SEMI-MEMS & Sensors Industry Group

By Karen Lightman, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group | SEMI As in life, knowing everything in MEMS and sensors is impossible. Often the best we can do is to “know the unknowns” because articulating what we do not yet understand allows us to seek answers so that we can stay competitive. MEMS and sensors supply chain members need to know what is “state of the art” in terms of technology,…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group I’m feeling sentimental as I prepare with the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) team for our annual MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress. Maybe it’s because this will be the last Executive Congress before MSIG becomes a strategic association partner of SEMI (here’s the announcement in case you missed it). I remember the first time we hosted the Congress in…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS Industry Group Back in 2001 when I was a young mother with a baby in diapers, I dreamed of a MEMS-enabled gizmo (perhaps on her diaper?) that would remotely indicate if my daughter was sleeping. She was (and still is) a restless sleeper, and I had many nights where I tip-toed into her room to ensure that she was breathing and yes, indeed, still…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS Industry Group My favorite kind of business travel is when I can combine it with either a visit with friends/family or a site visit to a MEMS Industry Group (MIG) member company. This month, before I headed to Copenhagen to host MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2015, I had the pleasure of doing both. In the immortal words of the Beatles, I went to Hamburg because…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS Industry Group Several years ago, I coined the phrase “MEMS frickin’ everywhere.” I shared my vision for MEMS enabling a smarter and better world. This was before the term Internet of Things (IoT) had taken hold. My catchphrase got me into a bit of trouble with those offended by my use of a modified expletive as well as skeptics of the potential of MEMS.…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director,  MEMS Industry Group Packaging means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Webster’s dictionary defines package as a “group or a number of things, boxed and offered as a unit.” For my school-age daughters, packaging means figuring out how to maximize the components of their lunch into these bento-box-like containers I bought at Target in hopes that it would simplify their…

 By Stephen Whalley, Chief Strategy Officer, MEMS Industry Group It was over 10 years ago that I last visited Shanghai and oh my, how things have changed, most visibly, the skyline.  Looking across the Huangpu River from The Bund back then, I clearly remember the ‘Pearl’ TV tower and a few tall buildings and thought how impressive it looked.  Now, the view is an even more sumptuous feast for the…

By Karen Lightman, Executive Director, MEMS Industry Group I am finally over the jet lag and able to share my thoughts from MEMS Industry Group (MIG) Conference Japan, MIG’s inaugural conference in Asia that was held on April 24. But first let me quickly express my happiness to have returned to Japan after a three+ year hiatus. (My last visit was before the tsunami/earthquake.) I ate sushi every day, drank…

By Karen Lightman, MEMS Industry Group MEMS – enter with care. I think that will be my tagline for MEMS Industry Group’s third annual MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2014 recently held in Munich, Germany. The official theme of the conference was the “MEMS-Enabled Life,” and the keynotes and panelists did talk about how MEMS is currently and will continue to improve our quality of life. However, what struck me the…

By Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group Munich, Germany is one of my favorite cities in the world. If you agree or if you’ve never been there, I have the perfect opportunity for you to join me:  MEMS Industry Group’s (MIG’s) MEMS Executive Congress Europe 2014 will be held at the beautiful Sofitel Hotel Bayerpost on March 10-11. The theme of our third European Congress is the “MEMS-enabled life,”…