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.
Today that vision of MEMS everywhere seems passé and so obvious. That’s because the outlook for MEMS and sensors has never looked brighter – this was incredibly apparent to me at the 2015 International CES.
At this year’s CES, in addition to hosting the Sensors Marketplace on the show floor and hosting a booth with several of our member companies, MEMS Industry Group (MIG) hosted its third annual conference at CES. In 2013 we were invited by CEA to host a 1.5 hour conference; in 2014 it doubled to three hours and this year we filled an entire day of content plus a cocktail party. Some might say that MIG is growing as fast as the MEMS and sensors industry it represents!
2015 has already been heralded as the year of the wearable device and MIG chose wearables and the MEMS/sensors supply chain as the theme for our conference. We packed an impressive lineup of featured speakers and panelists. There have been several stories already posted by the press on the conference track as well as our exhibit so I won’t retell the already told. Instead I’d like to share with you my favorite quotes, moments and impressions from the entire show.
What’s my number one? Something that I’ve known for a while but now really believe is the HOLY GRAIL to both the future success of wearables and IoT/Everything: POWER. Power reduction and management through sensor fusion, power generation through energy harvesting as well as basic battery longevity. It became very clear from conversations at the MIG conference as well as in talking with folks on the show floor that the issue of power is the biggest challenge and opportunity facing us now.
MIG’s recently announced Accelerated Innovation Community (AIC), an open source algorithm library for sensor fusion, is a good first step. AIC can help address the issue of sensor fusion to enable more powerful and power-efficient wearables and IoT/E. It has become clear that as an industry we’ve got to do more to address the issue of sensor fusion as well as power reduction, management and creation. In order to be successful we need more folks onboard to participate in AIC as well as spread the word to end-users and integrators. Won’t you join our merry band of sensor fusion evangelists?
Favorite quote? It comes from David He, Chief Scientific Officer, Quanttus, when he described his company’s goal to find the “unkiller app” by enabling clinically accurate, contextual and continuous data that can empower people to truly take control of their health and yes, save lives. At our conference, David unveiled Quanttus’ never-seen-before health analytics that mapped the blood pressure of 200 people, which gave the audience a glimpse of the future described by Dr. Eric Topol in his book The Creative Destruction of Medicine. As someone who has been at the mercy of out-of-touch doctors who controlled my cancer treatment/healthcare, I welcome the day when I have a wearable device enabled by MEMS and sensors along with data analytics that gives me smart, useful and actionable data to help me guide and manage my own healthcare, thank you very much.
Lastly, being at CES this year reiterated my love and affection for MIG members. From the members who have been with MIG since its foundation in 2001 like Intel to our newest member, Virtuix (whose President joined MIG only minutes after speaking at MIG’s CES conference), MIG members totally rock. It was a pleasure and a delight to be in their company for one week, even at the world’s most insane tradeshow (because it’s in Vegas, after all).
MIG is a growing industry association in a growing industry. I’m confident that together, we can create a world that has MEMS and sensors frickin’ everywhere, but only if we continue to address the remaining challenges to commercialization. Won’t you join us?