I know I talk a lot about exhibitions and conferences in this part of the magazine, but they really are the focal points of the industry. Large and small companies generally save their most interesting launches until those exhibitions to get the best possible exposure. International travel has started to open up a little recently, so hopefully there may be a chance to get around a bit more and possibly attend some shows at the tail end of this year.
Virtual exhibitions have been an interesting experiment, but I don’t think anything will beat actual face to face meetings. It has not really been talked about much, but the social side of exhibitions is also very important. Being able to relax with colleagues and contacts and get to know them better is an underrated benefit of these type of events and one that is very important for people like me who work from home full time, and also those who have been forced to work from home over the last year. The SPS IPC exhibition in Nuremberg, which is held at the end of November, is still planned to take place in person, as well as having a digital component. Although not a pure electronics event, that component has been growing in recent years as the automation and manufacturing industries look to make their products as efficient as possible. Forthcoming regulations regarding the efficiency of motors has seen both innovation in the motors themselves and the power supplies that drive them.
You may have noticed if you subscribe to our newsletters that we have launched a new topic called TechTalk. Each week, we will take a piece of news and dive a little deeper into it to try bring you some new information. It may be the technology behind a new product, or it could be the reasons that a company enters a new market, and how they hope to satisfy its needs. As an example, I have talked to Vicor recently on the changing needs of the space industry and satellites. It is a pretty fascinating subject and I learned a lot from the conversation, and I hope you will too.
One area that is sure to receive a lot of attention in TechTalk over the coming months is batteries and battery charging. I’d guess no other area of research receives as much funding and attention. Batteries are at the heart of many of the things that will be commonplace in the near future, from electrical vehicles to tiny IoT sensor clusters. Larger capacity, more power density, quicker charging, new materials, and better safety for batteries are required to quicken adoption of tese technologies. Our special report this month will look at the latest developments in battery technology and charging techniques. The Special Report will feature alongside our usual selection of news and power technology articles. I hope you enjoy!
Best Regards,
Ally Winning
European Editor, PSD
