Sep 5 2008
New technologies revolutionise production - Science and industry set to meet at the top industry event from 7th to 9th October in Stuttgart
With more than 60 specialist presentations and a comprehensive exhibition, MiNaT will attract specialist visitors from many areas of industry from 7th to 9th October. The trade fair for precision engineering, ultra precision, micro and nano technologies at the new Stuttgart trade fair centre will become the lynchpin of two booming areas of industry for a second time after the premiere in 2007 and will offer innovative products in many areas of life. Moreover, the MiNa-T ticket will permit access to the SEMICON Europe trade fair for semi-conductors, which is taking place at the same time.
"With MiNaT and the three-day presentation programme, Messe Stuttgart will offer hotspots to ensure that new technologies in micro-production and also new materials from the field of nano technology will find their way to market maturity", explains Thomas Walter, Regional Manager for Industry and Technology, Messe Stuttgart. "We will bring the relevant protagonists together and thereby boost innovation and quality in production. For our daily life, many important areas of industry, such as traffic and medicine, will profit from this. As the designated stronghold of micro-technology, Baden-Württemberg is the ideal location for MiNaT."
New records in measuring accuracy
Most people have no idea as to just how great the influence is of micro and nano technology on their day-to-day lives. For those who have just had an accident-free journey or have had successful medical treatment, it's highly likely that they have profited from this high-tech area of industry. Micro and nano technology make groundbreaking things possible - measurements in the lower micrometer range, for example. The degree of importance of high precision measuring technology can be seen in a wide range of examples, such as medical technology. Here, micro-sensors ensure that the high quality and reliability of instruments remains guaranteed. Only if perfect micro components of the highest quality are used can assurance be given, for example, that the high-speed dentist's drill can continue to operate at high-speed or that an infusion is administered over a certain period in the correct dosage. Technical medical products, such as scalpels or spectrometers, also profit from micro-technology. Though in other areas, such as aviation and aerospace, sensors in the micro range are likewise a guarantor for reliable processes. Fluid-based sensors can be found in the autopilot system of an aeroplane, for example, and work at a resolution of 0.001 degrees over the entire measuring range of 360 degrees. In the automobile, a rapidly rising number of micro-sensors perform their duty - this is assured by new features such as ESP and airbag systems.
Quantum leap in production technology
Ultra-precision technology receives massive boost from micro-technology. For production companies it represents a quantum leap in many respects, which opens up the path on one hand for product innovations and helps to improve existing products on the other. At the MiNaT event, there will be ideas, for example, on how to handle the smallest items with the highest level of precision. 3D micro milling machines allow surface treatment and also round and shaped holes in the tightest of spaces. Breathtaking is the positioning accuracy of 0.1 micrometers and less that micro-processing machines are meanwhile able to achieve in precision engineering. Such high-tech production solutions can be found in medical technology, microelectronics or the clock-making industry, to name but a few. Also of assistance in production: Ultra short pulse lasers achieve a pulse duration of less than ten picoseconds; these devices drill, cut and structure in the micro range without there being a necessity for reworking as before. Today's micro-technology combines convenience with benefit: It can be used to produce precious metals for jewellery as well as products for dental and medical technology.
Flexibility in micro production is achieved by users with micro assembly cells, which can be quickly adapted to different assembly tasks. At MiNaT, visitors can find out information about production machines that can be converted in a short space of time with the aid of product-specific, exchangeable assembly plates. Machinery downtimes can be reduced with this knowledge and the effectiveness of the equipment can be increased.
Microsystems: Smaller and more intelligent
Another central topic at MiNaT is micro-system technology, the products of which are finding their way more and more in areas of life. From the pushbutton with its own intelligence in the common ink-jet device to instruments of minimal invasive surgery - the areas of application of tiny systems are diverse. Sensors, actuators and data processing are incorporated in micro-system technology products in the smallest of spaces and make equipment possible that is becoming increasingly smaller and more intelligent and previously unimaginable. At MiNaT, exhibitors demonstrate how micro-systems can be setup and integrated in products. The entire manufacturing chain is illuminated.
"Enormous development potential for medium sized companies"
Viewed on their own, micro and nano technologies are considered to be an impetus for innovation, but in combination they can unlock even more potential. Problems in the micro-production of ceramics can be solved innovatively with the aid of nano-sized particles. This is achieved by using an extremely thin conductive layer to deflect undesired static electricity or by using nano-based materials in the production of ceramics with extremely low shrinkage properties and particularly high rigidity. Nano materials even help in the rapid production of prototypes, i.e. Rapid Protoyping: By exposure to light, a polymerisation of initially fluid nano components is achieved. An example that shows how important the technology transfer is from nano research to industrial application. "If we succeed in bringing together micro-technicians and nano technologies, there will be enormous development potential for medium sized companies", explains Professor Michael Veith, Science Chief Executive at the Leibniz Institute for New Materials. Veith will lead the session entitled "New Production Technology in the Field of Nanotechnology" within the MiNaT hotspots programme.
"We are proud that MiNaT 2008 will be creating the best conditions for market-related exchange of information among exhibitors, but also for the transfer of latest research results to industry", explains Regional Manager Thomas Walter of Messe Stuttgart.