Overseas Trends

Hannover Messe (Germany), April 21 - 26
The Hannover Messe international trade fair for industrial
technologies was held in Hannover of Lower Saxony, Germany
April 19 - 24. This event simultaneously presents eight trade
fairs, including (1) INTERKAMA (a leading international trade
fair for process automation), (2) Factory Automation (a leadinginternational trade fair for production automation), (3) Energy(a leading international trade fair for energy technology,
renewable energy, and energy management), (4) Surface
Technology plus Powder Coating Europe (a leadinginternational trade fair for surface technology), (5)Subcontracting (a world trade fair on industrial parts andmaterials for vehicles, machinery, and plant assembly), (6)Digital Factory (a special trade fair for integrated processes andIT solutions), (7) MicroTechnology (a leading international
trade fair for applied microsystems technology andnanotechnology), and (8) Research & Technology (aninnovations market for research and technology).
Among these trade fairs, our investigations were focused on
two related to the Micromachine Center: (7) MicroTechnology
and (8) Research & Technology. The following is an outline of
our findings and impressions based on this investigation.
1) A total of 5,040 exhibitors took part in the trade fairs.
The country having the most exhibitors other than
Germany was Italy with 218 companies, followed byChina (People's Republic of China) with 190, Switzerlandwith 160, and Japan (including local subsidiaries) with
70. It was clear that China had an aggressive policy
aimed at the European market.
2) Total visitors numbered about 180,000, with about
50,000 from overseas. About 40% (20,000) of theparticipants from overseas were from non-European
countries. It was obvious that the Hannover fair had
established its reputation as an international trade fair.
3) In Europe the giant of research and development was theFraunhofer Institutes, while the giant of industry wasSiemens.
The presence of these companies
overshadowed the others.
4) Exhibition planning on the part of the Eastern European
countries due to the expansion of the EU economic
sphere on April 1 was notable (particularly in theResearch & Technology trade fair).
5) A total of 210 companies provided exhibits at theMicroTechnology trade fair. Among these, the networkgroup IVAM (Germany) enjoys the participation of 40related companies. In the open forum, presentation ofthe EMINENT project, a virtual network involving eight
European countries has served as a reference for
network development in Japan's MEMS industry.
Incidentally, connections have been had with IVAN andAmerican's MEMS Industry Group for initiating alliancesin future project expansions at the Micromachine Center.
6) The Research & Technology trade fair enjoyed 420
exhibits in Life Sciences, Optics, Biotechnology, andother fields. For activating technology transfer,
presentations by universities and research institutes
were prepared for the open forum in an effort to gain theinterest of the visitors. Another feature of this trade fair

was the striking exhibits by Eastern European countries
in the field of material processing. Some exhibits drew
many families and women to this trade fair, even on
weekdays, where the exhibitors used numerous
gimmicks in their displays and descriptions to draw
interest. Activities for popularizing and generatinginterest and expectations in science and technology
seem to have become more commonplace.
7) Having met some of the exhibitors related to MEMS andnanotechnology, including those who have studied as
exchange students in Japanese universities orparticipated in internships at Japanese companies, wesensed a remarkable advance in human exchange withJapan.
8) Our overall impression of the trade fairs was that boththe exhibitors and the visitors believed strongly thateverything begins with "communication and an exchangeof information."

Rostock

Hamburg
BremenHannover''Osmabruck

BerlinMagdeburg

Dortmund''Dusseldorf

Leipzig

KasselKoln

DresdenFrankfurt a. M.

''
Saarbrucken''
Nurnberg

Stuttgart

Munchen

The Research & Technology trade fair makes science andtechnology accessible. Here, an exhibitor at thenanotechnology booth explains his exhibit to a visiting family.

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