Dr. Janusz Bryzek, Chair, TSensors Summit and Roger H. Grace, President, Roger Grace Associates
The cost of designing and manufacturing sensors continues to decline and the ability to increase their functionality to create a ‘total solution’ to customer requirements rapidly increases through the adoption of a ‘systems solutions’ approach This results in their high adoption rate into a broad range of applications, especially those of associated with the Internet of Everything (IoE) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Cost, size, weight, power consumption and performance are no longer barriers to their widespread adoption.
A large proportion of these sensors will be MEMS, based on their inherent ability to be low cost, rugged and miniature. MEMS is a technology enabling fabrication of mechanical, optical, chemical, bio and nano structures using IC fabrication technology. Multiple organisations are starting to plan to exploit MEMS potential for a trillion sensors market within a decade.
Emerging technologies
Emerging technologies are defined by the World Economic Forum and Cientifica as those that arise from new knowledge or the innovative application of existing knowledge. They lead to the rapid development of new capabilities. Such technologies are projected to have significant systemic and long-lasting economic, social and political impacts as well as create new opportunities and challenges to addressing global issues. Emerging technologies also have the potential to disrupt or create entire industries.
The Summit on the Global Agenda 2011 in Abu Dhabi led to the compilation of the Top 10 Emerging Technologies with the greatest potential to provide solutions to the most compelling social, economic and environmental challenges includes the following segments:
• Informatics for adding value to information
• Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering
• Green Revolution 2.0 — technologies for increased food and biomass
• Nanoscale design of materials
• Systems biology and computational modelling/simulation of chemical and biological systems
• Utilisation of carbon dioxide as a resource
• Wireless power
• High energy density power systems
• Personalised medicine, nutrition and disease prevention
• Enhanced education technology