On the 13th and 14th of November, the 19th edition of the Precision fair was held at Koningshof Conference Centre in the Netherlands. Organiser Mikrocentrum can look back on a very successful show with 300 exhibitors and a record-breaking 3700 plus visitors from 42 countries. Along with 1200 professionals manning the exhibitor’s stands, it was indisputably a business event of superior class. New for 2019 was the introduction of a partner country, this year Switzerland, and the launch of an exciting Young Talent program.
The high tech industry is on full throttle. Technology develops rapidly pressurising the fabrication of systems and components. New demands and the resulting challenges follow up on each other at a high pace.
The Precision fair managed to bring together all the ingredients needed to ensure the highest quality at the highest level was met. To achieve this organiser Mikrocentrum cooperated closely with ILO-net (Big Science representatives), the Dutch Society for Precision Engineers, EUSPEN, VDMA, the technical schools and universities and of course the top segment of high tech companies.
In the Big Science sessions experts from the Industrial Liaison Officers network ILO-net, shared recent developments and opportunities in upcoming procurement tenders. Prof. Dr. Frank Linde from Nikhef gave an overview of the research involving Gravity Waves and the ETpathfinder laser-interferometer R&D laboratory which Nikhef is realising in Maastricht to further develop the new technology for the Einstein Telescope. If Maastricht is chosen as the location for the Einstein Telescope, it will have a huge positive impact on the region and the Netherlands as a whole. Rende Steerenberg, head of Operations at CERN presented an enthusiastic lecture about the CERN accelerator complex and its functions.
Precision fair connects science to producing industry
Bart Kooijmans, Event Manager for Precision fair stated: “As organiser we are proud that the Precision fair enables the connection between science and the production industry. The exchange between precision associations and companies with our partner country Switzerland and the high quality pitches in the Young Talent cross selling program contributed significantly to make this year’s fair an overwhelming success. We are thrilled to see how all these international players come together at the Precision fair. The strong networking and business drive translated into a more than 40% increase in visitors participating in the Meet & Match program, facilitated by Enterprise Europe Network and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. With a record number of visitors, 3704, and 1200 exhibitors from 42 countries the show confirmed its status as an event of the highest class!
This year the Precision fair introduced a cooperation with a partner country which has relevance for the precision technology industry. The launching country, this first year, was Switzerland. A delegation of diplomats, trade officers and companies visited the exhibition floor under the guidance of Patrick Roth, chairman of the Swiss Precision Association. On the 14th of November they shared their knowledge and expertise in the conference lecture tracks. Roth opened the track with a lecture about the status of precision technology and business opportunities in Switzerland, followed by cross-over presentations from Swiss and Dutch companies.
Also new this edition was the Young Talent Cross Selling Pitch program. 20 graduate students, PhD’s and start-ups presented their projects with a poster presentation and in a high energy 3-minutes pitch slot within the lecture tracks of the conference. The jury, consisting of Erik Puik (Professor in microsystems technology), Dr. Andrei Anisimov (Structural Integrity & Composites Aerospace NDT) and Pieter Kappelhof (Company representative Hittech) selected Matthijs van Gastel as winner of the 2019 Young Talent Pitch Award. With his impressive pitch and poster about his project “Sub-micron Accurate Optical Fiber Alignment for Photonics Applications” he managed to win over the members of the jury.
Dutch Society for Precision Engineering awards
As every year the DSPE handed out two awards one on each day of the fair. The Rien Koster Award, a prize by DSPE for an expert that has been active in the field for many years, was awarded this year to Hans van de Rijdt. Sven klein Alvink won the Wim van der Hoek Award. With his project “Flexure mechanism with increased dynamic performance by over constraining using viscoelastic material” he convinced the jury and won the price for best graduation project in the field of precision mechatronics specifically the design of mechanical structures.
Anniversary
At the 18th and 19th of November 2020, the 20th anniversary edition of Precision fair will take place with the U.K. as partner country. Keep a close look out on the website www.precisionfair.com for more information to be released soon!