Barbara G. Goode bgoode@questex.com

Second-round conference picks, plus 20-year anniversary fun.

First, some invitations. Please join me and my colleagues—and loads of other people—at Sensors’ 20th anniversary party during Sensors Expo & Conference, June 7–10 in Detroit. We’ll be celebrating on Wednesday June 9, beginning at 5:30 p.m., with free food and drinks, and irreverent fun—and a few lucky (unlucky?) readers will win dinner with the editors of Sensors!

Even if you cannot make it to the party, please help us celebrate by e-mailing me (bgoode@questex.com) a lighthearted or serious haiku* on the topic of sensing, Sensors, or the

*Can you haiku? You don’t need to be a poet to write haiku. Haiku poems are just three lines long and consist of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. Here’s a sample, written by Ben, an elementary school student: Imagination, such a great, wonderful thing, you can imagine. Can’t do haiku? Send me a sensors limerick, or some other type of verse.

future of sensor technology. We’ll present our favorites at the party and print them in a future issue.

If you do attend the show, please stop by the Sensors booth and introduce yourself; we’re keen to meet you and develop a deeper understanding of your challenges. We can also help you find what you’re looking for among the exhibits, and will offer a tour of the Best of Sensors Expo new product awards finalists wherein we’ll explain why we think they’re worthy of distinction. And each day, we’ll draw a name for a free copy of the Sensor Technology Handbook ($99.95 value), a reference forthcoming from Elsevier and the venerable Jon Wilson.

Super Symposia
Last month I told you about some of the conference sessions I’m looking forward to, but I didn’t finish—and I’d like now to point out two interesting day-long offerings. First is the Automotive Sensor Symposium organized and moderated by Randy Frank, author of this month’s guest editorial. This blockbuster session on Monday at 9 a.m. will feature speakers with deep experience in sensing and automotive applications, and will discuss navigation and powertrain systems, intelligent air bag deployment, steering and body electronics, vehicle stability; and “the automotive cocoon,” including advanced cruise control, and collision avoidance. The presentations will address the technologies, implementation, operation, and alternative applications.

Another intriguing Monday offering is the full-day Medical/Biotech Sensor Symposium, which will focus on noninvasive diagnostics, long-term monitoring of physical exercise, and more.

Keynotes to Inspire
Technology and application developments in the auto industry have far-reaching effects in other industries. That’s one reason I’m looking forward to the keynote address on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. by Donald Runkle, Vice Chair of Delphi Corp.’s Enterprise Technologies. A new report by the Freedonia Group says that automotive sensor demand has experienced only moderate growth over the past five years compared to what we will see in the next half decade—and that safety and security applications promise the greatest growth potential.

Kermit Hoffman, President of GE Infrastructure Sensing, Americas, will deliver the second keynote on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. This should be another fun glimpse into the future of sensing, as GE’s research arm looks several years out. And one of the company’s main objectives is to focus on customer service, one of my favorite topics.

I hope to see you in Detroit. Meantime, don’t forget the haiku!

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