Forum puts the spotlight on rf innovation

Harvey Osborn, director of Motiv8 Business Solutions, the company that runs the events in the UK on behalf of Italian company Fortronic, summed up the philosophy: "For me it is very simple. What we do is target the people we want to be there as sponsors and speakers on a particular subject, then we vet attendees and then match the two groups up. It's a simple formula. We are moving away from having a typical exhibition with 500 people, of whom 490 are only there to get pens. So when we get feedback from our sponsors along the lines of 'we have met more relevant engineers in the last hour than we have in the last month' then we know we have got that connection right. We even turned down 14 people from the last event when they just didn't match our criteria." So far about half of the event's 150 capacity have signed up. Beyond this number, the auditorium which will host the morning sessions, will be standing room only. These sessions, aimed at technical engineers and managers involved in RF and Wireless development, will look at problems, solutions, the latest technology and the future of the sector. "All speakers are vetted by our technical people internally to make sure it is not a sales pitch," claimed Osborn. "We are pretty strict: it must be informative." Speakers from Linear Technology, Microchip and uBlox are already confirmed, with topics covering 'Architecture considerations to achieve very wide bandwidth receiver for high performance wireless systems' from Linear Technology, and 'Embedded wireless connectivity' from Microchip. A networking session over the lunch break will allow attendees to visit a table top exhibition and this will be followed by a tour of the centre – an important part of the day, according to Osborn. "What I wanted to get from the venue is that, firstly, people really wanted to go and, secondly, when they leave, they will remember it. It becomes part of the day. Having a private tour of the 30 strong Williams F1 collection means attendees get to see Ayrton Senna's and Nigel Mansell's winning cars. This is nice, because it is not something that a regular person on the street can do. It is not an open museum." In the afternoon, there will be a series of one hour workshops from which visitors can pick the most relevant. Topics include: 'Wireless sensor networking: data in the dust' from Linear Technology Dust Networks Division. David Schmider, technical director for Low Power Radio Solutions, will present a workshop based on its latest RF module solutions 'System on chip, unleash the power', while Tyler Smith, from Microchip's Wireless Product Group will present a workshop based on the company's 'Embedded Bluetooth modules – data and audio applications'. Next year, the programme will be expanded to include other areas, including Scotland and the Midlands, while more topics will be added to this year's events – LED and Lighting Design (held in March); RF and Wireless; and Power and Power Management. A likely addition next year will be Embedded. Places at the Forum are free, but attendees will need to register in advance at www.fortronicuk.com.