Preface
On behalf of the 4M Association it is our pleasure to welcome you all to Germany for the 4M 2011 conference. This year the conference is held in Stuttgart, Germany where the conference will take place in the impressive surroundings of the Haus der Wirtschaft, thanks to the generous support of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
Our host and local organiser is the Institute for Micro Assembly Technology of the Hahn-Schickard- Gesellschaft e.V. (HSG-IMAT) and it is one of the leading service providers for research and development in the fields of packaging and assembly of micromechanical components and systems, especially moulded interconnect devices (MID). HSG-IMAT provides specific consulting, advanced training, technological services, feasibility studies, prototyping, and small-scale production as well as series production in co-operation with industrial partners.
MID Technology for the assembly of microsystems is also of major interest for the Spitzencluster MicroTEC Sdwest in Baden-Wrttemberg, which is funded by the federal and local government. In the commercialization of new micro devices, production at small and medium scale series is still a big challenge, especially for SMEs. Therefore, HSG-IMAT, HSG-IMIT and IMS Chips together with a couple of companies within MicroTEC Südwest are setting up the PRONTO platform, which focuses on the support of small scale production of microsystems. The MID pilot line at HSG-IMAT, including the new machine cluster for 3D assembly, is essential for the support of MID production. Each day of the 4M 2011 conference begins with keynote talks, delivered by recognised figures in the field of micro-manufacturing research, followed by sessions based upon the conference themes of manufacturing technologies, routes and processes. 4M 2011 will also incorporate a number of invited sessions, organised by EC-funded FP7 projects whose research falls within the conference scope. Multi- Layer, COTECH, Integ-micro, POLARIC, MultiPlat, EUMINAfab and IMPRESS will all host sessions that will not only disseminate their findings to date but will also hopefully prompt new ideas and interdisciplinary discussions with those outside the projects.
This varied and cross-cutting programme reflects perfectly what the 4M Association aims to do - to bring together researchers and industrialists alike, working in the field of micro-manufacture, to act as a forum and meeting place for the community and to ensure that the multi-disciplinarity that is considered so vital for success in the industry is facilitated.
The 4M Association is a membership based organisation (www.4m-association.org), set up by former members of the 4MNetwork of Excellence, to develop further the links and contacts established amongst the members of the Network, and to grow the community by opening up membership to all.
We would like to thank those at HSG-IMATwho have taken responsibility for the local organisation and logistics, without whose help the conference would have not been possible to organise. Finally, and most importantly, we would like to thank all authors, speakers and the Conference Committee for their participation in the review process, without which it would have been impossible to implement a policy of full peer review for all papers prior to acceptance for presentation at the conference.
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Heinz Kück HSG-IMAT and Stuttgart University Conference Chairman |
Holger Reinecke IMTEK, University Freiburg & HSG-IMIT Conference Co-Chairmen |
Stefan Dimov Birmingham University Conference Co-Chairmen |