World Congress on Micro and Nano Manufacturing

Description

On behalf of the Multi-Material Micro Manufacture (4M) Association, the International Institution for Micro Manufacturing (I2M2) and the International Forum on Micro Manufacturing (IFMM), it is our great pleasure to welcome you in Leuven, Belgium, for the 5th World Congress on Micro and Nano Manufacturing (WCMNM 2022) hosted by KU Leuven. It is a great honour to host our annual congress this year in-person in the beautiful city of Leuven.

The first WCMNM took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2017. It was the first joint event organized by the three communities I2M2/4M/IFMM. Since then, the congress takes place yearly, rotating between Europe, America and Asia. Previous editions have been organized in Portoroz, Slovenia (WCMNM 2018 hosted by the University of Ljubljana); in Raleigh, USA (WCMNM 2019 hosted by NC State University); and in Mumbai, India (WCMNM 2021, online edition, hosted by IIT Bombay).

Many of us will remember meeting at previous events as the history of the congress dates back even longer. The first 4M conference dedicated to micro manufacturing and assembly was held at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe back in 2005, gathering partners from the European Commission funded 4M Network of Excellence. One year later, the first International Conference on Micro Manufacturing (ICOMM) was organised at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, by the I2M2 community. Each of these conferences was then scheduled yearly, with joint events being organized along the way, namely the 4^th ICOMM/4M 2009, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, the 5^th ICOMM/4M 2010, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA and the 10^th ICOMM/4M 2015, Milan, Italy.

The WCMNM 2022 proceedings include 68 contributions from EU, UK, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Brazil, New Zealand, US and Canada. Recognising that manufacturing processes at the micro-scale are the key-enabling technologies in bridging the gap between the nano- and the macroworlds, the focus is first on contributions presenting latest research related to several additive and subtractive micro-scale production processes, micro-injection moulding and surface engineering. Important aspects linked to process monitoring and control, and process simulation will also be discussed. Finally, specific topics related to biomanufacturing and biomedical devices, new products design, emerging processes and new applications of micro fabrication processes will be presented. Our aim is also to give the opportunity to young researchers and students to present their work for the first time and to help build the international micro/nano manufacturing community of the future.

Next to the parallel sessions, we have planned three keynote speeches from renowned professors selected by the three associations. Topics as diverse as design for manufacturing and reliability, surface engineering and micro machining of brittle materials will be covered. Building up on the success of the latest edition, we have also invited experts to debate during roundtable discussions focusing on the evolution of micromanufacturing from its roots until today as well as the latest cutting-edge technologies and applications. Finally, do not forget to visit our sponsors and to listen to their talks, where they will share their vision on their latest innovations and their link to our research community. The Congress Chairs would like to thank Dr Pierre Vella, Prof. Ming-Chyuan Lu and Prof. Tohru Sasaki for their service as Scientific Chairs and for overseeing the peer-review process. Also, special thanks to Ms. Adriana Svetozarova from the 4M Association who managed most of the communication with the sponsors and participants, maintained the website and handled the preparation of the proceedings, to Ms Anja Vansteenwegen from KU Leuven who managed the registration platform and organized the side events, and to the KU Leuven researchers who ensured a smooth organization at the congress location.