4M November Bulletin

4M NEWS and EVENTS

*4M Association*
To continue and sustain the relationships created during the lifetime of the Network we have formed the 4M Association, and the first members have joined. Take a look at the new 4M Association website to find out more.

*4M2009*
The 4M conference will go ahead and will be even bigger and better. Next year we are to join forces with the ICOMM conference and hold our first joint event. This is a big step forward to making it the premier conference in micro-manufacturing.ICOMM/4M2009 will take place at FZK, Karlsruhe, Germany, from September 23rd to 25th 2009.

*Ultra-Precision Positioning Systems - piezo drive systems as a future enabling technology *
In light of the ever increasing industry-driven demand for accurate positioning, this symposium discusses the state of the art of precise positioning systems, with a focus on recent developments and applications of piezoelectric driving technology. Piezoelectric positioning systems are gaining maturity, and have gradually evolved into interesting - but sometimes unknown - alternatives to conventionally driven systems in a multitude of automation, biomedical, manufacturing and metrological applications. The symposium will bring the attendant up to speed with the principles, applications and market opportunities of piezoelectric driving technology. For further information visit the event page.

*4M Workshop on Powder Injection Moulding (PIM)*
In order to reach the market demand for more complex parts, the PIM industry requires efficient simulation tools in order to set up the process of injection, debinding and sintering. The development of bi-component PIM parts requires more urgently an accurate simulation. Indeed, due to the difference of shrinkage between both materials, macroscopic distortion and also internal stresses can easily appear and lead to unacceptable parts for industrialisation. This workshop is not only addressed at PIM specialists but moreso to industries that would like to implement such simulation in-house for the improvement of their process of fabrication of PIM parts. For full details visit the event page.

*4M Workshop on Technologies for manufacture of MIDs: Miniaturized moulded interconnect devices (MID)*
Moulded interconnect devices (MIDs) are thermoplastic circuit carriers with a patterned surface metallization which combines mechanical and electrical functionalities on a single device. MIDs contain huge possibilities for many applications in micro electro-mechanical-systems because of their potential in reducing the number of components, process steps and finally in miniaturization of the product. This seminar will present state-of-the-art on materials (polymers and metals) as well as manufacturing processes and process chains. The industrial application of MID technology will be represented by examples.

*CoTech Project Kicks off*
The kick-off meeting of the CoTech project, which has its origins in the 4M Polymer Division, was held on 15th & 17th October 2008. The 4M Association will be instrumental in performing the dissemination for this project, and will provide links to industry via its membership. To find out more about the project visit the "Projects" webpage on the 4M Association website.

*MultiLayer Project Kicks off*
The kick-off meeting of the MultiLayer project, which has its origins in a 4M Cross-Divisional project, was held on 27th & 28th October 2008, in Grenoble. To find out more about the project visit the "Projects" webpage on the 4M Association website. The 4M Association will be participating in the project by hosting the webpages for MultiLayer and carrying out other dissemination activities.

*FlexPAET Project Kicks off*
The kick-off meeting of the project FlexPAET was held on October 29, 2008 in Aachen. The 13 project partners were involved and discussed the setting up points of the first project year to ensure an effective start to the project work. To find out more about the project visit the "Projects" webpage on the 4M Association website.

*Report on second 4M Workshop Micro/nano fabrication technologies based on new materials for sensors and micro-optics
A report on this workshop, which took place on 15th October, in Sinaia, Romania, is available here.

OTHER NEWS and EVENTS

*Nanotech "Bizmatch" event*
The Japanese External Trade Organisation(JETRO) will hold "BIZMATCH @ nano tech 2009", a company presentation and business matching event, during "nano tech 2009", the world's largest nanotechnology event. Held in association with the Nanotechnology Business Creation Initiative, BIZMATCH @ nano tech 2009 aims to connect Japanese and foreign firms in nanotechnology and related high-tech fields. Please see press release for details.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

*8th - 9th November 2008*
Manufuture 2008 conference, Saint Etienne, France. Register via website.

*17th November 2008*
Symposium on Ultra-Precision Positioning Systems - piezo drive systems as a future enabling technology. Event Page

*20th November 2008*
When polymer processing goes micro, event page.

*21st November 2008*
Workshop on Powder Injection Moulding event page.

*26th November 2008*
Workshop on Technologies for manufacture of Moulded Interconnect Devices (MID) event page.

*2nd - 5th June 2009*
In 2009, the european society for precision engineering and nanotechnology (euspen) are delighted to be holding their 9th International Conference and Exhibition in San Sebastian, Spain.

*29th June - 2nd July 2009*
Lamdamap 9th International Conference, Brunel University, London, UK. www.lamdamap.com

*8th - 10th July 2009 *
2nd International Symposium for Flexible Organic Electronics (IS-FOE09)

*23rd - 25th September 2009 *
4M2009, FZK, Karlsruhe, Germany.