Alongside the Nanotechnology Pavilion, there will be a Competitiveness in Europe Pavilion. This area will feature three French competitiveness clusters in the field of precision engineering – Microtechniques, Minalogic and Arve Industries – as well as Imtek (the Institute for Microsystems Technology), the German R&D centre. This pavilion is designed to encourage the sharing of experiences and strategic perspectives.

In July 2008, France will take over the presidency of the European Union. In the Europe area, exhibitors and visitors will find information on EU funds available for projects in the precision-engineering sector, as well as news about the major trends affecting current EU projects (2007-2013).

Micronora 2008 will be placing a special focus on metrology through its Zoom 2008 programme. Metrology is an essential aspect of manufacturing that is not yet systematically integrated into production. Its importance will be reflected in an Information and Learning area that will demonstrate its significance as well as current developments in the field. The Exhibition area will highlight some of the innovative technological solutions needed to improve the suitability of measurement processes.

Following NANOMATCH in Frankfurt (Germany) and NANOTEC in Venice (Italy), Micronora will also host a European Brokerage event – the sixth Open The Possible: Micro & Nanotechnology European Technological Encounters – which will be held on 25 and 26 September. The objective of these one-to-one meetings is to help microtechnology and nanotechnology players (companies, research laboratories and technical centres) develop contacts with their European counterparts. Whatever sector they are in (transport, aerospace, biomedicine, optics, instrumentation or plastics), companies will be able to find the innovative solutions they are looking for. An online catalogue will soon be available so that participants may browse submissions, technology requests and partnership proposals.

Micronora 2008 will also include conferences, which will be held on 24 and 25 September. These conferences will cover micro- and nano-manufacturing, nano-characterisation, nano-metrology, nano-materials, and surface processing. Each conference will be presented by a specialist of international standing.
The Golden Microns prizes will be awarded by a jury of industry professionals and scientists who are active in the field of microtechnology. There will be one award per subject: Class 1 – Microtechnical parts or elements used in a component; Class 2 – Functional components and complex or simple modular devices; Class 3 – Devices integrating microtechnical components; Class 4 – Production tools and instruments (cutting, moulding and shaping tools, as well as control instruments); Class 5 – Machine tools and microtechnical production machines, automated systems and accessories; and, finally, Class 6 – Microsystems prototypes reserved for research organisations.

About Micronora

Micronora is the international microtechnology and high-precision trade fair that takes place in Besançon, in the region of Franche-Comté (in Eastern France), every two years; it has been going on for 30 years. The next fair will take place from 23 to 26 September 2008.

In 2006, Micronora brought together close to 1,000 exhibitors – 37% of whom were non-French – and welcomed 15,000 professional visitors. The exhibition covered 25,000m2.

For further information, go to: www.micronora.com