Control and manufacturing technology conferences kick off season

he 17th annual Embedded Systems Conference (March 6-10, Moscone Center) offers a full technical program including 250 hardware and software sessions, 132 technical classes, 16 full-day tutorials, vendor workshops and seven new design seminars. More than 350 vendors will be displaying their wares and touting their prowess in the exhibit hall as well.

National Manufacturing Week will also be in full swing (March 7-10 at Chicago’s McCormick Place). Presented each year by the National Association of Manufacturers, this year’s event fields eight shows and conferences running simultaneously. These conferences showcase best practices of U.S. manufacturers and production equipment suppliers (more than 1,000 this year say promoters) who help them face increasingly tough global competitors.

Depending on the level at which they encounter and apply embedded technologies within the context of the machine’s they create, equipment designers will have ample opportunity to tailor a conference program to best suit their particular needs. Among the day-long design seminars, Wireless Networking (Wednesday, March 9) will be a must attend for those looking to explore wireless communications and networkingbut look closely at the program because not all sessions may apply. Click here to view the entire program.

Scott Adams, the creator of the cartoon strip Dilbert will deliver the keynote this year, delivering a presentation that is bound to entertain attendees with revelations on professional life in the high-tech sector.

New at NAM 2005
New at NAM this year is an opportunity for engineers who are required to show evidence of continuing education. Under an agreement with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, participants in any of 50 conference sessions will be eligible for 0.1 CEU per session.

With more than 1,000 exhibitors participating in the shows--Design Engineering, Micro Systems USA, Plant Engineering and Facilities Management, Cleantech Cleaning Technology, Industrial Automation, Enterprise IT and Aluminum USA â the event is structured to cover the entire manufacturing process.

Each show has its own dedicated conference track, with two new tracks added for the plant’s legal and general management, general counsel and senior-level engineers. These conferences will focus on legal issues and management topics ranging from the challenge of China to successful CRM strategies.

The 400 speakers listed on the schedule represent nearly a 50% expansion in the scope of the conference program.

Keynote Speakers include:

James Berges, President of Emerson Inc.
Al Frink, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services at the U.S. Department of Commerce
James Champy, Chairman of Consulting for Perot Systems
Alain Belda, CEO of Alcoa
Phil Wilmington, Co-President of PeopleSoft.

Click here for a conference calendar of events listed by day and hour. Clicking on an entry will return the details of the selected program. In addition, the page can be used as a planner. It allows sorting the activities by day and by track. Another listing shows the individual conferences in chronological order. At the bottom of the page is a search feature that allows you to enter a keyword or to zero in on information about specific sessions, speakers and tracks.

ESC Program Highlights

Managing Power, Ground, and Noise in Microcontroller and Analog Applications; Tuesday, March 8: 2:15 p.m.3:45 p.m.
Network Security; Wednesday, March 9: 11:00 a.m.12:30 p.m.
The Ten Secrets of Debugging Embedded Systems; Wednesday, March 9: 11:00 a.m.12:30 p.m.
Using ZigBee Technology for Low Power Device Designs; Wednesday, March 9: 3:45 p.m.5:15 p.m.
Selecting Linux as an Embedded Operating System; Thursday, March 10: 8:30 a.m.10:00 a.m.

NAM Program Highlights

Better Mechanical System Design Through Mechanical Simulation; Monday, March 7: 10:30 a.m.11:20 a.m.
Direct Control Machining of Concept Shapes on a Large 5-Axis Prototyping Mill Monday, March 7: 9:30 a.m.-10:20 a.m.
Continuous Slip ... A Versatile Tool For Designers; Tuesday, March 8: 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Stress & Failure Analysis - Lessons Learned; Wednesday, March 9: 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Data and Process Management of Mechatronics in PDM Applications; Thursday, March 10: 11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.