Two conferences on manufacturing at the micro-scale are joining forces to bring together experts in the field from the USA, Asia and Europe for the first time.

4M/ICOMM 2009 takes place in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 23rd to 25th September 2009 and is the first joint conference organised by the teams behind the USA based International Conference on Micromanufacturing (ICOMM) and the International Conference on Multi-Material Micro-Manufacture (4M) which has its roots in Europe.

Both conferences recognised several years ago that manufacturing at the micro-scale (a few microns to a few millimeters) would be key in bridging the gap between the nano- and the macro-worlds. Consequently both have provided a forum where the latest research on the processes, equipment, and systems for fabricating miniature parts with micro-scale features have been presented, with an ultimate goal of broadening the range of microsystems-based products by the integration of new materials and processing technologies for their production.

With links between 4M and ICOMM well established, and with a track record of four and three conferences to their names respectively, the organising committees believe now is the right time to go global and unite the two communities.

Talking about 4M/ICOMM 2009, Prof. Kornel Ehmann of Northwestern University, Illinois and co-Chair of the 1st ICOMM Conference in 2006 said ”There has been a good crossover between the two conferences in the past, with speakers from 4M being invited to ICOMM and vice versa. The joint conference next year in Germany was the logical next step. We look forward to that and, all being well, to collaborating again in the future and hosting the conference in the USA.”

Prof. Volker Saile of KIT and co-Chairman of 4M/ICOMM 2009 replied “4M has naturally attracted an audience largely from Europe, whereas ICOMM’s audience is drawn from the USA and Asia. This first joint conference will bring high calibre participants from both groups together and will provide an excellent opportunity to establish it as the premier event of its kind in micro-manufacturing.”

The submission site for 4M/ICOMM 2009 opened on 5th January 2009. The submission deadline is 13th February 2009.