Within the framework of the annual International Semiconductor Conference CAS’2000, held in Sinaia (Romania), NEXUS sponsored and organised various sessions and meetings which aimed at further enhancing the collaboration between MST groups in Central/Eastern Europe and Western Europe. These events were hosted by Prof. Dan Dascalu, General Chairman of CAS’2000, head of the National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies (IMT) in Bucharest, and member of the NEXUSPAN Steering Committee.
Friday, 13 October 2000 (the last day of the conference), was completely devoted to Micro- and Nanotechnologies, with numerous invited talks given by international speakers and two large poster sessions. During the morning session, among others, two members of the NEXUS Executive Board (EB) gave invited presentations: A. El-Fatatry (BAE SYSTEMS, UK) presented a perspective on "Microsystems in the Far East" based on the NEXUS Far East mission, while A. Jelenski (ITME, Poland) presented a paper on "Advanced Functional Materials and their Applications". During the afternoon, a Special NEXUS Session provided a comprehensive overview of current and planned NEXUS activities: A. El-Fatatry, Vice Chairman of NEXUS, explained the way "Towards a Microsystems Association" and, subsequently, the "NEXUS Roadmap for Microsystems". Following, the approach of the NEXUS User-Supplier Clubs was presented and illustrated by the example of 3 clubs: "Aerospace & Geophysics" (presented by A. Jelenski on behalf of J. Suski), "Telecommunication" (A. El-Fatatry), and "CAD" (P. Salomon). Finally, A.Jelenski presented plans to establish a new User-Supplier Club on "Functional Materials for MST". These presentations were open to all CAS participants and were attended, in spite of the fact that it was the last day of the conference, by about 40 participants. The presentations were followed by a special poster session organised by the attending National Contact Points, representing NEXUS(PAN) within nine Central/East European (CEE) countries The NCPs presented their, impressive, MST related R&D research results. In the evening, a special NEXUS cocktail party was held as an occasion to continue discussions in an informal atmosphere.
On Saturday morning (October 14), a meeting was held (attended by about 25 people) which was devoted to the exchange of views between the attending National Contact Points (NCPs, from Belarus, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine), the NEXUSPAN Steering Committee, and the NEXUS EB. It started by a presentation of H.-C. Petzold, summarising the achievements of NEXUSPAN over the past years, followed by short presentations of the attending NCPs on what they did in that role in the past, and how they see NEXUS in the future.
In the concluding Round Table discussion, chaired by A. El-Fatatry, some key points that are considered crucial for the future involvement of Central/East European member organisations in NEXUS were elaborated:
 | The CEE attendees expressed their concerns over the lack of funds e.g. to support attendance at conferences, exchange visits etc. It was emphasised, however, that funding limitations have been imposed across all of the NEXUS activities and not just those of the CEE/NEXUSPAN. On the other hand, the EB representatives confirmed the availability of a budget, under NEXUS-2000, dedicated to the integration of NEXUSPAN members within the pan-European MST community. These funds are, however, spread across all of the NEXUS activities that have been agreed with the EU. The NEXUSPAN members, along with all the other NEXUS members, are able to access these funds through active participation in these tasks. |
| It was agreed that the main aim of NEXUSPAN is to disseminate information to promote the activities in Eastern Europe, in order to assist in the exploitation of the R&D undertaken by the NEXUSPAN members. One route for dissemination is through the USCs. The NCPs were, therefore, encouraged to participate within the USCs, either by attending the meetings or through electronic means, and to encourage, in turn, their own national MST community to actively participate in the USCs and the tasks of NEXUS. |
The meeting was found to be constructive, and specific actions decided at the meeting are expected to help in enhancing the process of interaction and dissemination between NEXUS members in the East and West.
The eventful days in Sinaia were concluded by an excellent dinner for the invited speakers and NCPs at the beautiful Foisor Castle, a former residence of the Romanian King, today used by the President of the Romanian Academy of Sciences for receptions. As a cultural highlight, a chamber music concert was held, exclusively for the NEXUS guests.
Details of the programme at photos taken during the various sessions can be found at the conference website http://www.imt.ro/cas/
On behalf of all the participants, the authors would like to thank Prof. Dascalu and his team, especially Mrs. Doina Vancu, for the excellent organisation of the various NEXUS events and the warm hospitality that they enjoyed during their stay in Romania.
Hans-Christian Petzold
Ayman El-Fatatry
[30 October 2000]