Welcome to COMS'2009
On behalf of the local organizers, I wish you all a big welcome to COMS'2009 in Copenhagen and an equally big welcome to Scandinavia! It is the 14th edition of COMS and it is the first time the conference is located in Scandinavia. It is therefore indeed a pleasure for us to host the gathering of such a broad audience - delegates and exhibitors - leading researchers, students, investors, decision makers, industrialists, end users, equipment vendors, customers, educators, media, and professional organizations - to our part of the world.
Since its start in 1994, the COMS conference has become a well-renowned and well-established recurring conference on all the various exciting aspects and challenges of bringing research and technology into products and to the market place - and also how to further increase the awareness of the great potential this technology and field has and will have on society. The conference is therefore not just about the science (like so many other micro/nano conferences) but also about how to harness research and theory and turn them into commercial products. It is intended as a hands-on, practical meeting that will assist in bringing these technologies to the market.
We have therefore mixed a cocktail of presentations from the leading specialists across the world and blended this with a setting that allows optimum possibilities for networking - and this both during the daily conference program and at the off-venue evening events. And we hope you will enjoy every bit of the very strong program we have put together for you at this edition of COMS - and the beautiful setting of Copenhagen and Scandinavia!
Being the first time for COMS in Scandinavia, we also hope that you get a deeper insight into the wealth of activities in our part of the world. Innovation is very high on the political agenda in Scandinavia. And innovation activities combined with a strong research and technology base and a thorough educational curriculum is indeed vital ingredients in creating new opportunities, business, and wealth in the society. This is a trade mark for the local organizing institutions, and we hope we will be able to show you some of this during the conference days and at post-conference site visits.
Micro- and nanotechnology is indeed a generic platform with applications into many fields. It is also a platform where we see convergence of many of the traditional scientific and technological fields. The conference therefore has sessions in many different aspects and applications of micro- and nanotechnology. Being placed in Medicon Valley with all its scientific and technological activities and international companies, we have also used the opportunity to have a number of dedicated micro- and nanotechnology based life sciences sessions incorporated into this year's edition of COMS.
With the hope we all have some fruitful and exciting days I cordially greet you all welcome!
On behalf of the local organizers
Mogens Rysholt Poulsen
Chairman of COMS'2009