The European Solid-State Circuits Conference (ESSCIRC) is a major forum to present, discuss, and exchange new ideas in the area of microelectronic circuits. It is an annual event and it rotates among different European countries. Though European in name, this is a truly international conference attracting numerous overseas attendees and contributors, especially from North America and Far East. The conference traditionally addresses analog, digital, and mixed analog/digital solid-state circuit design and other closely related topics.
This year the 25th ESSCIRC will take place on September 21-23 in Duisburg, Germany. The Organization Committee is chaired by Prof. G. Zimmer, while the Technical Programme Committee is under the chairmanship of Prof. B. J. Hosticka. Both chairmen are with the Fraunhofer Institute of Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in Duisburg. As are Mrs. C. Metz, the Conference Secretary, and Mrs. S. Ro§ who handles local arrangements. Conference Vice-chairmen are Prof. W. Splettsto§er, Siemens in Duesseldorf, and Dr. K. Weyer, ELMOS in Dortmund. Permanent Secretary of the ESSCIRC conference series is Prof. H. Grünbacher, Villach, Austria.
The Fraunhofer Institute of Microelectronic Circuits
and Systems in Duisburg
is host of this year's 25th ESSCIRC to be held on the Duisburg University campus.
The Institute is a contributor to the economic transformation of the Ruhr Valley in
microelectronics.
The meeting venue is less than a 10 minute bus ride from the center of the city of
Duisburg
which is served by the Duesseldorf and Cologne airports.
ESSCIRC'99 will adhere to the tradition of the previous ESSCIRC conferences and feature over 60 regular papers and about 40 poster presentations in the areas of analog ICs, RF circuits, mixed analog/digital circuits, communication circuits, data conversion, digital systems and processors, smart sensors and imagers, neural networks and fuzzy logic and memories, smart power, and design methodologies. The deadline for paper submission was April 9 and the meeting of the Technical Programme Committee that selects papers for presentation was scheduled May 18. The Final Programme has been available for distribution since June.
The oral presentations of accepted regular papers will be organized in three parallel sessions while the poster session will be concentrated on one late afternoon. In addition there will be seven plenary talks featuring invited speakers. Here, renowned experts will address important current topics. Finally two workshops will accompany ESSCIRC'99, one on RF Circuits, chaired by Dr. T. Wagemans of Philips on September 20, and the other on Integrated Systems by Prof. H.-L. Fiedler of Fraunhofer IMS on September 24. The registration for the workshops will be handled separately on a space available basis.
The conference will be held on the campus of the University of Duisburg, quite close to the Fraunhofer Institute of Microelectronic Circuits and Systems. The university campus can be reached by bus in less than ten minutes from the center of the city of Duisburg where the main railway station and most of the hotels are located. Duisburg itself is extremely accessible. There are two major German airports in its vicinity, Duesseldorf and Cologne. From Duesseldorf International Airport it takes about 20-25 minutes directly by suburban railway to reach the Duisburg main railway station. Duisburg is also a major German railway hub and can be easily reached by train from all over Germany and Europe. In addition, it is well connected to the maze of the German Autobahn system although the Ruhr Valley suffers from frequent traffic congestion especially during the rush hours.
The city of Duisburg lies at the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers and is one of the most important cities of the Ruhr Valley. This is the industrial heartland of Germany with history going back to 19th century when steel plants and coal mines dotted the valley. But in the second half of this century the need for replacement by new industries arose. For this reason in the seventies and eighties the local government of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia started a major restructuring effort of the Ruhr Valley. New industries were created, including microelectronics, that are contributing to the economic transformation of the area. Hence, ESSCIRC'99 taking place in Duisburg is recognition of the excellent progress the Ruhr Valley has made in the industrial restructuring.
We welcome you to attend ESSCIRC'99. For more information visit the ESSCIRC website at www.esscirc.org or contact the conference secretary, Mrs. C. Metz (phone: +49/2 03/37 83-2 10, fax: +49/2 03/37 83-2 78, email: metz@ims.fhg.de).