IWCS (Shrewsbury, PA), producer of the International Cable & Connectivity Symposium, the premier venue for new technologies in cable and connectivity products, processes and applications, welcomed attendees to its 65th annual conference in Providence, Rhode Island, from October 2 - 5, 2016. A formal announcement of a collaboration between IWCS and UL to produce a regional conference in Shanghai, China next year was made at the event's plenary session. Robert Wessels, Jr. of CommScope and chairman of IWCS, signed the collaboration agreement with L.F. Lai, VP and general manager of UL’s Wire and Cable division.
The new event, dubble the "UL and IWCS China 2017 Cable & Connectivity Symposium", will be held April 25-27, 2017 at the Marriott Shanghai City Centre, and will be based on the IWCS conference format of a technical symposium, plenary session with keynote speaker, executive track, and a professional development program. Simultaneous translations will be provided for each presentation. Selection of presentations will be made with a call for papers and peer review. “This is our 65th year of the global symposium conducted in the United States and we are now looking forward to presenting topics to a broader audience in Asia, particularly to those who cannot travel to the U.S.,” commented CommScope's Wessels at the new event's announcement. L.F. Lai, VP and general manager of UL's Wire and Cable division added, "As China is the largest market for wire and cable connectivity with the strongest need for acquiring the knowledge of latest innovations, it is logical to establish this regional event in China as the premier venue to learn of new technologies in cable and connectivity materials, products, processes and applications."According to a press release, formal topics for this year's IWCS 2016 in Providence included: the Internet of Things (IoT); Power over Communications Cables; Global FTTX & Installation; Materials for Cable & Connectivity Applications; Fiber Optic Connectors for Harsh Environments; Copper Cable Performance & Design, and others. The event's executive session and the technical symposium offered a high caliber program containing 99 technical papers and presentations in 16 sessions that attracted presenters and attendees from across the U.S., Asia, and Europe. The conference also included 22 poster papers, 11 new product presentations, 7 professional development courses led by industry experts, and a 2 day supplier exhibition. Attendees came from 25 countries, spanning 6 continents, with 31% from outside the USA. Attendees from Europe accounted for 13%, while 14% came from Asia. 11% of the Attendees were from Japan and China. Overall attendance increased 24% over the prior year.
“This conference gives attendees a unique opportunity to gain insight from top engineers, researchers and executives from the cabling and connectivity industry,” said David B. Kiddoo, CEO of IWCS. “The quality of the papers was excellent and the overall popularity of the topics, including the enhanced connectivity focus, generated a high level of global interest in this year’s program.” A highlight of the 2016 IWCS plenary session was the recognition for the best papers and presenters of the prior year. Award winners were as follows: -- The Jack Spergel Memorial Award for Outstanding Technical Paper for “Characterization of Modal Dependence of MMF Chromatic Dispersion for Wideband MMF” was presented to co-authors Bulent Kose, Jose Castro, Ph.D., Rick Pimpinella, Ph.D., Yu Huang, Ph.D., Alexander Berian, Asher Novick and Brett Lane, Ph.D., all of Panduit Corporation, Tinley Park, IL, USA. -- The Outstanding Poster Paper for “Development of 2000-Fiber Ultra-High Density Underground Optical Cable” was presented to co-authors Tomohiro Ishimura, Masayoshi Tsukamoto and Yutaka Hoshino of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Mie, Japan. -- The Kitts-Kingsley Award for Best Presentation was given to David Mazzarese, Ph.D. of OFS, Norcross, GA, USA, for “Splice Loss Criteria for Outside Plant Cable”. -- Ian Greveling of Corning Optical Communications LLC, North Carolina, USA, a retiring member of the IWCS Board of Directors, and retiring Symposium Committee Member Paolo Marelli, of Prysmian Group, Milano, Italy, were also honored.
New Symposium Committee members added in 2016 included Eduardo Garza, Hitachi Cable America; Richard Mack, CRU; James Malkemus, General Cable; Dr. Akira Murata, Fujikura, Ltd.; Wayne Kachmar, Technical Horsepower Consulting, LLC; Robert LaRocca, Underwriters Laboratories, LLC; Simone (Cy) Genna, The Chemours Company; and Durgesh S. Vaidya, OFS, a Furukawa Company. Seven recipients of the student scholarship awards for the 2016/2017 academic year were also acknowledged at the plenary session. Contributions came from Cable Components Group, the Wire & Cable Industry Suppliers Association (WCISA), The Christopher Kenneth Eoll Memorial Endowment, and the Wire Association International (WAI). The event's two-day supplier exhibition featured over 100 suppliers to the cable and connectivity industry. For further information, visit the IWCS website www.iwcs.org or contact David B. Kiddoo, IWCS CEO, at [email protected] or by phone at +1 410.667.0723.
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