D&E Event retrospective: innovation and inspiration on a packed exhibition floor

On March 20, 2024, the crème de la crème of the D&E industry gathered in the atmospheric Congrescentrum 1931 in Den Bosch for the annual Design Automation & Embedded Systems event. No fewer than 310 visitors found their way to the event, where everything revolved around sharing knowledge and stimulating innovation within the sector.

With 28 stands on the exhibition floor, 23 substantive lectures and 16 live demonstrations, visitors and exhibitors were never bored for a second. “It is always fun to learn about new technologies and this is the ideal event for that,” says Gevorg Melikdjanjan of Logic Technology. The two plenary lectures were the crowd pullers, in which the technology behind controversial innovations was unraveled for and with the audience.

Futuristic world
Cem Celikbas and Guus Backelandt from Delft Hyperloop opened the day. They took the audience into the futuristic world of the hyperloop, a revolutionary transport system that has been further developed by students of the TU Delft. By means of electromagnetic propulsion, the hyperloop promises to become not only a lightning-fast, but also an environmentally friendly alternative to the polluting short-distance flight. The well-attended presentation underlined the great importance of innovative electronics for the sustainability of the transport sector.   

Groundbreaking
The second plenary lecture was given by Robbert Heinecke of the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety. The IT specialist and inventor gave a speech about the crucial role of technology in improving firefighting. As manager of the Digital Exploration Team at the Dutch Fire Brigade, Heinecke is uniquely qualified to talk about the possibilities that technology offers to make the work of firefighters more effective and safer. His enthusiastic story about the development of the fire-fighting robot and other groundbreaking applications provoked many reactions from the audience.

Varied programme
In addition to the plenary lectures, the event offered a varied program with substantive presentations and demonstrations by specialists. Various popular themes within the world of embedded systems and design automation were discussed and at the end of each lecture there was room for questions. This interaction led to stimulating discussions between the presenters and the audience at many lectures.  

One of the highlights were the demonstrations on the exhibition floor. “The interesting thing about demos is that you can see in practice how an application or module can be applied,” says Rein Floris of Acal BFi. “A live “A demonstration is always more appealing than a static solution on the table.”

Good feeling
D&E 2024 proved once again that the sector is alive and kicking. With a wealth of new knowledge, inspiration and connections, visitors left the event and looked back on an inspiring day with a good feeling.  

The PDFs of all lectures can be found here through the program on the website.