LabNL is a brand new trade fair focused on the laboratory sector. From 28 to 30 September, visitors can visit the Jaarbeurs. But what makes LabNL so unique? We asked Wendy Debets, sector manager at FHI.
For whom is LabNL more than worth a visit?
LabNL is intended for anyone who works in a laboratory or deals with it on a daily basis: laboratory technicians, researchers, lab managers, people working in research departments or who do purchasing for a lab.
What exactly does LabNL look like as a trade fair?
This first edition is not yet set up on such a grand scale. We are in hall 7 in the Jaarbeurs. We are also present together with another successful trade fair of FHI, the electronics fair Electronics & Applications. For us in the Laboratory Technology sector, this is a new approach. We chose this because we received many signals from our members to do something again, to meet each other and to network.
But setting up something really big is very exciting in these times. That is why we have chosen to keep it accessible. For example, all exhibitors use standard stand construction. The visitor can see a lot of exhibitors in a relatively small area.
So there are many different types of companies from the lab world on LabNL?
You will see many of the companies from the three clusters back at LabNL that also carry the conference program: LabAutomation, LabAnalyse and Life Science. And apart from that, the companies that offer general lab equipment, lab furnishings and safety products are of course not missing.
What can visitors expect from the conference programme?
We have integrated the well-known conference titles LabAutomation and LabAnalyse into the fair. The new Life Science event also has a place in the conference program. We have a long list of interesting speakers. Because although we are still working on the program, we are proud of what is already there. At LabAnalyse we traditionally look at new techniques, but we also have speakers who talk more about the latest developments in a broader sense. For example, professor Michel Nielen talks about measuring food quality with your mobile phone. We also have various speakers who discuss themes in the field of sustainability. Furthermore, Gert Jan Gruter from Avantium will talk about the importance of analytical techniques for the development of sustainable materials.
Has the corona crisis had any influence on the content of the conference programme?
We did not specifically emphasize this, because we have already discussed corona in depth in a number of previously held online events. But developments in the lab have accelerated rapidly in the past year due to corona. And you want to highlight that. For example, in the Life Science program on September 30, we have a speaker from TNO. He will give a presentation on LAMP-based diagnostics of pathogenic microorganisms. And the start-up Rapidemic will talk about the test method they have developed, with which you can test people quickly and on a large scale, anywhere in the world. At LabAnalyse on September 29, we have a speaker who will talk about testing COVID in wastewater. So there are some interesting corona-related lectures among them.
When can visitors register for LabNL?
That can from now on. So register as a visitor quickly and free of charge, we will warmly welcome you in September.
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