Cleanzone - Digitisation and space exploration: Two keynote speakers look at the future of cleanroom production

Kongress / Messe Frankfurt / Sandra Gätke

How will cleanroom production change over the next few years, and what role will be played by digitisation and the increasingly strict requirements resulting from systems growing ever more complex, compact and smaller? Participants will be able to get answers to these questions at the Cleanzone congress and trade fair on 17 and 18 October 2017 in Frankfurt am Main. Distinguished representatives from science, industry and associations will be on hand to present the latest technologies, processes and research findings especially for users and experts.

This year marks the first time that the Cleanzone Congress will feature two keynote speakers: on 17 October, Dr. Marc Thom from Sony will take a look at our digital future, while on 18 October Dr. Axel Müller from the aerospace company OHB will review the importance of cleanroom technology for the high-tech systems that are expected to provide ever better data for space exploration. Both keynote speeches tackle the top themes for Cleanzone 2017: digitisation and space exploration.

Dr. Marc Thom is convinced that the increasing degree of digitisation will change our world in a variety of ways, and offers a glimpse of what congress participants can expect from his presentation: “The way we are living and working is changing even faster than before. This is leading to a significant change of business models for the different industrial areas, new kind of semiconductors and new kind of connectivity will influence the refoundation of new business and will also make some established business models obsolete.”

The “Optics & Science” OHB Space Center near Munich is involved in numerous ESA and DLR missions, including earth observation, science, astronomical space travel, astronomy and planetary exploration.

Dr. Axel Müller explains the demanding requirements for manufacturing instrumentation in cleanrooms: “Cameras and optical systems (from the visible spectrum to X-rays) play a significant role in almost all of these missions. In order to ensure the full functionality of these instruments, a wide range of things are necessary: purity requirements in the fields of engineering and design, process controls, cleanrooms and cleanroom procedures, even cleaning and detection methods – and all of these things must be developed, practised and optimised continually. These requirements must be satisfied throughout the entire European supplier chain, right up until deployment in space, across a project period of some six years.”

The keynote speakers’ presentations are included in the price of any congress module ticket. As in years past, the Cleanzone Congress is divided into four modules that can be booked separately. The programme kicks off on 17 October with the module: “Cleanrooms: People + Technology”. Here, participants will find out more about how to improve personnel conduct, clothing, logistics and cleanroom cleaning. Process optimisation is the subject of the second module on Tuesday: “Processes: Project Management + Automation”. In this module, topics include value-stream-oriented process management, facility management systems and monitoring operational quality. On Wednesday morning, the congress addresses “Construction: Components + Systems”. Experts will be illuminating the topics of airlocks and transport systems, modular and flexible building systems, and the requirements for new cleanroom construction using microbiological quality control as an example. Modern measurement equipment, the identification of contamination and subsequent testing will be the focus for participants in the “Measurement Technology: Equipment + Project Validation/Qualification” module on Wednesday afternoon.