instrumentation & Measurement
IAA met up with Lawrence Liu, regional sales manager for Agilent Technologies electronic measurement group, at its annual measurement forum event. In an exclusive interview, IAA discusses the event’s significance and the areas of growth and opportuntity for the company in Asia and its emerging economies. By Mark Johnston
Agilent’s Measurement Forum 2011 Lawrence Liu, regional sales manager for Singapore and emerging economies in South Asia Pacific, Electronic Measurement Group, Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies held its Singapore leg of their annual measurement forum at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore, on July 15, 2011. The event was well attended as were the many seminars by the company. T h e to p i c s r a n g e d f ro m Microwave/R F measurement, electrical characterisation of nanotechnology, and high speed digital. Solutions provided ranged from those for the aerospace and defence industry, to highspeed compliance testing, to nanotechnology applications in material science and physics. T he comp a ny compr i se s of three businesses, namely the electronic measurement, chemical analysis, and life science groups. The measurement forum is being driven by its electronic measurement group. The forum aims to showcase the company’s latest technological developments and product solutions. On the event, Mr Liu said: “The Agilent Measurement Forum (AMF) 38 industrial automation asia | September 2011
is an annual event held across Asia where we bring a team of global technical experts together to share with our customers the company’s latest products, solutions and applications.” This is the second year the company has held this event, with an average of 200 attendees in Singapore, each year, and 3,500 in attendance across Asia, including China (Shanghai), Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Penang) and Australia. This Year’s Focus In 2011, three key themes were clear; modular solutions, highspeed/data applications, and nanotechnologies. The products and solutions highlighted by the company were largely based around these key themes, and experts were keen to demonstrate their latest technology in these application fields, as Mr Liu explained: “The focus for this year’s event is on modular solutions, high-speed/data applications
and nanotechnologies, which are covered in three different tracks at the forum. The event also serves as a one-stop show where all our customers can be exposed to various different solutions at a single event in order to broaden their knowledge of the test solutions available. They have the opportunity not only to keep abreast of the latest technologies, but also to interact with our experts as well as participate in the hands-on demos.” Mr Liu also pointed out that t he compa ny ’s involve me nt i n m a i n st re a m co mp e t it i ve markets is a major driver and focus for the organisation, and is launching products catering to the low-end, mid-end, and highend product categories. The Products Three key products were highlighted by Mr Liu pertaining to their three key themes. The first was their 12-bit Arbitary Waveform Generator (M8190A),