Hannover Fair 2005
By Scott Siddens, Senior Editor -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 5/16/2005
The annual Hannover Fair, which ran from April 11 through 15 in Germany, is the world's largest showcase of new industrial and automation technology. And this year it was even bigger, with a 20% surge in attendance, despite running one day less. A total of 205,000 attendees visited the booths of 6,090 companies from 65 countries.
When it comes to technology and automation, the show has everything. "Trade events in the United States tend to be focused events that are sponsored by associations," observed Joachim Schafer, president of Hannover Fairs USA. "Europe strives more for aggregation."
Organizers hope to bring more U.S. vendors to the fair next year. "U.S. vendors could be taking the opportunity of a weaker dollar to sell to Europe," he said. "But they appear hesitant."
U.S. engineers might be interested to know that many new tracks specifically intended to promote engineering were included in this year's fair schedule. "Europe faces the same problems as the U.S. in recruiting new engineers and worrying about a shortage," said Schafer.
