What Happened In Denver? A Recap Of IMS 2022

By Abby Proch, former editor

Like much of the sentiment heard regarding conferences this year, the return to in-person gatherings has been much needed and much enjoyed. IMS 2022 in Denver was no different. Although, perhaps a bit smaller compared to the years preceding the pandemic, the exhibition and conference featured more than 450 exhibitors and roughly 6,000 attendees. Many of whom  remarked that 5G/6G and quantum computing seemed to be the hot topics on the show floor. I caught up with several of my contacts after the show to hear how their experience went. Here’s what they had to say:

dB Control — Mike Lee, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

The IMS 2022 show was a success for us after a few years off for my company due to the pandemic. The energy was great and we had great meetings with customer, prospects, current as well as future suppliers and potential sales representatives. 

It was also great to see the familiar faces and colleagues we haven’t seen in person for those missed years.  We anticipate next year’s show in San Diego will be even better and we are looking forward to it.

Analog Devices — Chris Pearson, Applications Manager for the Frequency Generation Product Line

The trend I most noticed is how excited everyone was to be back in person interacting with each other and sharing ideas again.  It was by far the best IMS I have been to in terms of customer interaction.

In terms of technology, there was a booth in which a company demonstrated its ability to 3D print RF substrates. I am really curious to see where this technology will go in the future.

Marki Microwave — Duncan Pilgrim, VP of Sales and Marketing

IMS 2022 felt like an extended family get-together. It was great to be back meeting customers, suppliers and old friends (and making some new ones as well). It is clear that RF is in another growth period, due to increases in defense spending; opportunities in “new” space; and expansion into G, V, and W bands for communications and imaging applications, coupled with new interesting market opportunities such as quantum computing.

One clear trend that ripples through the entire RF chain is the desire for increased instantaneous bandwidth, which is driving higher performance data converters and the need for wider band RF components – all good news for Marki Microwave!

Naprotek — Jim Apfel, SVP of Commercial Strategy

The 2022 IMS show was excellent this year for Naprotek. We launched our brand into the RF community, extending the reach of NexLogic and SemiGen products and services to one of the most focused and valuable technical communities for our business.

We had several discussions with folks, building next-generation products for the primary markets of Defense and Space and the emerging advanced technologies serving RF test, optical communications, and sensors.

A common trend throughout the show was returned excitement to engage in technical discussions with RF colleagues from around the world. Naprotek’s shift to Centers of Excellence is directly supporting customers’ operational needs and roadmaps, and the IMS audience was a great way to launch this new strategy.

Rohde & Schwarz — Dominique Loberg, Social Media & PR Manager

Rohde & Schwarz demonstrated a broad range of new test solutions at IMS 2022 this year. IMS show attendees experienced Rohde & Schwarz demonstrations, both in the Rohde & Schwarz booth and throughout the show floor, with the other 14 industry partners of Rohde & Schwarz, making up over 130 R&S products displayed at IMS 2022. Some of the more popular demonstrations from Rohde & Schwarz included new solutions for optimizing EVM performance, 6G D-band system & component characterization, and the latest CATR-based OTA test solution.

Overall, IMS 2022 was a great tradeshow for Rohde & Schwarz this year. Rohde & Schwarz application engineers, business development managers, and account & product managers alike were excited to speak face to face with customers and assist them with their testing solutions in real-time.

AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation — Nicole Fenn, Marketing Coordinator

There was a lot this year that related to 5G and some companies were even showing off transparent wireless antennas relating to, which I thought was really interesting.

There was also another company booth not too far from ours I was more inspired and interested in the booth/logo design they had (looking at it as a graphic designer). I believe it was a fiber optics company, which I saw more of this year than last IMS as well. This application interested me the most as you don’t see if often, or at least I don’t hear about it often on my end, but overall the territory of fiber optics is generally interesting to me.

See You At IMS 2023

IMS 2023 is heading to San Diego next year, from June 11-16 at the San Diego Convention Center. IMS has issued calls for papers, workshops, panels, technical lectures, and more. Details are available on their IMS 2023 site. Exhibitors are also invited to register, with booths now being issued on a first-come, first-served basis.