European Microwaves

Europe is a collection of individual countries speaking different languages but sharing a common cultural heritage. Each country has its own industries, research centers, and academic bodies. The integration of European countries has been pursued by the European Union (EU) with a number of initiatives in various areas, such as education, science, and technology. A major instrument in this direction has been the series of EU Framework Programmes (FPs), which identify strategic areas of research and development (R&D) and fund specific collaborative projects involving research centers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises in Europe. A detailed description of the entirety of the initiatives is far outside the possibilities of this article, but it is available on the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) Web site (http://cordis.europa. eu/home_en.html). A variety of parallel initiatives, both public and private, have also been launched. Among them, in the area of microwaves, it is worth mentioning the constitution in 1998 of the European Microwave Association (EuMA), as an international nonprofit association with the aim of developing education, training, and research activities in the area of microwave technology in Europe. The main activity of EuMA has been the launch of European Microwave Week (EuMW), established now as the most important microwave event in Europe and the second one in the world [1]. In 2008, an industrial-driven initiative for European microwaves was launched, the European Radio and Microwave Interest Group (EuRaMIG), with the purpose of making microwave and radio technology more visible and coordinated in the European research landscape.