PCIM Europe 2020 Postponed Over Coronavirus Health Concerns
The power electronics conference and exhibition will now take place in July.
Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH announced Friday morning that it would postpone PCIM Europe until July 28 through July 30, 2020, due to the increasing spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Europe.
The conference, which will remain at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre in Nuremberg, Germany, was originally scheduled for May 5 through May 7.
Attendees at last year's PCIM Europe. Image courtesy of Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH.
In a press release, Petra Haarburger, the managing director of Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, shared that exhibitions organizers will continually assess the situation regarding the spread of the virus.
“We very much hope that we have acted in the interest of all parties involved with this postponement and that we can thus make a joint contribution to delaying the spread of COVID-19 in Europe," Haarburger said.
The conference that brings in more than 12,000 people to Nuremberg each year will focus on battery and energy storage, trends in automotive power electronics, and data center power infrastructure solutions, according to the PCIM website.
With more than 500 exhibitors in 2019, this year’s conference will showcase exhibitions and programs from companies such as ROHM Semiconductor, Wolfspeed, General Electric, and Volkswagen.
PCIM’s postponement comes the same week the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) was canceled over coronavirus health concerns. The United States’ leading power electronics conference, APEC was scheduled to start Sunday, March 15. Before APEC’s ultimate cancellation, multiple companies began dropping out of the conference, citing concern for the safety of employees traveling nationally and internationally.
There are currently more than 125,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally, more than 3,000 of which have been confirmed in Germany as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Centers for Disease Control. With the spread continuing daily, exhibitors and conferences have been compelled to consider the safety of employees and attendees traveling to and from electronics conferences around the world.
Visitors who have already purchased a ticket for PCIM Europe will be able to use it for the new July dates, according to the press release.
EE Power will continue to update any information regarding PCIM Europe’s postponement as it becomes available.
