W3+ Fair Wetzlar 2024 The anniversary event attracts with a top-class program
Visionary topics, big names: For the 10th anniversary of the W3+ Fair, Network Fair & Conference for Enabling Technologies, organizer Fleet Events is bringing an interesting mix of exhibitors and a top-class supporting program with many application topics to Wetzlar. Whether AI, metrology, automotive, aerospace, fusion energy or start-up matching – a visit to the Buderus Arena Wetzlar in March 2024 is worthwhile for all company levels.
For the 10th time now – on March 13 + 14, 2024 – companies from the enabling technologies sector will meet at the W3+ Fair in Wetzlar (w3-fair.com). This year, around 200 exhibitors, partners and sponsors will present themselves on the exhibition area of the Buderus Arena Wetzlar, including the key players Hensoldt, Trioptics, Harmonic Drive, Werth Messtechnik and THM Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen. In total, companies from 11 countries will be present. In addition to news from optics, photonics, electronics and mechanics, inspiring side events on space travel, automotive, AI and fusion energy will offer a wide range of insights into the developments of tomorrow. This makes the W3+ Fair an exciting place to go for all experts who want to stay up to date. Ralf Niggemann, Network Manager at Wetzlar Network and co-initiator of the W3+ Fair, is very satisfied with the development of the trade fair: “An idea has become an institution. Today, everyone in the industry knows the innovative W3+ Fair. Like no other, the event stands for simple, cross-industry networking and forward-looking technology transfer – here at this traditional technology location.”
Top-class presentations at the accompanying conference
The accompanying en-tech.talks conference will once again feature big names and exciting topics this year. The stage program starts with prominent speakers from Carl Zeiss SMT, OptoTech, Leica Camera, the Bosch Home Comfort Group and the JLU Justus Liebig University. More than 30 renowned speakers will be giving talks, including Prof. Dr. Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Space Coordinator of the Hessian State Government, former German ESA astronaut Dr. Thomas Reiter and Prof. Dr. Constantin Häfner, Fraunhofer ILT and part of the expert commission on laser fusion of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Metrology, AI, aerospace, automotive, fusion energy and start-up matching
The Competence Center for Ultraprecise Surface Processing Upob e.V. will kick things off by inviting developers to the 12th UPOB Workshop 2024 on March 12 + 13 on the topics of optical systems, freeforms and asphere metrology.
Many of the offers at the trade fair are “made in Wetzlar | Mittelhessen” and demonstrate the concentrated innovative strength of the region. The AI conference will take place on the first day of the trade fair. It offers companies a best-practice approach to the future topic of artificial intelligence. The Hessen in Space initiative invites to a get-together. Interested parties can find out about the range of activities and explore the opportunities for new business. Visitors of the conference will receive the latest information on the focus topic “Fusion Energy”. It will focus on the requirements for the supply chain in Germany. German pioneers in fusion research will be on stage, including Fraunhofer ILT, Marvel Fusion from Munich and Focused Energy from Darmstadt.
The Start-up Matching of Business Angels Mittelhesse and the TeamMit Live Automotive network meeting will be brought to the event by Regionalmanagement Mittelhessen. IHK Hessen innovativ will be present with five regional Hessian chambers of industry and commerce in a special area and will certainly be a well-attended point of contact with its exhibits on AI, 3D printing and power electronics. The VDI, Association for German Engineers, will be hosting a networking breakfast followed by a tour of the trade fair. Gold partner and co-initiator Wetzlar Network, together with OptecNet Deutschland, Spectaris and Photonics Germany, invites to a C-Level Networking.
The Thuringian joint stand will also be a guest once again. On the morning of the second day of the trade fair, the European Photonics Industry Consortium EPIC will host the EPIC C-Level Breakfast followed by the EPIC TechWatch.
Jörg Brück, Project Director of the W3+ Fair, is delighted with the success of the event: “We have succeeded in bringing technology, expertise and talent together in Wetzlar and – for the first time – in Jena. The event has become a brand. It stands for the modern high-tech marketplace and offers networking at its best. That is a very nice résumé for the 10th anniversary.”
More information at w3-fair.com
Image material at W3+ Fair press page – under downloads
W3+ Fair Wetzlar 2024 at a glance:
Event: 10th W3+ Fair Wetzlar, networking fair and high-tech accompanying conference for enabling technologies.
When: March 13 +14, 2024
Where: Buderus Arena Wetzlar
Opening hours: 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tickets: 25 Euro day ticket, 40 Euro two-day ticket
About the W3+ Fair
The event traces its roots back to an industry imitative organised in Wetzlar and Mittelhessen, and its objective is to interlink the four sectors of optics, photonics, electronics and mechanics. The aim is that new interfaces and points of contact will pave the way for forward-looking technologies. The trade fair debuted at the Rittal Arena in Wetzlar in February 2014. The W3+ Fair is organised by the Hamburg-based company, FLEET Events (fleet-events.de). In September 2019, the W3+ Fair Rhine Valley celebrated its premiere in the four-county region. In 2023, the organizer has expanded its portfolio to include the W3+ Fair Jena.
