Sensors 2005 -- Day 3 (continued)

HL Planartechnik from Germany, a specialty MEMS device maker reporting $15 million in annual revenues talked about their inclination sensors (about 50% of their business) which are used in automotive applications such as theft alarm.  Their other sensors include IR and magnetic field sensors for applications such as bank note verification.  Another interesting application they mentioned was a MEMS-based electronic parking brake.

VTI Technologies, based in Finland, talked about their MEMS devices.  They stressed that their accelorometers are made via bulk (vs. surface) micromachining process which results in enhanced performance (because of a larger proof mass) albeit at a higher price.  VTI reported that they shipped over 40 million MEMS devices to date.