Sensors Expo & Conference, the largest trade show in the industry, has moved their annual event to Long Beach for the first time in the show’s 30-year history. In 2014, Sensors hosted over 5,000 attendees from 45 states and over 40 countries who converged for the sake of discovering the newest MEMS (Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems), Wireless, Wearables and the Internet of Things technologies.

Starting this Tuesday, the Long Beach Convention Center, with its comparatively close proximity to Silicon Valley and the cutting-edge markets of Aerospace & Defense, Medical and Entertainment, will host more than 200 companies including B+B SmartWorx, PCB Piezotronics, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices and more.

According to the release, the sales of sensors (devices that can record or measure data) are expected to climb in the U.S. to nearly $15 billion by next year. Beginning Tuesday, June 9 and lasting through Thursday, June 11, engineers and scientists will gather to present and find solutions to current challenges and to purchase and learn about new technologies.

Mat Dirjish, Content Director for Sensors Expo, spoke to the Post about the Internet of Things (IoT), a rapidly growing field the Sensors Expo & Conference will focus heavily upon, with several keynotes and technical sessions available to attendees.

“Everybody has a slightly different definition, but basically what it boils down to is anything that you can control or want to monitor in some way can be accessed via the internet using sensors,” he said. “And just about every sensor product in the world has an application in this field.”

He continued, “Now the interesting thing about sensors is that they’re very basic. They just measure things. They transform some action into a voltage or a current and it puts it into a computer, all of that information will be able to be accessed by whoever you want it to be accessed by. The Internet of Things is huge because anything and everything can be done over the internet with these sensors.”

Dirjish gave the example of several medical applications, such as a doctor being able to monitor a patient’s uncontrollable glucose levels via the Internet or a parent being able to monitor their child’s heart rate or respiratory rate without having to be nearby. On a less serious note, wearable sensors such as the Apple Watch, Google Glass or Fitbit can be used to track fitness or be used for nothing other than a little entertainment.

“What you’ll be learning is to open up your imagination to new applications for this particular concept,” he said.

“A lot of things people don’t think about. You’ll say well, ‘I got a digital thermometer.’ You add a USB port and a bluetooth interface, all of a sudden you can send your temperature of just about anything that that can measure, to anyone anywhere.”

Dirjish mentioned an application he learned about on the news the other day. An innovative thinker hooked up thermal sensors and cooking apparatus to a network in a Brooklyn restaurant so that the customer could sit down and watch their meal being prepared, while knowing the exact temperature of the food.

“It’s a little bit ridiculous, but it’s mind candy in a way,” he said, laughing. “It’s a ‘Look what I can do with this.'”

Other applications could include being able to heat your home with an app for your smartphone, tracking down lost keys with Bluetooth technology or even monitoring your house plants’ needs with a wireless irrigation system.

More than 65 dedicated conference sessions will not only cover the IoT, but discuss a wide range of cutting-edge technology areas including Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks, MEMS, Novel Approaches to Measurement & Detection, Optical Sensing & Detection, Sensor Fusion, Sensors at Work, Smart Cities, Wireless, and Wearables.

Nicole Haslip, communications manager for Saft America said that the company has been exhibiting at Sensors since 2012.

“As we continue to pursue new business in the wireless sensor network industry, we consider the Sensors Expo to be a critical resource for both industry knowledge and potential new customers for our advanced technology batteries,” she said in an earlier press statement.

Those who want to attend can still register for the expo by clicking here. For more information about Sensors Expo & Conference, visit the website here.

Images courtesy of Sensors Expo & Conference. Pictured on the finger: Coto Technology’s RedRock RR100 MEMS Magnetic Reed Sensor, which can be used within portable insulin pumps, capsule endoscopes, next generation hearing aids, insulin pens and wearables. Pictured with the pencil: LWIR Camera Module.