On 18 and 19 November 2026, the Precision Fair in the Netherlands will celebrate its 25th edition by bringing together more than 6,500 high-tech and ultra-precision professionals and over 400 exhibitors. For two days, the event will provide a meeting place for companies, engineering specialists, knowledge institutes and technology partners working on technologies in which accuracy, measurement and controlled motion are critical. The exhibition and conference programme range from industrial precision engineering to optical satellite communication and space-based gravitational-wave observation.
Over the past 25 years, the Precision Fair has developed into a meeting point for organisations throughout the high-tech supply chain. The anniversary edition reflects that broad ecosystem. Technologies including mechatronics, metrology, motion, laser and photonics, materials, vacuum and clean technologies and big science applications will all be represented on the exhibition floor and in the conference programme.
The connection between these disciplines is an important theme of the Precision Fair. Increasingly complex systems require optics, mechanics, electronics, software and control technology to work together with extremely high accuracy and reliability. In many applications, this performance must also be maintained under demanding environmental, production or measurement conditions. The fair therefore focuses not only on individual technologies, but also on the engineering expertise, collaboration and supply chains required to turn them into functioning high-tech systems.
Ultra-Air demonstrates optical link from aircraft
One of the three keynote presentations at the Precision Fair will focus on Ultra-Air. TNO developed this technology to establish a highly accurate laser connection between a moving aircraft and a geostationary satellite. Sjoerd van Kuijk, project manager at TNO, will explain how optics, mechatronics and control engineering come together in the system.
The application illustrates the type of multidisciplinary engineering that features prominently at the Precision Fair. Establishing and maintaining an optical connection while one end of the link is moving requires close coordination between multiple subsystems. Optical components must support the required signal path, while mechatronic and control systems compensate for aircraft movement and maintain the alignment required for the laser connection.
The demonstration is positioned as a world first. During the keynote, Van Kuijk will also provide insight into the engineering decisions behind the technology and the interaction between the different technical disciplines.
Another keynote will place precision engineering in a broader European context. Rick Jongen, business developer at VDL ETG, will discuss the role that high-precision technology can play in strengthening Europe’s technological resilience. His presentation will address the collaboration, investment and robust supply chains required for Europe to continue developing and producing strategic high-tech technologies.
Measurement technology for future space research
The third keynote takes the Precision Fair into the field of fundamental space research. Gabby Aitink-Kroes of SRON will present The Eyes of LISA, focusing on the technology behind ESA’s planned space-based gravitational-wave observatory.
The system is being developed to measure exceptionally small variations caused by gravitational waves and requires measurement capabilities at the picometre scale. This places metrology in an environment where minute changes form the basis of the scientific observation itself.
The application demonstrates how technologies also found in industrial precision engineering can be pushed towards entirely different performance levels for scientific instruments. Aitink-Kroes will discuss the measurement system at the heart of the future observatory and the engineering challenges involved in detecting changes at an almost unimaginable scale.
More than 400 exhibitors across the high-tech supply chain
While the keynote programme provides a view of several advanced applications, the exhibition remains at the heart of the Precision Fair. More than 400 exhibitors will present technologies, components and engineering capabilities for high-tech and ultra-precision applications at the Brabanthallen in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
The exhibition floor brings together OEMs, system suppliers, specialist suppliers, engineering companies, knowledge institutes and technology partners. Participating organisations include Rexroth, Mitutoyo, Zeiss, Renishaw, Festo, IKO Nippon, Heidenhain, MTA, Werth, ATB Automation, Panasonic, Bosch, Dumaco, Etchform, HQ Pack, Witzenmann and Röhm.
Together, the exhibition and conference programme illustrate why precision engineering increasingly depends on cooperation across disciplines and organisations. From industrial motion and metrology to satellite communication and future space observatories, the 25th Precision Fair will provide an overview of the technologies and expertise behind the next generation of high-tech systems.
The Precision Fair takes place on 18 and 19 November 2026 at the Brabanthallen in ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, and is open from 10:00 to 17:00 on both days.
