Hear the roar in Indianapolis? It’s not the Indy 500. It’s CEDIA EXPO, the tradeshow for the residential electronic systems industry. The event was last in Indianapolis, the headquarters’ home of the Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association, six years ago in 2005 and this year it is back at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, starting September 7 with the tradeshow first opening on September 8 and continuing through September 10.

This year, the event is jam includes the latest products, education through CEDIA University courses, and business strategies to profit in home entertainment, environmental control, energy management, green technology, home health, security and more.

There is a new, improve Future Technology Pavilion. And smartHOME readers can Twitter even now during an ongoing combat by following @CEDIA_OldSchool  or @CEDIA_NewSchool  teams as they battle why they do the things they do when it comes to technology, business, sales and training. Both teams will regroup at EXPO on Fri., Sept. 9 (3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.) for the final debate.

Then there are the CEDIA University courses.

All courses at CEDIA EXPO 2011 are categorized to help attendees make smarter decisions based on business goals and strategies, not just function.  To view courses that are offered at CEDIA EXPO 2011, visit http://www.cedia.net/expo/expo11.att.cu_courses.php.

Specific to five University topic areas:

Business growth — Finding it hard to grow the business in the current economic climate?  Courses here are designed to help diversify and strengthen the business.

Technical excellence — Striving to execute projects more productively and with less time?  Courses in this category aim at technical and design skills.

Forging alliances — Looking to develop professional relationships that will directly help the business thrive?  Courses in this category build and strengthen business relationships with industry professionals, peers, customers, and industry partners.

Emerging trends — Want to know more about what’s to come for the electronic systems industry and how it can benefit you?  Here are the latest emerging technologies and trends to help understand and implement them into a business plan.

Operational excellence — Is your business running as smoothly as you’d like?  Check out the ways to develop the day-to-day operation so that it is functioning efficiently.

Moving on to the CEDIA Future Technology Pavilion, there are distinct “rooms” featured in the pavilion at the EXPO. It will be controlled through a Crestron user interface and Symbol Logic has partnered with CEDIA to provide design documentation. It will simulate a home environment, featuring technologies for the kitchen, bath, bedroom, living room, home office and garage.

The living room will feature a 22-foot video wall. Short throw, edge-blended projectors provided by Digital Projection enable the consumer to have a very large screen with multiple video feeds without having to see any of the technology. The edge-blended screen provided by Stewart Filmscreen is used in a configuration never seen before in a residential setting.

Audio/video and control signals are distributed using existing powerline infrastructure with the help of Wi3, WiFi coverage using existing TV cables. There is a next generation of invisible, tactile speakers provided by Triad, which require significant detail when installing, but once complete, provide a completely invisible solution. Audio Design Associates will provide amplifiers, which play music throughout the pavilion.

The bedroom and bathroom focuses on the emerging market of home health.

The 2011 CEDIA Benchmarking Survey found that 33 percent of electronic systems contractors report they would be offering home health technologies/services to their clients between 2011 and 2013.

In the bedroom, there are Grandcare digital home health monitoring and sensors that allow clients to stay in their home longer. Other aging in place technologies include JNL’s automated pill dispenser and Presto’s computerless printer. Future Automation’s motorized under-bed lift, just coming to the U.S., hides a television. In the bathroom, Seura has a “vanishing” TV that appears to be a mirror when in off mode.

In the kitchen, home office and garage, technologies match benchmarking that found 72 percent of respondents anticipate energy management to be one of the emerging technologies they will be offering in the next 24 months.

Among products showcased: SunPower Corporation’s photovoltaic solar panels and an electric car charging unit from Eaton Corporation. Remote monitoring and diagnostics products from Ihiji are in the home office. Remote monitoring services represent an area of recurring revenue and allow for many problems to be fixed/repaired remotely.

Smart appliances offer exciting new solutions for the integrated home. Fisher and Paykel will showcase smart appliances such as dishwashers, ranges, refrigerators, washers and dryers. And, though wireless inductive power will not hit the market for 6-12 months, Fulton Innovations/Leggett & Platt has wireless inductive power designed to charge low-powered devices without wires and enable AC line-powered devices to operate without cords.

On Friday of CEDIA EXPO, there is the annual, free keynote breakfast. This year, Tim Costello, chairman and chief executive officer of Builder Homesite Inc., and New Home Technologies, LLC, will share his views on “Learning to Thrive in the New Normal Economy.”

His perspective: While many wait for the economy to recover and business to return to “normal,” others are looking at a future significantly different from the past. This “new normal” affects every aspect of the economy and the building industry. Costello examines the drivers of the new normal, their impact on the building industry, and how to find opportunities to thrive in this new economic landscape.

Still energized? Make a date for Saturday at the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Awards Banquet. It’s the perfect time to celebrate technology and design excellence with the movers and shakers in the electronic systems industry. There is also a special performance by Alizma from “America's Got Talent.”