The annual printed electronics award winners were announced at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics event in Berlin, Germany. The awards recognize outstanding progress in the development and commercialization of printed electronics, an industry that produces a huge amount of technical innovation which will be used in many products, and is now being widely adopted.

The entries were judged by an eminent panel comprising of Prof.Iain McCulloch, Imperial College London, UK, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gunter Hübner, Hochschule der Medien, Germany

A summary of the awards are as follows:
• Best Technical Development Materials Award - Okayama University
• Best Technical Development Manufacturing Award - VTT Technical Research Center, Finland
• Best Product Development Award - Arjowiggins
• Academic R&D Award - University of Cambridge
• Best Poster - Joanneum Research

Okayama University from Japan was selected for the Best Technical Development Materials Award for its Ambient Conductive Metal Nanoink. They have developed technology to print conductive film under ambient condition processes without the post-treatment like annealing.

VTT Technical Research Center of Finland received the Best Technical Development Manufacturing Award for its development of the PrintoCent Pilot Factory. This pilot factory represents the most advanced industrialization capability and service in field of printed electronics. This factory combines manufacturing capability and expertise in one location to present the unique opportunity to develop new products quickly and effectively from prototypes to proof-of-production level piloting.

Arjowiggins was presented with the Best Product Development Award for development of paper substrates designed for printed electronics - POWERCOAT. This new technology turns paper into a powerful, ultra smooth flexible substrate for even the most demanding applications. POWERCOAT has provided a realistic alternative to plastics for printed electronics applications while being 100% paper, recyclable and sustainable.

University of Cambridge was chosen for the Academic R&D Award for its work on all-inkjet-printed, all-air-processed photovoltaic cells. They were able to show that inkjet-printing technology help dispels the skepticism on organic solar cells by opening new opportunities to make cost-effective, large-area photovoltaic modules.

The Joanneum Research Center from Austria received the Best Poster award for its poster entitled PyzoFlex - and the world of Human Machine Interfaces.