The 2020 FLEX/MSTC opens today at the DoubleTree by Hilton in San Jose, CA, with two Keynote Sessions and a wide range of concurrent sessions covering the fast-growing world of flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE).

Organized by SEMI-FlexTech, this year’s conference moved to San Jose from its recent home in Monterey, CA, and early indications are that attendance is up and booth space is sold out. The MEMS & Sensor Technical Congress (MSTC) will again be co-located with FLEX.

Melissa Grupen-Shemansky, executive director, SEMI-FlexTech, said the keynote speakers should all be terrific.

“In terms of individual speakers, it is really difficult to single out individual ones, as all have value to the bigger picture – our electronics industry is so very complicated,” Grupen-Shemansky said. “The keynotes usually set a great tone for the event and get referenced frequently throughout. They will be followed by a panel discussion designed to draw out more observations on the impact of these technologies on broader trends, as well as challenges that still exist on the integration roadmaps.”

Keynote Talks

FLEX/MSTC Session 1: Keynotes, will begin with introductory remarks by SEMI Americas president Dave Anderson, SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha will follow with his talk on  “Sensors, MEMS and FHE: Going Beyond Smart to Realize Imagination.”

Continental Corporation VP Anil Rachakonda, head of R&D, North America, Systems & Technology, will focus his Keynote talk on “Consumer Applications Driving Smart Mobility Use Cases,”  a look at the changing world of mobile technology, AI and more.

Antti Vasara, president and CEO, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., who follow with “Beyond Flexible Hybrid Electronics: Biodegradable Electronics and Interfacing Bio+Electronics.” Vasara will offer insights into three use cases: biodegradable diagnostic sensors, skin conformal flexible hybrid electronics, and interfaces between biological media and electronics.

FLEX/MSTC Session 2: Keynotes will start with “The Art of the Possible,”  a look at next generation devices and developments that will be given by Michael Wiemer, VP of engineering, CTO and co-founder of Mojo Vision.

Zhenan Bao, K.K. Lee Professor of Chemical Engineering, and by courtesy professor of chemistry, materials science and engineering, Stanford University, will close the Keynotes with a talk on “Skin-Inspired Electronics,” a look at how organic-based materials can imitate skin funcitions.

Co-moderators Melissa Grupen-Shemansky of SEMI and Stephen Whalley of Microtech Ventures will then moderate a Panel Discussion featuring all of the Keynote speakers.

Concurrent Sessions

The conference then heads into four concurrent sessions, three for FLEX and one for MSTC. FLEX Session 3: FHE Applications, chaired by Kei Hyodo, Yuasa System Co. Ltd., opens with Benjamin Leever, technical director for manufacturing technology, Air Force Research Laboratory. He will be followed by John Rogers, senior electrical engineer, The Boeing Company; Michael Mitchell, electrical engineer, The Boeing Company; Gregory Whiting, associate professor, University of Colorado Boulder; and Wei Wu, principal investigator at DuPont.

Session chair Robert Praino of Chasm Advanced Materials will lead FLEX Session 4, Materials. The segment will feature presenters Shenqiang Ren, professor, The State University at Buffalo; Morten Lindberget, VP business development, CondAlign AS; SAFI-Tech CTO Ian Tevis; Niveditha Nagarajan, applications engineer, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions; and Nizamidin Jappar, marketing manager, Kimoto Tech.

FLEX Session 5, Displays & Optoelectronics I, be moderated by E Ink’s Michael McCreary. Speakers will include Robert Poser, director of product management, Plastic Logic;  FlexEnable Ltd. CEO Chuck Milligan; E Ink CTO CC Tsai; Antonio Facchetti, founder and CTO of Flexterra; and Erica Montbach, manager, R&D, Kent Display.

MSTC Session 3, Industry Trends and Applications of MEMS & Sensors, will feature Carmelo Sansone, director of MEMS and Sensors Industry Group, SEMI; Dr. Armen Mkrtchyan, senior engagement manager, McKinsey; Andrew Kelly, director of applications engineering, Cirtec Medical; Dr. Brett Goldsmith, co-founder and CTO, Cardea Bio, Inc.; and Angela Suen, director of automotive product line management, Lumentum.

There will also be two TechTALKS in the afternoon. Paul Drysch of PreAct Technologies will discuss “Successfully Leveraging Novel Sensing Approaches to Create New Markets in Automotive and Robotics,” and Jeffrey Krotosky of Tronics MEMS/TDK Electronics will focus on “Biosensor Needs and Considerations for Underserved Communities.” A networking session will follow the concurrent sessions.

For more information on FLEX2020, see FlexTech’s web site at flex.semi.org.