David Savastano, Editor09.19.12
As the field of organic and printed electronics continues to grow, there is a critical need for organizations to develop a network that allows them to pool together their resources and provide expertise.
Organizations can play an important role in this area. One such organization is the Commercialisation Clusters of Organic and Large Area Electronics (COLAE). A European FP7 project established in 2011, COLAE’s goal is to simplify and speed up the commercialization and adoption of organic and large area electronics (OLAE) through the creation of industry clusters.
COLAE is a collaboration between 17 of the largest research and development centers in Europe. These include VTT/PrintoCent, The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), Fraunhofer EMFT, Holst Centre, acreo, CETEMMSA, Centi and CSEM.
COLAE harnesses the resources and expertise of the project partners, and makes it available to both the existing organic electronics industry and new organizations entering the market. These services include training and workshops, technical and business feasibility support, pilot production and manufacturing facilities.
Matthew Herbert, marketing manager for the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), noted that the COLAE training program is led by the Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre at The University of Cambridge. Aside from providing technical training in OLAE technologies at an intermediate and advanced level, the program looks to increase the number of OLAE technologists and stimulate entrepreneurship in the sector.
“We provide a dedicated entrepreneurship program to help business to make the most out of their ideas, products and processes,” Herbert said. “We have created a feasibility network with a single portal to enable all members to submit questions and request advice and guidance. Then, using the COLAE network of European research centers, we will provide feasibility advice and support in relation to the use and integration of OLAE technology for specific applications.
“Essentially we are a hub for research centers, where customers can take advantage of multiple centers in one streamlined offer,” Herbert added.
COLAE also offers its Virtual Foundry, a hub of expertise designed to facilitate the development and manufacture of technologies at pilot scale. SMEs and LSEs can take advantage of the foundry’s resource management service packages to further enhance their operation in OLAE application areas.
COLAE will run through 2014, and already has an impressive array of accomplishments.
“One of our major successes has been to create a hub and entrance point into some of the largest OLAE R&D centers in the world,” Herbert said. “Our shared knowledge and experience can significantly reduce timescales of product development and proof of concept programs. Our collective voices are more powerful than as a single unit when speaking to large corporations who are looking into the OLAE marketplace.”
Herbert sees the organic and printed electronics field as an important technology that complements Si-technology.
“Devices will appear with forms that are unknown at the moment, where the functional circuit becomes an elegant part of the overall design of a final component,” Herbert said. “Devices such as mobile phones will become more rugged as the flexibility of components used in their manufacture increases: sitting on a mobile phone will no longer result in a communication crisis.
“The interface between inanimate objects and the real world will be enhanced significantly as OLAE allows cheaper sensors to be produced, sensors that can monitor large areas and sensors that can form an integral part of their surroundings,” Herbert noted. “Building management control systems will become more sophisticated as sensors in the walls control the large area printed OLED lighting panels, or darken the windows coated with electroactive printed films.
“As the technology develops its own standards and specifications, it will become not only a recognized industry in its own right, but an enabler to create electronic devices that work within our environments rather than apart from them,” Herbert added. “As the processes within OLAE become more reliable and repeatable, volume production of large area, rugged lightweight display technologies will, again, change the way that humans interact with their environments and will lead to significant savings in production costs, carbon impact and resource usage.”
Ultimately, coalescing the organic and printed electronics community will help advance the technology going forward.
“We are bringing together the community to act as one in order to gain traction from end user markets,” Herbert said. “We have been working extensively with the product design community to educate and raise awareness of OLAE. These connections should filter into an increased usage of OLAE technologies in products coming to market over the coming years.”
COLAE is a collaboration between 17 of the largest research and development centers in Europe. These include VTT/PrintoCent, The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), Fraunhofer EMFT, Holst Centre, acreo, CETEMMSA, Centi and CSEM.
COLAE harnesses the resources and expertise of the project partners, and makes it available to both the existing organic electronics industry and new organizations entering the market. These services include training and workshops, technical and business feasibility support, pilot production and manufacturing facilities.
Matthew Herbert, marketing manager for the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), noted that the COLAE training program is led by the Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre at The University of Cambridge. Aside from providing technical training in OLAE technologies at an intermediate and advanced level, the program looks to increase the number of OLAE technologists and stimulate entrepreneurship in the sector.
“We provide a dedicated entrepreneurship program to help business to make the most out of their ideas, products and processes,” Herbert said. “We have created a feasibility network with a single portal to enable all members to submit questions and request advice and guidance. Then, using the COLAE network of European research centers, we will provide feasibility advice and support in relation to the use and integration of OLAE technology for specific applications.
“Essentially we are a hub for research centers, where customers can take advantage of multiple centers in one streamlined offer,” Herbert added.
COLAE also offers its Virtual Foundry, a hub of expertise designed to facilitate the development and manufacture of technologies at pilot scale. SMEs and LSEs can take advantage of the foundry’s resource management service packages to further enhance their operation in OLAE application areas.
COLAE will run through 2014, and already has an impressive array of accomplishments.
“One of our major successes has been to create a hub and entrance point into some of the largest OLAE R&D centers in the world,” Herbert said. “Our shared knowledge and experience can significantly reduce timescales of product development and proof of concept programs. Our collective voices are more powerful than as a single unit when speaking to large corporations who are looking into the OLAE marketplace.”
Herbert sees the organic and printed electronics field as an important technology that complements Si-technology.
“Devices will appear with forms that are unknown at the moment, where the functional circuit becomes an elegant part of the overall design of a final component,” Herbert said. “Devices such as mobile phones will become more rugged as the flexibility of components used in their manufacture increases: sitting on a mobile phone will no longer result in a communication crisis.
“The interface between inanimate objects and the real world will be enhanced significantly as OLAE allows cheaper sensors to be produced, sensors that can monitor large areas and sensors that can form an integral part of their surroundings,” Herbert noted. “Building management control systems will become more sophisticated as sensors in the walls control the large area printed OLED lighting panels, or darken the windows coated with electroactive printed films.
“As the technology develops its own standards and specifications, it will become not only a recognized industry in its own right, but an enabler to create electronic devices that work within our environments rather than apart from them,” Herbert added. “As the processes within OLAE become more reliable and repeatable, volume production of large area, rugged lightweight display technologies will, again, change the way that humans interact with their environments and will lead to significant savings in production costs, carbon impact and resource usage.”
Ultimately, coalescing the organic and printed electronics community will help advance the technology going forward.
“We are bringing together the community to act as one in order to gain traction from end user markets,” Herbert said. “We have been working extensively with the product design community to educate and raise awareness of OLAE. These connections should filter into an increased usage of OLAE technologies in products coming to market over the coming years.”