David Savastano, Editor11.09.15
When it comes to emerging industries, universities are often the breeding ground for new discoveries as well as new businesses. The field of flexible and printed electronics encompasses a wide range of potential materials and applications, and universities around the globe are bringing their expertise to the field.
Dr. Malcolm G. Keif, professor and graduate coordinator, Printed Electronics & Functional Imaging for the Cal Poly State University’s Graphic Communication Department, said that the field is growing, with the news of the U.S. Department of Defense’s $75 million grant for FlexTech Alliance’s Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE MII) one piece of good news.
“I believe the new FHE MII will spur even more growth,” said Keif. “Integration is the next big area of research, how we integrate convention and thinned IC with flex printed substrates and components. It seems like a number of people are doing work with sensors too. Flexible sensors for wearables will remain hot for awhile.”
“My university initiated recently a new center for functional and 3D printing,” said Prof. Shlomo Magdassi, The Enrique Berman Chair, Casali Center, Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “There will be over 30 researchers in this center, and some are already involved in printed electronics projects. We also licensed several of our technologies in the field of printed electronics.”
“COPE has experienced an increased interest from industrial partners in organic printed electronics and has started several new research programs in this area recently,” said Bernard Kippelen, director, Georgia Tech - Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics.
“We attribute this increased level of activity to the trends observed in market research studies that point to a consolidation of mature markets such as displays based on OLEDs and a diversification of new applications driven by emerging markets around wireless sensors (e.g. the Internet of Things ) and wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring. An evolution from devices fabricated on rigid substrates towards device platforms that are flexible, conformable and soft fuels opportunities for innovations in hybrid flexible electronics.”
Prof. Klaus Meerholz, Department Chemie, Universität zu Köln, said that the COPT.CENTRE, University of Cologne is seeing growth in the field of flexible and printed electronics.
“More and more key industry sectors are initiating to implement organic and printed products,” said Dr. Meerholz, CEO and initiator of the COPT.CENTRE. “This indicates clearly that organic and printed electronics has established itself as a growth industry.
“Printed electronics is still one of the highest prioritized categories for funding in Europe,” added Dr. Meerholz. “To give the industry in Europe a kick-start, a great deal of the funding is focused on making equipment available for universities, research centers and small- or medium-sized companies who cannot afford to invest in capital intensive equipment in a field with high risk development still going on. This is exactly where the COPT.CENTRE steps in to enable such development projects and even the realization of prototypes or low quantity products.”
Michael Nystås, communications officer, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience – Chalmers University of Technology, said Chalmers University of Technology is seeing growth in the field of flexible and printed electronics.
“We are working on this heavily,” Nystås said, adding that Chalmers is developing new nano-scale processing technology for using carbon nanotubes in flexible and stretchable electronics.
“The field of flexible and printed electronics (FPE) is definitely growing, albeit not necessarily as fast as some would like,” said Dr. Bruce E. Kahn, adjunct professor of graphic communications, The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University. “The recent announcement of the formation of a Manufacturing Innovation Institute devoted to Flexible and Hybrid Electronics, and its award to the FlexTech Alliance has done a lot, and will continue to bring attention to FPE. Where there is money, research and development will certainly follow.”
George Gruner, distinguished professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, said that there is already significant activity in the area of printed electronics, not only at UCLA but also in all the major research universities.
“There is a recognition that while crystalline materials, such as silicon, copper and the like, were the drivers of the information revolution in the last century, now materials in new shapes and forms are needed. In contrast to, say, silicon electronics, printed electronics is viewed as an area where R&D can have significant impact,” Gruner added. “Printed electronics is an area where significant research has to be done. One has to understand, say, the behavior of materials in different shapes and forms, new nanowires are being discovered, and the printed transistor landscape is to some extent in the research phase.”
Dr. Patrick J. Smith, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, said his research group isn’t seeing much growth at the moment. “Currently, our main areas of research are inkjet printed composites and tissue engineering,” Dr. Smith said. “Printed electronics is still an area we’re exploring, but it’s not our main focus. The field, to me, seems as though it’s in a steady state phase.”
“We have been seeing tremendous growth within the field, through the number of inquiries coming through our center for assistance in prototyping products and demonstration of higher volume production capabilities,” said Dr. Margaret Joyce, professor in the Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering at Western Michigan University and director of WMU’s Center for the Advancement of Printed Electronics (CAPE).
“Flexible and printed electronics will be one of the most important components to realize consumer products needed for IoTs,” said Dr. Takao Someya, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo.
Prof. Poopathy Kathirgamanathan, chair professor of Electronic Materials Engineering at Brunel University, said that flexible OLEDs are of particular interest, adding that the outlook is excellent for the field.
“At the CHN in Boston, our corporate R&D collaborations are mostly focused on flexible and printed electronics that will be used for the Internet of Things (IOT) and for advanced sensors,” said Eric S. Howard, corporate and outreach manager, NSF Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing at Northeastern University. “The private sector and the government have made major investments in studying the fundamental properties of nanoparticles and nanowires over the last decade, but integration and application of nanomaterials into new electronic device platforms is disappointingly slow. This is why we feel there is a need for nanoscale printing technologies that are high-rate, have the ability to use many nanomaterials and are capable of printing heterogeneous structures.”
“Printed electronics will transform electronics in a revolutionary way, much as the transistor radio did in the 1960s. It will fundamentally change the way people interact with electronics,” said Craig Armiento, director of the Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC) and co-director of the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
“The concept of Additive Manufacturing, or AM, has been embraced by the defense industry for the construction of metal and plastic mechanical parts. Now, interest is building in using the concepts of AM in producing electronics. Printed electronics will both allow for rapid prototyping and the manufacturing of electronic solutions that are lightweight, flexible and wearable instead of rigid circuit boards. While there are many organizations pursuing printed electronics, we have initially focused applications that are relevant to defense. This technology will be easily extendable to other industries, including medicine and logistics.”
Dr. Malcolm G. Keif, professor and graduate coordinator, Printed Electronics & Functional Imaging for the Cal Poly State University’s Graphic Communication Department, said that the field is growing, with the news of the U.S. Department of Defense’s $75 million grant for FlexTech Alliance’s Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE MII) one piece of good news.
“I believe the new FHE MII will spur even more growth,” said Keif. “Integration is the next big area of research, how we integrate convention and thinned IC with flex printed substrates and components. It seems like a number of people are doing work with sensors too. Flexible sensors for wearables will remain hot for awhile.”
“My university initiated recently a new center for functional and 3D printing,” said Prof. Shlomo Magdassi, The Enrique Berman Chair, Casali Center, Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “There will be over 30 researchers in this center, and some are already involved in printed electronics projects. We also licensed several of our technologies in the field of printed electronics.”
“COPE has experienced an increased interest from industrial partners in organic printed electronics and has started several new research programs in this area recently,” said Bernard Kippelen, director, Georgia Tech - Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics.
“We attribute this increased level of activity to the trends observed in market research studies that point to a consolidation of mature markets such as displays based on OLEDs and a diversification of new applications driven by emerging markets around wireless sensors (e.g. the Internet of Things ) and wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring. An evolution from devices fabricated on rigid substrates towards device platforms that are flexible, conformable and soft fuels opportunities for innovations in hybrid flexible electronics.”
Prof. Klaus Meerholz, Department Chemie, Universität zu Köln, said that the COPT.CENTRE, University of Cologne is seeing growth in the field of flexible and printed electronics.
“More and more key industry sectors are initiating to implement organic and printed products,” said Dr. Meerholz, CEO and initiator of the COPT.CENTRE. “This indicates clearly that organic and printed electronics has established itself as a growth industry.
“Printed electronics is still one of the highest prioritized categories for funding in Europe,” added Dr. Meerholz. “To give the industry in Europe a kick-start, a great deal of the funding is focused on making equipment available for universities, research centers and small- or medium-sized companies who cannot afford to invest in capital intensive equipment in a field with high risk development still going on. This is exactly where the COPT.CENTRE steps in to enable such development projects and even the realization of prototypes or low quantity products.”
Michael Nystås, communications officer, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience – Chalmers University of Technology, said Chalmers University of Technology is seeing growth in the field of flexible and printed electronics.
“We are working on this heavily,” Nystås said, adding that Chalmers is developing new nano-scale processing technology for using carbon nanotubes in flexible and stretchable electronics.
“The field of flexible and printed electronics (FPE) is definitely growing, albeit not necessarily as fast as some would like,” said Dr. Bruce E. Kahn, adjunct professor of graphic communications, The Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics at Clemson University. “The recent announcement of the formation of a Manufacturing Innovation Institute devoted to Flexible and Hybrid Electronics, and its award to the FlexTech Alliance has done a lot, and will continue to bring attention to FPE. Where there is money, research and development will certainly follow.”
George Gruner, distinguished professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, said that there is already significant activity in the area of printed electronics, not only at UCLA but also in all the major research universities.
“There is a recognition that while crystalline materials, such as silicon, copper and the like, were the drivers of the information revolution in the last century, now materials in new shapes and forms are needed. In contrast to, say, silicon electronics, printed electronics is viewed as an area where R&D can have significant impact,” Gruner added. “Printed electronics is an area where significant research has to be done. One has to understand, say, the behavior of materials in different shapes and forms, new nanowires are being discovered, and the printed transistor landscape is to some extent in the research phase.”
Dr. Patrick J. Smith, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield, said his research group isn’t seeing much growth at the moment. “Currently, our main areas of research are inkjet printed composites and tissue engineering,” Dr. Smith said. “Printed electronics is still an area we’re exploring, but it’s not our main focus. The field, to me, seems as though it’s in a steady state phase.”
“We have been seeing tremendous growth within the field, through the number of inquiries coming through our center for assistance in prototyping products and demonstration of higher volume production capabilities,” said Dr. Margaret Joyce, professor in the Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering at Western Michigan University and director of WMU’s Center for the Advancement of Printed Electronics (CAPE).
“Flexible and printed electronics will be one of the most important components to realize consumer products needed for IoTs,” said Dr. Takao Someya, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo.
Prof. Poopathy Kathirgamanathan, chair professor of Electronic Materials Engineering at Brunel University, said that flexible OLEDs are of particular interest, adding that the outlook is excellent for the field.
“At the CHN in Boston, our corporate R&D collaborations are mostly focused on flexible and printed electronics that will be used for the Internet of Things (IOT) and for advanced sensors,” said Eric S. Howard, corporate and outreach manager, NSF Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing at Northeastern University. “The private sector and the government have made major investments in studying the fundamental properties of nanoparticles and nanowires over the last decade, but integration and application of nanomaterials into new electronic device platforms is disappointingly slow. This is why we feel there is a need for nanoscale printing technologies that are high-rate, have the ability to use many nanomaterials and are capable of printing heterogeneous structures.”
“Printed electronics will transform electronics in a revolutionary way, much as the transistor radio did in the 1960s. It will fundamentally change the way people interact with electronics,” said Craig Armiento, director of the Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC) and co-director of the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
“The concept of Additive Manufacturing, or AM, has been embraced by the defense industry for the construction of metal and plastic mechanical parts. Now, interest is building in using the concepts of AM in producing electronics. Printed electronics will both allow for rapid prototyping and the manufacturing of electronic solutions that are lightweight, flexible and wearable instead of rigid circuit boards. While there are many organizations pursuing printed electronics, we have initially focused applications that are relevant to defense. This technology will be easily extendable to other industries, including medicine and logistics.”
