David Savastano, Editor11.25.15
With nine concurrent sessions and more than 200 exhibitors, Printed Electronics USA 2015 moved into its closing session Nov. 19, with lots of information for attendees to gather.
The conference, organized by IDTechEx, featured two sessions for printed electronics, and one each for Graphene, Wearables, Sensors, Internet of Things, Energy Harvesting, 3D Printing and Electric Vehicles. Presenters offered insights into new products and technologies during their talks.
Among the talks was “Flexible, Stretchable Circuits Enabling Wearable Technology Applications,” presented by Dr. Michael Glickman, ITC research and development manager at Multek/Flex.
“Printed electronics is a trend pushing the Internet of Things along with miniaturization, high-speed interconnects and thermal management,” Dr. Glickman said. He added that Multek/Flex categorizes wearables in three groups: Close to Body, On the Body and In the Body.
“Stretchable technology can be done with existing manufacturing infrastructure,” he added. “We can ramp up production quickly.”
Sam Massih, director wearable sensors at InvenSense, discussed “Next Generation Wearable Use Cases and Their Sensor Platform System Solutions.” He noted that sensors can gather data, but how that data is used is critical.
“The big problem for the industry is putting out data without understanding it,” Massih said.
“Smart Fabric, The New Silicon” was the topic of BeBop Sensors CEO Keith McMillen. He said that the key markets are automotive safety, health, Internet of Things, gaming and virtual reality and wearables.
“Companies have real problems to solve and are seeing the advantages of fabric sensors,” McMillen said.
Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, president and co-founder of Valencell Inc., spoke about “Connecting the Dots Between Mobile Fitness and Mobile Health Home.” He said his company is now seeing the transtion to consumer health.
“With accurate biometric information, dvelopers can turn common fitness assessments into health assessments,” Dr. LeBoeuf said. ‘Personal health data is shifting from the provide to the patient.”
Meanwhile, organizers and exhibitors said they were pleased with the conference. Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, said the variety of new projects shows the technology’s promise.
“We have seen a lot more different applications this year,” Das said.
Kurt Schroder, CTO of NovaCentrix, said he is seeing more efforts toward system integration, which is key to the future of flexible and printed electronics.
“We are seeing a focus on end products and not the technology,” Schroder added. “It means we are growing and are starting to deliver more complete solutions and devices.”
“We made lots of contacts, and we are seeing some concrete projects from industrial end users,” said Nicolas Bernardin, deputy managing director of Ceradrop.
“It’s been a great exhibition with lots of contacts,” aid Richard Morris, business development for Si-Cal, A Nissha Company. “We are showing real-life examples of devices that are being printed.”
“The show has been very good this year,” said Michael Gnaegy, VP of global sales for XENON Corporation. “The level of interest and intensity is up, which is encouraging. We saw more ink formulators, which is important to printed electronics’ future.”
“It was exceptional, “ said Thomas Kolbusch, VP of Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH. “We have had a lot of discussion that showed interest is strong.”
“The show has been very good,” added Roy Bjorlin, global commercial director, electronic materials for Sun Chemical. “It is interesting to see what technology trends are becoming apparent.”
The conference, organized by IDTechEx, featured two sessions for printed electronics, and one each for Graphene, Wearables, Sensors, Internet of Things, Energy Harvesting, 3D Printing and Electric Vehicles. Presenters offered insights into new products and technologies during their talks.
Among the talks was “Flexible, Stretchable Circuits Enabling Wearable Technology Applications,” presented by Dr. Michael Glickman, ITC research and development manager at Multek/Flex.
“Printed electronics is a trend pushing the Internet of Things along with miniaturization, high-speed interconnects and thermal management,” Dr. Glickman said. He added that Multek/Flex categorizes wearables in three groups: Close to Body, On the Body and In the Body.
“Stretchable technology can be done with existing manufacturing infrastructure,” he added. “We can ramp up production quickly.”
Sam Massih, director wearable sensors at InvenSense, discussed “Next Generation Wearable Use Cases and Their Sensor Platform System Solutions.” He noted that sensors can gather data, but how that data is used is critical.
“The big problem for the industry is putting out data without understanding it,” Massih said.
“Smart Fabric, The New Silicon” was the topic of BeBop Sensors CEO Keith McMillen. He said that the key markets are automotive safety, health, Internet of Things, gaming and virtual reality and wearables.
“Companies have real problems to solve and are seeing the advantages of fabric sensors,” McMillen said.
Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, president and co-founder of Valencell Inc., spoke about “Connecting the Dots Between Mobile Fitness and Mobile Health Home.” He said his company is now seeing the transtion to consumer health.
“With accurate biometric information, dvelopers can turn common fitness assessments into health assessments,” Dr. LeBoeuf said. ‘Personal health data is shifting from the provide to the patient.”
Meanwhile, organizers and exhibitors said they were pleased with the conference. Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, said the variety of new projects shows the technology’s promise.
“We have seen a lot more different applications this year,” Das said.
Kurt Schroder, CTO of NovaCentrix, said he is seeing more efforts toward system integration, which is key to the future of flexible and printed electronics.
“We are seeing a focus on end products and not the technology,” Schroder added. “It means we are growing and are starting to deliver more complete solutions and devices.”
“We made lots of contacts, and we are seeing some concrete projects from industrial end users,” said Nicolas Bernardin, deputy managing director of Ceradrop.
“It’s been a great exhibition with lots of contacts,” aid Richard Morris, business development for Si-Cal, A Nissha Company. “We are showing real-life examples of devices that are being printed.”
“The show has been very good this year,” said Michael Gnaegy, VP of global sales for XENON Corporation. “The level of interest and intensity is up, which is encouraging. We saw more ink formulators, which is important to printed electronics’ future.”
“It was exceptional, “ said Thomas Kolbusch, VP of Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH. “We have had a lot of discussion that showed interest is strong.”
“The show has been very good,” added Roy Bjorlin, global commercial director, electronic materials for Sun Chemical. “It is interesting to see what technology trends are becoming apparent.”