05.11.16
Canada is making progress in the field of flexible and printed electronics, boosted by a partnership between end users, manufacturers, researchers and universities. With an eye on discussing the needs of this fledgling industry, the Canadian Printable Electronics Industry Association (CPEIA) hosted CPES2016, which was held April 19-20, 2016 at Sheridan College in Toronto.
This year, CPES 2016 covered four main areas: 3D Printable Electronics, 2D Large Area Printable Electronics, Flexible Stretchable Wearables Electronics and Applications.
The first day opened with remarks by Peter Kallai, CPEIA president and CEO.
“Our goal is to work with end users in vertical segments,” Kallai told attendees. ‘Canada is on the map in the field of printed electronics. It is an exciting future.”
Kallai was followed by the first keynote speaker, Professor Harri Kopola, VP research in Knowledge Intensive Products and Services Business Area, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Kopola’s presentation was titled, “Industrialization of Printed Electronics and Diagnostics.”
“In 2002, we started printed electronics activities, and selected roll-to-roll manufacturing as our niche,” Kopola said. “We added a flexible hybrid electronics pilot line with gravure, flexo, inkjet, scree, slot die, injection molding and other capabilities. VTT is creating functional products from roll-to-troll printing.”
Kopola added that VTT uses different printing processes to create its products, from screen for skin treatment patches to gravure and rotary screen of organic photovoltaics.
Prof. Kopola was followed by Mike O’Reilly, director, Aerosol Jet product management, Optomec, who gave a presentation on “Fully Printed Conformal Antenna and Sensors on 3D Plastic, Ceramic, and Metallic Substrates.”
“Aerosol Jet has printed a variety of 3D antennas and sensors used for smart products and other applications,” said O’Reilly. “Adding simple sensors can improve efficiency and save money. For example, a printed optical creep sensor for gas turbines saves $1 billion in year in service.”
nScrypt, Inc. president and CEO Dr. Kenneth Church discussed “3D Printed Electronics is a New Term, but the Work is Not New.”
“3D printed electronics is not really a new technology,” Dr. Church noted. “Printed electronics and 3D printing are very similar. These are additive technologies. We need to move beyond fascinating toys and move to real products. Both use digital, both use a variety of materials and both utilize layering. Printed electronics is moving in a good direction and is going to be disruptive. Everything is going to need a sensor.”
Dr. James Buntaine, country lead, EMD Performance Materials, offered a keynote presentation on “Photolithographic Integration of High Performance Polymer Thin-Film Transistors.” He cautioned against selling flexible and printed electronics on the basis of low cost alone.
“We need to target novel applications, not ones that only take cost out of products,” Dr. Buntaine added.
Stan Farnsworth, VP marketing, NovaCentrix, covred “Aesthetics Matter: Printed Electronics and Photonic Curing for Automotive,” with an eye on the Porsche 198 Spyder.
“The Porsche 198 Spyder has a flat curved infotainment screen,” Farnsworth said. “Audi has taken the lead in OLED lighting, and designers drove this advancement”.
John Lapp, director strategic accounts, Fujifilm Dimatix Inc., followed with “Opportunities and Challenges of Inkjet Expansion.”
“The ceramic digital printing market demonstrates that with higher print quality and good return on investment, the digital printing market succeeds,” said Lapp. “Short runs are the driver. The next market to move to digital is printing for textiles. We have more than 1,000 printers in printed electronics now, but processes, materials need to be further developed. Some niche applications have been implemented, and printed OLEDs are coming soon.”
University of Minnesota professor Dr. Daniel Frisbie gave a keynote talk on “New Materials and Printing Processes for Flexible Electronics.”
“We are targeting large area applications, wearable sensors, with a range of graphic arts processes,” Dr. Frisbie observed. “From my perspective, the biggest challenge is how to align layers of ink to get sufficient performance and switching speeds.”
Dr. Patrick Malenfant, senior research officer, National Research Council of Canada, analyzed “Nanomaterials for Printed Electronics.”
“Carbon nanotubes are a very fascinating material. We have developed a package of high-performance conductive inks from carbon nanotubes,” said Dr. Malefant.
ICI’s capabilities were highlighted by Dr. Chloé Bois, project manager, ICI – Printability and Graphic Communication Institute.
“We have a unique flexo press modified to be hybrid. We can change the unit to be screen or gravure, depending on what our partner needs,” said Dr. Bois.
Dr. Martin Bolduc, a researcher at INO Institut National d’Optique/National Optics Institute, discussed the area of printed photonics and laser processing of sensors.
We are developing knowledge for printed MEMS sensors and bio sensors, and developing equipment for printed electronics systems and processes,” said Dr. Bolduc.
Dr. Marius Ivan, research officer, National Research Council, offered his insights into “Novel UV Cross-linkable Polymer Dielectric for Printable Electronics,” and how they may apply to hybrid electronics.
“We are moving to flexible hybrid electronics embedding silicon chips,” said Dr. Ivan. “Forget about the killer app – in fact there are many applications.”
Dr. Neil Graddage, research associate, National Research Council, followed with “A Detailed Study of Variation in Screen Printed Resistors on Plastic,” and how that pertains to pharma packaging.
“The aim is to print smart drug packaging by putting resistors in series in blister packs,” Dr. Graddage noted.
The second day of CPES 2016 started with a keynote talk by Prof. Vivek Subramanian, University of California, Berkeley, who discussed “Printed Electronics: Innovations in Materials, Processes, and Devices.” Prof. Subramanian discussed progress being made in gravure printing.
“We have built inkjet and gravure printers. The big advantage of gravure is high resolution and high scale,” he added. “Printed electronics has come a long way. We have to treat printing as a science.”
Wearables were the next subject. Myant founder and CEO Tony Chahine discussed “Functionalizing Textiles.”
“Textiles are ideal, because there is already a high adoption rate for printing, and it covers almost all of the body’s real estate,” he reported. “You are able to collect data from multiple source points. Textiles must be very comfortable, and also must be able to transmit data.
“The possibilities are endless.” Chahine added. “A person with multiple health conditions would have to have four or five devices monitoring them, but a legging could do all this.”
Diabetes is a critical health issue, and Orpyx has developed sensors for feet to help people with diabetes. Travis Stevens, VP engineering at Orpyx Medical Technologies, offered his thoughts on this topic.
“Orpyx enables measurables for patients, practitioners and payers through wearable technology and predictive data analytics,” said Stevens. “Continuous monitoring through connected devices makes it possible to develop new and revolutionary insights into treatment and disease.”
Amanda Cosco of Electric Runway then showed how wearables can be integrated into fashion. “I believe wearable technology will be more than capturing information, but will help us better express ourselves,” Cosco said. “I believe printed and flexible electronics will play a role in fashion.”
Mounir Zok of the US Olympic Committee covered the use of wearables for training for Olympic competition.
“Wearable technology is introducing a new paradigm in sports,” Zok said. “Smart technology, the Internet of Things and real-time analytics will change forever. We always talk about the 1% difference that will give us a competitive edge.”
A new feature for the conference was the presentation of awards for innovations. Kallai presented Myant with the CPES2016 Product Innovation Award, and Memtronik Innovations with the CPES2016 Commercialization Award.
Kallai said that he felt that CPES2016 was a success. “I believe the conference went very well. We are expanding our work in end use markets like wearables, packaging for pharma and connected homes. We are opening eyes with what printed electronics can do,” Kallai concluded.
This year, CPES 2016 covered four main areas: 3D Printable Electronics, 2D Large Area Printable Electronics, Flexible Stretchable Wearables Electronics and Applications.
The first day opened with remarks by Peter Kallai, CPEIA president and CEO.
“Our goal is to work with end users in vertical segments,” Kallai told attendees. ‘Canada is on the map in the field of printed electronics. It is an exciting future.”
Kallai was followed by the first keynote speaker, Professor Harri Kopola, VP research in Knowledge Intensive Products and Services Business Area, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd Kopola’s presentation was titled, “Industrialization of Printed Electronics and Diagnostics.”
“In 2002, we started printed electronics activities, and selected roll-to-roll manufacturing as our niche,” Kopola said. “We added a flexible hybrid electronics pilot line with gravure, flexo, inkjet, scree, slot die, injection molding and other capabilities. VTT is creating functional products from roll-to-troll printing.”
Kopola added that VTT uses different printing processes to create its products, from screen for skin treatment patches to gravure and rotary screen of organic photovoltaics.
Prof. Kopola was followed by Mike O’Reilly, director, Aerosol Jet product management, Optomec, who gave a presentation on “Fully Printed Conformal Antenna and Sensors on 3D Plastic, Ceramic, and Metallic Substrates.”
“Aerosol Jet has printed a variety of 3D antennas and sensors used for smart products and other applications,” said O’Reilly. “Adding simple sensors can improve efficiency and save money. For example, a printed optical creep sensor for gas turbines saves $1 billion in year in service.”
nScrypt, Inc. president and CEO Dr. Kenneth Church discussed “3D Printed Electronics is a New Term, but the Work is Not New.”
“3D printed electronics is not really a new technology,” Dr. Church noted. “Printed electronics and 3D printing are very similar. These are additive technologies. We need to move beyond fascinating toys and move to real products. Both use digital, both use a variety of materials and both utilize layering. Printed electronics is moving in a good direction and is going to be disruptive. Everything is going to need a sensor.”
Dr. James Buntaine, country lead, EMD Performance Materials, offered a keynote presentation on “Photolithographic Integration of High Performance Polymer Thin-Film Transistors.” He cautioned against selling flexible and printed electronics on the basis of low cost alone.
“We need to target novel applications, not ones that only take cost out of products,” Dr. Buntaine added.
Stan Farnsworth, VP marketing, NovaCentrix, covred “Aesthetics Matter: Printed Electronics and Photonic Curing for Automotive,” with an eye on the Porsche 198 Spyder.
“The Porsche 198 Spyder has a flat curved infotainment screen,” Farnsworth said. “Audi has taken the lead in OLED lighting, and designers drove this advancement”.
John Lapp, director strategic accounts, Fujifilm Dimatix Inc., followed with “Opportunities and Challenges of Inkjet Expansion.”
“The ceramic digital printing market demonstrates that with higher print quality and good return on investment, the digital printing market succeeds,” said Lapp. “Short runs are the driver. The next market to move to digital is printing for textiles. We have more than 1,000 printers in printed electronics now, but processes, materials need to be further developed. Some niche applications have been implemented, and printed OLEDs are coming soon.”
University of Minnesota professor Dr. Daniel Frisbie gave a keynote talk on “New Materials and Printing Processes for Flexible Electronics.”
“We are targeting large area applications, wearable sensors, with a range of graphic arts processes,” Dr. Frisbie observed. “From my perspective, the biggest challenge is how to align layers of ink to get sufficient performance and switching speeds.”
Dr. Patrick Malenfant, senior research officer, National Research Council of Canada, analyzed “Nanomaterials for Printed Electronics.”
“Carbon nanotubes are a very fascinating material. We have developed a package of high-performance conductive inks from carbon nanotubes,” said Dr. Malefant.
ICI’s capabilities were highlighted by Dr. Chloé Bois, project manager, ICI – Printability and Graphic Communication Institute.
“We have a unique flexo press modified to be hybrid. We can change the unit to be screen or gravure, depending on what our partner needs,” said Dr. Bois.
Dr. Martin Bolduc, a researcher at INO Institut National d’Optique/National Optics Institute, discussed the area of printed photonics and laser processing of sensors.
We are developing knowledge for printed MEMS sensors and bio sensors, and developing equipment for printed electronics systems and processes,” said Dr. Bolduc.
Dr. Marius Ivan, research officer, National Research Council, offered his insights into “Novel UV Cross-linkable Polymer Dielectric for Printable Electronics,” and how they may apply to hybrid electronics.
“We are moving to flexible hybrid electronics embedding silicon chips,” said Dr. Ivan. “Forget about the killer app – in fact there are many applications.”
Dr. Neil Graddage, research associate, National Research Council, followed with “A Detailed Study of Variation in Screen Printed Resistors on Plastic,” and how that pertains to pharma packaging.
“The aim is to print smart drug packaging by putting resistors in series in blister packs,” Dr. Graddage noted.
The second day of CPES 2016 started with a keynote talk by Prof. Vivek Subramanian, University of California, Berkeley, who discussed “Printed Electronics: Innovations in Materials, Processes, and Devices.” Prof. Subramanian discussed progress being made in gravure printing.
“We have built inkjet and gravure printers. The big advantage of gravure is high resolution and high scale,” he added. “Printed electronics has come a long way. We have to treat printing as a science.”
Wearables were the next subject. Myant founder and CEO Tony Chahine discussed “Functionalizing Textiles.”
“Textiles are ideal, because there is already a high adoption rate for printing, and it covers almost all of the body’s real estate,” he reported. “You are able to collect data from multiple source points. Textiles must be very comfortable, and also must be able to transmit data.
“The possibilities are endless.” Chahine added. “A person with multiple health conditions would have to have four or five devices monitoring them, but a legging could do all this.”
Diabetes is a critical health issue, and Orpyx has developed sensors for feet to help people with diabetes. Travis Stevens, VP engineering at Orpyx Medical Technologies, offered his thoughts on this topic.
“Orpyx enables measurables for patients, practitioners and payers through wearable technology and predictive data analytics,” said Stevens. “Continuous monitoring through connected devices makes it possible to develop new and revolutionary insights into treatment and disease.”
Amanda Cosco of Electric Runway then showed how wearables can be integrated into fashion. “I believe wearable technology will be more than capturing information, but will help us better express ourselves,” Cosco said. “I believe printed and flexible electronics will play a role in fashion.”
Mounir Zok of the US Olympic Committee covered the use of wearables for training for Olympic competition.
“Wearable technology is introducing a new paradigm in sports,” Zok said. “Smart technology, the Internet of Things and real-time analytics will change forever. We always talk about the 1% difference that will give us a competitive edge.”
A new feature for the conference was the presentation of awards for innovations. Kallai presented Myant with the CPES2016 Product Innovation Award, and Memtronik Innovations with the CPES2016 Commercialization Award.
Kallai said that he felt that CPES2016 was a success. “I believe the conference went very well. We are expanding our work in end use markets like wearables, packaging for pharma and connected homes. We are opening eyes with what printed electronics can do,” Kallai concluded.