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The 2nd Programme Meeting of 2010 was held on Tuesday 27th April at the Institute of Materials, Mining & Minerals in Central London. The Meeting focussed on Smart & Interactive Products and Packaging and involved 22 people from 19 companies and organisations across the whole Printed Electronics value chain.
There was a specific focus on working samples and components from all the contributors within a vision where the use of Printed Electronics can be value-driven rather than cost-driven thus enabling companies to deliver cost effective innovative functionality and form factors.
The Meeting included keynote presentations from:
- In ‘Integrating Printed Electronics into Real-World Applications’ Scott White, Nano ePrint Ltd’s CEO, described how the development of its planar nano transistors (PNTs) offer newer and simpler ways of making 2 dimensional planar ‘logic’ structures. This offers significant advantage in applications such as packaging, greetings cards and promotional displays where a good visual impact is paramount.
- Wolfgang Mildner, PolyIC’s Managing Director presentation on ‘Roll-to-Roll Printed Smart Objects’ focused on the good progress being made to print 3D Thin Film Transistors (TFTs). Production speeds of 30m/min have already been achieved with a web width of >15 chips.
- A vision of a future world of interactive products based on NFC-enabled mobile phones was outlined by Trevor Crotch-Harvey of Fenbrook Consulting & Glenn Needham of Near Field Solutions. A working demonstrator showing a World Cup Promotions Campaign received a lot of interest.
- Jeremy Plimmer Head of the Product & Image Security Foundation, in ‘Towards Self-validating Print & Smart Products’ explained the huge potential Printed Electronics devices have in the high growth Brand Protection and Anti-counterfeiting Market, already worth $4billion per annum.
A copy of the new Vandagraf Report on ‘RFID/NFC meets Brand Protection’ was available for Programme Members to review.
- David Corr, NTERA’s CEO, described the ‘Current Applications for NanoChromics™ Displays in Smart & Interactive Products & Packaging’. The ability to print multiple devices together onto the same substrate, being pioneered by NTERA, is expected to lower costs and accelerate commercial adoption.
The final facilitated session drew considerable debate on the barriers to the development of applications for displays and signage and how they could be overcome. Some of the conclusions are summarised below.
- Printed Electronic Devices will co-exist but be much simpler than silicon-based electronics
- There will be many additional ‘low-end’ applications for devices where there is only a need for limited numbers of transistors.
- BUT innovation in this field needs ‘breakthrough’ concepts and ideas from ‘Apple’ type companies creating new ways of interacting with consumers.
- Early opportunities will be in areas such as product promotional materials, leaflets, poster etc, where volumes are modest and there is a willingness to try something new.
- The need for ‘one-stop-shops’ to facilitate development activity by converters and end users, as people are finding it hard to identify partners with the knowledge of the required PE devices.
- Knowing where to go to get help is essential and this is not yet obvious. The various value chains are rapidly maturing but are still embryonic.
- The use of working samples to show what can be achieved will get companies interested in engaging in development work.
- National governments and the EU still have a key role to play in funding activities to stimulate and accelerate commercial adoption.
Feedback following the Meeting confirmed that the information exchanged and contacts made during the Meeting will help Programme Members accelerate profitable business development.
The next Programme meeting of 2010 will be held on Wednesday 23rd June 2010 and the theme is ‘Sensors and Controlled Release’
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