Global Transfer of Knowledge at LOPEC

The global transfer of knowledge is driving progress in printed electronics. With speakers from 28 countries and more than 195 presentations, the LOPEC conference, which takes place in Munich from May 26–28, supports this exchange significantly.

In the plenary session, Khalil Rouhana, director-general for Communications Networks, Content & Technology in the European Commission in Belgium, will make a presentation on the EU’s strategies for organic electronics and photonics. Hitoshi Abe, president of the Japan Advanced Printed Electronics Technology Research Association (JAPERA), will explain the Japanese market’s strategy for stronger growth of printed electronics and more concrete applications.

According to LOPEC chair Wolfgang Mildner, managing director of PolyIC, the annual meeting of leading executives in the sector for printed electronics at LOPEC is essential to the sector’s ongoing development:

“Besides first-rate presentations, above all it is the lively, interdisciplinary exchange that is urgently needed and responsible for the transfer of knowledge,” Mildner said.

The only way that experiences from different markets and using different technologies can lead to the development of increasingly concrete applications is with close international collaboration.

That is why the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association) and JAPERA organized a working group meeting in Tokyo this year to discuss the ongoing development of flexible displays, among other things. At this year’s LOPEC, Abe, general manager of the R&D Department at Dai Nippon Printing, will hold a plenary session about “Japan’s strategy for the growth of printed electronics technology and business.”

Rouhana will make a presentation about European incentive programs, existing projects and future programs such as Horizon 2020. Frédéric Bonnefoy’s end-user lecture is about integrating organic photovoltaics into building facades. In this regard, the product manager for active glass at Asahi Glass will talk about possible solutions for zero-energy buildings, among other things. Rolf Najork, COO of Heraeus Holding, will talk about his company’s strategy for tapping future markets and about the prospects that he sees in the sector for displays and consumer electronics.

Representatives from the Holst Centre in the Netherlands, Synaptics in the USA and VTT Technical Research in Finland will also make presentations in the plenary sessions.

The Business Conference will shed light on the economic aspects of organic and printed electronics, such as product marketing or benefits for the end consumer. In a presentation titled “A smarter everyday powered by printed electronics—Bringing intelligence to everything”, Dr. Davor Sutija, CEO of Thinfilm, will discuss the road to marketable products, among other things. Another topic is “OPV—Quo vadis?” with presentations by Dr. Ralph Paetzold, CEO of Belectric, and Aron Guttowski, manager business development at Heliatek.

The Technical Conference will allow speakers from science and industry to present the latest concepts and designs and shed light on technical aspects of the continued development of printed electronics. Alissa Wild, senior materials engineer at Stratasys, will discuss the topic of 3D printing in a presentation titled “Integration of Functional Circuits into 3D Printed Parts.” Dr. Lorenza Moro, principal scientist-project manager at Samsung Cheil, will discuss the technical challenges associated with flexible displays in a presentation titled “Environmental barriers for flexible displays.”

All other topics and the Technical Conference’s entire lecture program, including presentations by Dr. Jeremy Burroughes, CTO of Cambridge Display Technology, on “Materials for Organic Electronic Applications”; Johannes Schad, product Mmanager, PolyIC, on “Metal mesh-based touch sensors”; and Dr. Hans Kleemann, Novaled, on “Active matrix OLED backplanes made of organic thin- film transistors,” are available online at www.lopec.com/en/program_and_speakers_technical_conference_2014/

Prominent scientists and developers from around the world have applied for the Scientific Conference. For example, Dr. Xinning Ho from the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology will discuss “Silver nanowire networks for foldable transparent electrodes.” Meital Segev-Bar from the Israel Institute of Technology will make a presentation titled “Multi-parametric flexible sensors based on nanoparticles.” Keith Knauer from the Georgia Institute of Technology will discuss “High-performance stacked inverted top-emitting green and white electrophosphorescent OLEDs.”

Other projects will be presented by the University of California, Berkeley, Merck Chemicals in Great Britain and the Holst Centre in the Netherlands.