LOPEC: The Meeting Place for Printed Electronics

LOPEC will take place at the ICM – International Congress Center München—from March 22-24, 2022. In addition to the international trade fair for flexible, organic and printed electronics, the LOPEC Conference is the world leading gathering of the industry It will start on March 22, a day before the trade fair itself, with the Business Conference and the Short Courses. The Technical and the Scientific Conference will then take place on March 23 and 24.

Whether in vehicle construction, medical technology or photovoltaics: printed electronics is driving innovations in various industries. This variety is reflected in the LOPEC Conference which will feature nearly 200 presentations.

“With the extensive program, we’re inviting people to see the bigger picture,” said Wolfgang Mildner, general chair of the LOPEC Conference and CEO of the consultancy and technology company MSWtech. “Everyone involved is looking forward to the face-to-face event and to direct feedback from the community.”

In their plenary speeches, Prof. Ronald Dekker, senior research scientist at Philips, and Dr. Guido van Tartwijk, CEO of Heliatek will present application examples. They will look at intelligent medical technology and organic solar films. In addition, Rainer Hundsdörfer, chairman of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, and Dr. Michael Heckmeier, EVP of Merck, will speak in the plenum.

The LOPEC Business Conference will also focus on industry-relevant aspects. Dr. Wolfgang Clemens from PolyIC will outline the market opportunities offered by printed touch sensors which companies such as Volkswagen and the home appliance manufacturer BSH integrate in their products. The presentations during the Technical Conference will have a practical focus, too.

There will be plenty of ideas for innovations, for example when Pete Valianatos from the US company E Ink explains how a technique found in e-book readers can allow car bodies to change color at the push of a button.

Ideas from Research

The scientific highlights will include the plenary speeches from Prof. Luisa Torsi, professor of chemistry at the University of Bari, Italy, and Prof. Elizabeth von Hauff, head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology.

Luisa Torsi, an expert in organic electronics and winner of the Wilhelm Exner Medal in 2021, will present ultra-sensitive biosensors which, among other things, can be used for early detection of cancer. Elizabeth von Hauff will focus on flexible electronics. Her presentation will give insights into processes for depositing functional layers on flexible substrates.

The LOPEC Scientific Conference will present further research highlights. The speakers who successfully bridge the gap between science and applications will include the Japanese physicist Prof. Tsuyoshi Sekitani from Osaka University. He has developed flexible nano-electronic systems which are already certified for use in medicine.

Focus on Sustainability

As always, the LOPEC Conference will be geared to sector experts and newcomers. The Short Courses on the first day of the conference offer the ideal introduction. This year, they will be complemented by a seminar hosted by Kévin Le Blévennec from the Belgian research institute VITO. Titled “Design for Sustainability”, the seminar will guide visitors through the various steps when developing a sustainable product.

In his plenary speech, Dr. Henri Rajbenbach from the European Commission will stress that politicians have recognized the potential for sustainability offered by printed electronics. The “Circular economy and green electronics” session on March 24 will look at the topic in depth with presentations about environmental footprints, biodegradability and the recycling of printed electronics.