SEMI FlexTech Announces 2024 FLEXI Award Winners

Recognizing innovations and other outstanding accomplishments in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), FlexTech, a SEMI Technology Community, announced winners of the 2024 FLEXI Awards presented at the FLEX Conference on July 10 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The 2024 FLEXI Awards spotlight FHE contributions in four categories: R&D Achievement, Product Innovation, Environmental Sustainability and Industry Leadership. The 2024 FLEXI Award winners are:

• R&D Achievement – Deepak Trivedi , Ph.D.
Entries for this award were evaluated for their world-class approach, originality, and commercial potential for expanding the scope for FHE products or manufacturing processes. Dr. Deepak Trivedi, principal engineer from GE Aerospace, led the collaborative effort with UES a BlueHalo company and Binghamton University to develop Sensiworm, a revolutionary soft robotic device designed for in-situ inspection of aircraft engines.

With its inchworm-like movement, the Sensiworm navigates confined spaces, using advanced sensors and a camera system to detect defects and assess surface conditions in real-time. This technology eliminates the need for engine disassembly, which significantly reduces inspection time and costs and minimizes aircraft downtime.

“Leading the Sensiworm technology development has been a remarkable journey,” said Trivedi. “This innovation showcases the incredible potential of flexible hybrid electronics for soft robotics and for revolutionizing industrial maintenance and military readiness. I am grateful to SEMI FlexTech, my team at GE Aerospace, and our partners, UES and Binghamton University. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and excited for the future impact of our work.”

• Product Innovation – SunRay Scientific Inc.
This award is presented to a company for introducing an innovation in flexible electronics products in the last 12 months. Madhu Stemmermann, CEO and co-founder of SunRay Scientific, recognized the potential of anisotropic conductive material to revolutionize electrical interconnect solutions. Stemmermann and her team developed ZTACH ACE, magnetically aligned, Z-axis conductive epoxy, a reliable and scalable solution for flexible electronics and semiconductor packaging.

“SunRay Scientific Inc. is honored to receive the FLEXI Product Innovation award for ZTACH ACE,” said Stemmermann. “With incredible support from SEMI, NextFlex, AFRL, ARL, industry and academic partners, we have launched a commercially available interconnect solution addressing unmet needs across healthcare, consumer, automotive and defense.”

• Environmental Sustainability – Lynne Garone
This award recognizes an individual for their volunteering efforts and achievements in advancing the flexible and hybrid electronics industry toward environmental sustainability. Through her passionate and effective advocacy for sustainability, Lynne Garone, associate VP from E Ink, increased individual employee sustainability practices and prompted corporate commitments to the United Nations Global Compact and to achieving carbon net-zero. Additionally, Garone was actively involved in a Massachusetts-based Green Team initiative.

• Industry Leadership – Stephaney Shanks Ph.D.
This award honors an individual who has built awareness of the capabilities and possibilities that flexible and hybrid electronics bring to the broader field of electronics and who has demonstrated outstanding industry leadership in public forums, association activity, and within their organization. Dr. Stephaney Shanks, division director for Integrative Health and Performance Sciences at UES, A BlueHalo Company, has pioneered innovations in real-time health and performance technologies, focusing on rapid detection for national security applications. She has led teams on projects worth more than $200 million and collaborates widely to advance wearable technologies.

“I am grateful and honored for this singular recognition from SEMI FlexTech,” said Shanks. “I have worked in the national security arena, focused on warfighter health applications for the better part of my career, and it is a deeply rewarding calling.”