NextFlex News – December 2019 Newsletter

As 2019 draws to a close and we look forward to new opportunities in the new year, the NextFlex team is grateful in many ways and we’d like to thank you for your continuing support, your creative ideas, and your partnership. We appreciate the collaboration of our members and partners and recognize your contributions to all that we’ve accomplished during the year. We look forward to working with you in the coming months as we welcome the opportunity to set new goals for what’s next for NextFlex. I’d especially like to thank our colleagues at the DoD who have been so supportive and forthcoming about how we can effectively partner to further their objectives. As Dr. Porter, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, declared in her keynote speech at the Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) last week, the Innovation Institutes have become the “crown jewels” in a range of technology development programs currently underway. That’s a great compliment, and one we strive to continue to live up to.

It is with extreme pleasure that I include this photo (left) which captures the presentation of a Fellow award to Dr. Ben Leever, Technical Director, Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies at AFRL at DMC last week. Until earlier this year, Ben was the NextFlex CTO. He oversaw our initial launch, the development of our Technical Working Groups and roadmapping activities, helped launch our first Project Calls, and was an overall guiding force for NextFlex. We will never forget his contributions to us and the FHE member community. Ben has been replaced by Dr. Giorgio Bazzan, Program Manager, Electronics and Sensors Branch, Mantech Division at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at AFRL. Giorgio is a great addition to the team and is already contributing in new ways. Pictured (L to R) is Dr. Eric Forsythe, Team Leader, Flexible Displays at ARL and NextFlex Program Manager; Tracy Frost, Director, OSD ManTech and DoD Manufacturing Institutes; Dr. Malcolm Thompson, Executive Director, NextFlex, and Ben Leever, Ph.D., AFRL. Thanks for everything, Ben! You will be missed.

From all of us at NextFlex, we wish you a safe and wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2020.

Sincerely,

Malcolm J. Thompson, Ph.D.

Executive Director