NextFlex News – January 2018 Newsletter
Innovation Day 2018 Announced
Save the date for Innovation Day 2018, which will be held August 9th here at NextFlex headquarters in San Jose, California. For those who attended Innovation Day last September, you’ll remember the standing-room-only crowds, the VIP speakers, the 45 FHE-enabled technology displays, and the window tours of the fab which was by then fully operational.
With the theme, “Partners in Progress: Accelerating Innovation,” this year’s event will celebrate results on projects, case studies on prototypes and products developed in the state-of the art Technology Hub, how our Workforce Development programs are expanding, and connections made in developing the FHE manufacturing ecosystem. This invitation-only event is an opportunity for members to network, discover new technology, and meet influencers in the FHE manufacturing supply chain. It is an opportunity for government agency partners and dignitaries to learn about NextFlex capabilities first-hand, and it’s a chance for federal and local legislators to be inspired by emerging FHE technology that is improving people’s daily lives. Besides all of that, it is a thrilling peek into the future of our industry.
So, mark your calendar for August 9, 2018, and, NextFlex members: be thinking about what new technology you can show off!
New FHE Benchmarking Study
In partnership with SEMI/FlexTech, NextFlex members are invited to participate in a benchmarking study led by CalPoly to focus on the technical state of the art of printed electronics for flexible, unbreakable, thin electronic systems, and what that technology may look like in 3, 5 and 10 years. Presently, even simple analog circuits require SMT (surface mount technology) components to achieve the performance tolerance required. Integration of sensors, sensor systems, signal processing, perhaps data analytics, wireless communication systems, memory, flexible batteries and other power system components, as well as other human interface capabilities like flexible displays is needed. This benchmark study will focus on analysis of the state of the art of printed and flexible capabilities of the following technologies: flexible batteries; photovoltaic and other energy harvesting devices for recharge-ability; passive component; high performance circuits; semiconductor integration such as MCUs, ADCs, OpAmps, Audio chips, wireless-transmit and -receive ICs, human-machine interface switches; speakers and audio circuits; test technology and approaches; graphics printing with electronic embedded devices; antenna, and sensors of all types.
This technical study will outline the state of the art from a processing and performance perspective of each FHE functional block, who the players are, how the technology will likely progress, and the MRL (manufacturing readiness level) expected on the timeline. Participating NextFlex members will receive a summary of the study findings.
For more information, please contact Dr. John Pan at CalPoly by email or call (805) 756-2540. The Cal Poly team will also be at the 2018FLEX Conference in Monterey, CA, February 12-15, 2018, to meet with any interested companies and organizations there.
Sincerely,
Dr. Malcolm J. Thompson
Executive Director, NextFlex