NextFlex News – February 2020 Newsletter

NextFlex was on hand February 26 when NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) celebrated the opening of their new Biosciences Collaborative Facility at the NASA ARC in Mountain View, CA. In addition to tours of the new facilities, each lab prepared and presented their project as part of an interactive poster session. NextFlex is collaborating with NASA and others on the development of the NASA-ISM (In-Space Manufacturing) project, a flexible wearable multi-sensor device for astronaut crew health monitoring with a unique manufacturing process that can be replicated in space. NextFlex is contributing device design, production design, and manufacturing to the project which is depicted on the poster in the background. We are delighted to be partnering with NASA on this project and enjoyed being a part of this important day.

With the Flex Conference less than a week away, I hope that you’ve already made plans to attend. It’s one of the few times during the year that the FHE community convenes so we like to make the most of it. We’ll be hosting a set of member-only meetings alongside the conference and while there’s no cost to attend NextFlex meetings, registration is separate from the conference. NextFlex will have a booth in the exhibit so that’s where you can find our technical staff. We’ll be topping off a busy week with a night out for dinner and a hockey game at the Shark Tank in San Jose and tours of the Technology Hub on Friday morning. Finally, NextFlex will present our own session (Session 13) on “State of the Art FHE Manufacturing” as part of the conference. We look forward to seeing you there!

Mark your calendars for a new workshop May 12-14 at the Northeastern University Innovation Campus in Burlington, MA. This conference will be focused on flexible hybrid sensors in aviation, healthcare, and automotive. More information to follow.

Finally, on February 14, NextFlex submitted a detailed proposal for the next 7-year phase of the Manufacturing Innovation Institute and how we will further develop the Flexible Hybrid Electronics manufacturing ecosystem and accelerate FHE adoption in the US. This next phase will have a special focus on both manufacturing processes leading to DoD technology transitions that increase warfighter capability and developing a robust US FHE workforce. We’re excited about this next phase and looking forward to furthering our engagements with members and the extended FHE community. Thanks to all of you who provided support with the proposal; we couldn’t have done it without you. Stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Malcolm J. Thompson, PhD
Executive Director