Year-End Message from the Executive Director
As we close 2025, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our members, partners, and supporters across the hybrid electronics community. In 2025, we celebrated our 10th anniversary of fostering collaborative innovation, strengthening the industrial base, and expanding the talent pipeline. Your dedication, creativity, and commitment to collaboration enabled NextFlex to reach this milestone. Together, we are advancing a vision that is reshaping what’s possible for U.S. manufacturing as we continue to foster these valuable collaborative innovation behaviors that define the DNA of NextFlex.
This year brought significant progress across our technical projects, manufacturing capabilities, and workforce programs. Member-led Project Calls advanced innovative, manufacturable solutions in areas ranging from wearable medical devices to aerospace systems. Our Technology Hub strengthened its role as a national resource, enabling faster prototyping, deeper collaboration, and real momentum toward commercialization. We also expanded our membership community, adding new voices and capabilities that strengthen the entire industrial base.
Through close alignment with federal partners and regional stakeholders, we continued to drive advances in defense electronics, supply chain resilience, multi-layer printed circuit boards, and advanced packaging. We grew the NextFlex network by establishing the Alabama Node that will focus on developing several important hybrid electronics capabilities to meet the performance requirements of the automotive and aerospace industries. Several well attended workshops were held to discuss potential solutions to address technology and manufacturing gaps to progress to higher technology readiness levels and manufacturing readiness levels. These workshops, in addition to the technology working group activities and well-structured operational processes, enabled NextFlex to announce Project Call 10. In support of the forecasted talent demand, our workforce programs reached thousands of K-12 students nationwide, sparking inspiration and preparing future innovators for careers in advanced manufacturing.
During the year, NextFlex members highlighted technical achievements, commercial launches, and successful integration of hybrid electronics solutions in systems. The NextFlex community observed an increase in hybrid electronics manufacturing capacity, greater adoption of hybrid electronics as the preferred solution to deliver products meeting critical SWaPC requirements, and a broad portfolio of hybrid electronics enabled modules and systems in automotive, aerospace, communications, industrial, healthcare, and wearables. These achievements reflect what makes NextFlex unique: a community united around a mission to accelerate technology transition and secure U.S. leadership in hybrid electronics.
The year ahead holds tremendous promise. NextFlex will continue to lead activities of high value to the community such as the hybrid electronics AI roadmapping initiative and will launch new technical initiatives, expand opportunities for collaboration, and continue building the skilled workforce our nation needs. We will partner with our Nodes to expand regional hybrid electronics communities that align education & learning, workforce talent, manufacturing, and industry strategic initiatives to strengthen economic prosperity. During 2026, NextFlex will develop capabilities and advanced manufacturing solutions that align to the six critical technology areas for the DoD as well as those identified by commercial industry members for launch of valuable and functionality rich products. Hybrid electronics are poised to play an essential role in advanced systems and applications, and together we are shaping that future.
Thank you for your partnership and belief in our mission. Wishing you and your families a joyful holiday season and an inspired start to the new year. I look forward to all we will achieve together in 2026 to strengthen our national, economic, and innovation security.
Warm regards,
Dan Gamota
NextFlex Executive Director