Flexible and hybrid electronics is expanding, with products continually being commercialized and new applications coming quickly.  Printed Electronics USA 2018, which is organized by IDTechEx, will be highlighting some of the latest technologies and developments.
 
Part of the IDTechEx Show!, PE USA 2018 will be held Nov. 14-15 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA.  IDTechEx CEO Raghu Das said that the show continues to enjoy growth, which confirms the expansion in the industry.
 
“We have at this point far exceeded the number of exhibitors versus 2017,” added Das. “We have 265 exhibitors with three weeks to go, and expect several more to commit. Last year in total we had 248 exhibitors. Overall, the event is 10% up – that’s really strong growth given the repeated year on year growth of the event and reflects the growing maturity of the printed electronics industry.”
 
After an introduction by Das, the Cornerstone presentations will begin with Prof. Greg Whyte of The Centre for Health and Human Performance, who will discuss “How Can You Achieve the Impossible.” A former Olympian, he is a well-known sports scientist. Jeffrey Blum, SVP of KONE, will follow with a talk on “Improving the Flow of Urban Life: Smart Elevators and Escalators Are Here.”

Girish Wable, manager strategic capabilities for Jabil, will discuss one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturing companies, will discuss printed electronics and more in “Customization and Personalization – Manufacturing for the Connected Ecosystem.” “Driving the Future Today – The Electric Vehicle Revolution,” presented by Michael Austin, VP of BYD America, will close the Cornerstone session.
 
After the Cornerstone talks, the conference will head into eight concurrent sessions, highlighted by talks from speakers from Bosch Sensortec, GM Global Research, Sony Corporation, Intel, BASF, Toyota, Porsche, Henkel and DuPont, to name a few.

Das noted that IDTechEx focuses its events on the commercialization of the technology, and this year’s program is no exception.
 
“To that end, we have a fantastic line up of end-user speakers and OEMs covering their case studies and needs with printed electronics,” he noted. “For example, from the automotive world, we have organizations such as Toyota, Continental, Geely and Denso presenting on topics ranging from structural electronics to graphene to transparent conductors for antennas. For healthcare, major brands including Siemens Healthineers, Boston Scientific and Nissha will present.
 
“From industry, UTRC, KONE, JCDecaux and many others will be presenting. We have particularly strong speakers on all aspects of technology developments. Our keynote speakers include JOLED, the company that commercialized the first printed OLED large area display to organizations such as Chinese Visionox, who are showcasing flexible OLED displays,” Das added.
 
“Over the last few years we’ve seen the printed electronics industry really focus on business opportunities,” Das said.
“Many speakers will be covering applications of printed electronics today, from EMI shielding to in mold electronics, sensors and flexible displays. We see many exhibitors will be showcasing more and more real applications, of a very diverse nature across the range of companies present. It really will be a place to see the latest and genuine opportunities.”
 
In addition to Printed Electronics USA 2018, there will be seven co-located programs that are interconnected in their own ways. This year’s shows include programs on 3D Printing, Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage Innovations, Graphene and 2D Materials, Internet of Things (IoT) Applications, Sensors, and Wearables.
 
Das said that IDTechEx sees printed electronics as a key enabling technology for many industries.
 
“It is a diverse range of enabling components and materials and processes,” said Das. “We, therefore, co-locate conferences on end-use verticals, such as wearables, IoT and electric vehicles, in addition to others on closely allied topics such as sensors and additive manufacturing. As a result, the event showcases the entire opportunity for the technology – with the whole supply chain represented. Materials companies can engage with OEMs to understand what they need and similarly, OEMs can engage with those across the value chain to see what is forthcoming that they can use. We believe it is this mix – the ‘industry under one roof’ which has created such a successful and consistently growing event.”
 
For more information, contact Chris Clare at [email protected].