End users and consumers are witnessing the growing opportunities found in flexible and printed electronics (PE), whether it is in sensors, wearables, displays or more. However, the key is to be able to make money.  Printed Electronics Europe 2016, which will be held April 27-28, 2016 in Berlin, Germany, will show how far the industry has progressed, and where it is heading.
 
“Printed Electronics Europe 2016 is the place to get the latest update about the entire industry,” said Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, which coordinates the conference. “Our focus is on the commercialization of the technology and to that extent we have many brands speaking and attending, examples being companies ranging from LG Display, NASA, Jabil, Coco Cola, JC Decaux, Ravensburger, Jaguar Land Rover, GSK, Google and many others. The brief to these companies is to convey what are they doing with printed electronics and their application and what do they still want and need.
 
“Of all the sessions, highlights would be wearable, automotive and sensors sessions, in addition to material innovations enabling structural electronics and progress with display technologies, to name a few,” Das added. “We just announced that we have 167 exhibiting organizations, and we expect a few more to come and will therefore meet our target of 170 exhibiting organizations,” Das added. “Pre-registration is up by over 15% compared to this point last year and so we are on track for 2,500 attendees – Europe’s largest event on the topic.”
 
Making money is the key message that Printed Electronics Europe will be emphasizing.
 
“It’s about the industry making money,” Das said. “What I mean by that is the focus is on commercialization – we want the event to bridge suppliers with adopters in order to bring printed electronics to market. Our marketing of the event is geared towards end user attendees from different verticals. This will provide an unrivalled opportunity for networking. It is also why we cover additional topics such as wearable technologies, automotive, industry 4.0 because this brings adopters in those industries together with the printed electronics community.”
 
In addition, IDTechEx combines Printed Electronics Europe 2016 with a wide range of co-located conferences that are interconnected, including 3D Printing Europe; Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe; Electric Vehicles; Graphene & 2D Materials; Internet of Things Applications Europe; Sensors Europe and Wearable Europe.
 
“In addition to printed electronics, the event comprises of several other conference tracks on related technologies such as industry 4.0, sensors, wearable technology, automotive and advanced materials such as graphene, bringing all these supply chains together in one place,” Das said. “This enables attendees to leverage lessons and solutions from one industry in another, in addition to showcasing many different solutions in one place, saving attendees time and money from attending separate events and allowing attendees to meet customers and partners and explore the latest technologies. This has received strong positive feedback from previous attendees.”
 
Das said there will be plenty of highlights for attendees and exhibitors, including the introduction of new products and interest in wearables and sensors.
 
“Lead sponsor MGI Ceradrop will showcase their printing solutions for printed electronics,” Das reported. “NovaCentrix, supporting the event as gold sponsor, will showcase their tools and materials. These companies are joined by silver sponsors including Agfa, Analog Devices, CPI, DoMicro, ESTER Limoges Science Park, Henkel, ISORG, Meyer Burger, Notion Systems, Optomec, RMT, ULVAC, in addition to many more exhibitors. It is a really diverse mix of companies from across the value chain.”
 
Another highlight will be talks from many leading companies and researchers throughout the supply chain, including consumer goods powerhouses.
 
“Over 200 presentations will be delivered from companies ranging from LG Display, Jabil, Coca-Cola, JC Decaux, Ravensburger, Jaguar Land Rover and many more,” Das noted.
 
 
The Opening Session, IDTechEx Show! Cornerstones, begins with a welcoming talk by Das. Marek Ramski, assistant manager, OLED Light Europe Division for LG, will follow with “Highlights Of OLED Lighting from LG Display: OLED Lighting For Integration, Wearables and 3D Printing.”
 
Jabil technology project manager Girish Wable will discuss “Bringing Emerging Technologies To Market: Progress From Jabil, One of the World’s Largest Manufacturing Services Company.” 
 
Dr. Terry J. Hendricks, MMRTG Pyroshock project manager for NASA – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will speak on “A Universe Of Energy – Systems To Capture It All For Planet Earth, Our Solar System, And Beyond – Building & Expanding Our Energy “Toolbox.” Pauline van Dongen, a leading Dutch fashion designer and expert in wearables, will close the Cornerstones session with “Fashion, An Embodied Interface.”
 
The opening session of Day 1 of Printed Electronics Europe features keynote talks by Das, Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH and JC Decaux, as well as an End User Insight Panel, with leaders from Coca-Cola, Jaguar Land Rover and JCDecaux.
 
Day 1 offers nine concurrent sessions after the keynote talks.Tracks A and B will cover Printed Electronics Europe. Track A has two sessions, New Printed Electronics Products and Scaling Up Manufacturing. Track B offers sessions on Displays and Lighting: OLED, TFTs for Displays, Emerging Display Technologies and Printed Electronics Progress in France.
 
The Wearables Europe track offers talks on Wearable Technology in Healthcare. Sensors Europe features two groupings, Infrared Sensing: Technologies and Applications and RFID and Low-Power Sensors. Internet of Things Applications Europe combines talks on IoT Keynotes: Monetizing IoT, Connected Vehicles and IoT Connectivity. Graphene & 2D Materials looks at the topics  of Graphene in Energy Storage and Advances in Graphene Production.
 
3D Printing Europe will analyze Introduction to 3D Printing, Applications in Aerospace and Automotive; Development in 3D Printing Plastics and 3D Printing in Medical Applications. Electric Vehicles will showcase the topics of Energy Independent Vehicles and Extreme Lightweighting; Smart Materials, Energy Harvesting, Regeneration; Autonomous, Connected; and Micro Electric Vehicle, Light Electric Vehicle. Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe will offer sessions on Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting and Energy Harvesting Applications.
 
Day 2 also covers nine concurrent sessions. Track A of Printed Electronics Europe focuses on 3D Printed Electronics, Structural Electronics and Printed and Flexible Electronics Manufacturing Innovations. The second track of Printed Electronics Europe will bring the subjects of TFT Technologies and New Materials, New Possibilities to listeners.
 
The Wearables Europe program has sessions on Thin and Flexible Battery Technologies, Wearable Technology Innovations, E-Textiles and Eye-Worn Electronics.Sensors Europe has three sessions: Innovation in Chemical Sensors, Sensors in Healthcre and Large Area Sensors.
 
Internet of Things Applications Europe features programs on Internet of Things Applications; Energy Storage for Internet of Things,  Internet of Things Security, Governments Driving IoT Adoption, Internet of Things Meets Printed Electronics, RFID and IoT Closing Keynotes.Graphene & 2D Materials will offer sessions on New Graphene Applications, Printed Electronics Products and Printed Electronics Products Photovoltaics.
 
3D Printing Europe will provide five sessions: Standards, New Businesses and The Law; Emerging Applications for 3D Printing; New Techniques for 3D Printing Metals;’ 3D Printing Design; and New Materials for 3D Printing. Electric Vehicles will have six sessions: 48V Mild Hybrid and Power Electronics; Energy Storage Future; Charging Future V2X; Marine; Energy Harvesting for Electric Vehicles; and Market Forecasts and End Game.
 
Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe will cover Design Considerations for Energy Harvesting; Wireless Switches; Stretchable and 3D Printed Energy Harvesting; Integrating Energy Harvesting in Smart Buildings; Manufacturing Energy Harvesting; Implantable Energy Harvesting; and Energy Storage: Micro and Thinfilm Batteries.
 
There will also be Manufacturing Street and Demonstration Street, which displays the potential of flexible and printed electronics, as well as the IDTechEx Launchpad.
 
“In addition to Manufacturing and Demonstration Street, new in Berlin this year is the IDTechEx Launchpad,” Das reported. “This is for early stage companies to show new products. Ten winners have been chosen from all the entries we received. There is also going to be many demonstrators and products on show – all the way through to vehicles include a Tesla and the winning solar racing car.”