There is much research being done globally in the field of flexible and printed electronics, with most of the focus on Asia, Europe and the United States. However, Canada also has a strong story to tell when it comes to printed, flexible and wearable electronics.
           
Founded 18 months ago, the Canadian Printable Electronics Industry Association (CPEIA) is bringing together a network of end-users, manufacturers, researchers and universities to develop an ecosystem. One of the key opportunities is CPES2016, the second annual conference held by the CPEIA.
           
CPES2016 is being held April 19-20, 2016 at Sheridan College in Toronto.  Peter Kallai, CPEIA’s president and CEO and co-chair of CPES, said this year’s conference will exceed last year’s successful inaugural event. He added that this year’s focus will be on industrial applications for flexible, printed and wearable electronics.
           
“Last year, we had 140 attendees, and we are looking to kick it up to more than 200 this year,” Kallia said. “Our focus is on industrial applications, although there will be some excellent scientific presentations as well.”
 
Kallai reported that CPES2016 will be covering four main themes.
 
“Among the four themes for CPES 2016 are 3D Printable Electronics, 2D Large Area Printable Electronics, Flexible Stretchable Wearables Electronics and Applications,” Kallai said.
           
The 3D session includes talks by Prof. Harri Kopola from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland,  Dr. Kenneth Church of nScrypt Inc. and Mike O’Reilly of Optomec Inc.
 
2D Printable Electronics – Inks, Manufacturing Methods & Devices will feature presentations by Dr. James Buntaine of Merck’s EMD Performance Materials Corp., Dr. Daniel Frisbie of University of Minnesota, and Prof. Vivek Subramanian of University of California, Berkeley. 
 
Stan Farnsworth of NovaCentrix, John Lapp of FujiFilm Dimatix, and Dr. Patrick Melanfant of the National Research Council of Canada’s Flagship Printable Electronics Program will also offer their insights on this topic.
 
Flexible, Stretchable & Wearable Electronicswill include Aldjia Begriche of OMsignal, Tony Chahine of Myant and Dr. Harry Zervos of IDTechEx.
 
Applicationswill have talks by Mounir Zok of the United States Olympic Committee, Christina Cvetan of Unilever and James Lee of Jones Packaging, Greg Walker of Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) and Stephen Brown of CSA Group.
 
Aside from the four tracks, CPES2016 will also have a variety of new features, including tabletop exhibits and two awards, for best commercialization and best research.
           
“Networking is important,” Kallai said. “Organizations asked us to start offering tabletop displays, so we added 15 this year. It gives us an extra place to gather and interact. We also have added two awards this year, for commercialization and academic research, both of which will recognize some of the exceptional work being done in Canada.”
           
There will also be an exclusive facilities tour of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) on April 21, the day after CPES2016.
 
Kallai said that CPES2016 will be an excellent opportunity for companies to see what Canadian industry and researchers bring to the growing PE industry.
 
“We are very excited,” Kallai said. “There are 120 companies involved in Canada in our space, many of whom are now in mainstream markets. Production capabilities in Canada are well entrenched in areas of printed switches, and now our companies are adding additional functionality, such as printed sensors, batteries and antennas, just to mention a few. Some common materials and printing techniques are being used in textiles that are applied on other surfaces. Textiles can be printed by screen, and they can be functional. There are 30 to 40 companies in Canada alone that are involved in that market.
 
“Canada was an unpolished diamond when it comes to printed electronics, and we are uncovering that diamond and making it shine,” Kallai concluded.
 
For more information, contact the CPEIA at www.cpeia-acei-ca.