The flexible and printed electronics (PE) field is making headway in reaching commercialization, which is causing a ripple effect with other companies. Printed Electronics USA 2015, organized by IDTechEx and running Nov. 18-19 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA, will showcase new technologies and brand owners. IDTechEx CEO Raghu Das said that a month before the show opens its doors, the conference is well on its way to a record turnout.
 
“It is amazing,” Das said. “We are now up to 205 exhibitors, exceeding our 200 target, with less than 3% of space available, and that was after we increased the space already. We are on track to exceed 3,000 attendees, making this the go-to event for anyone wishing to understand their opportunities in printed electronics.”
 
One key is having brand owners coming in to discuss their successes in the field, as well as their requirements. With huge players such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, HP, United Technologies Research Center, Jabil, DuPont and Bayer Healthcare scheduled to present, attendees will have a lot of opportunities to gather insights.
 
“We have published the agenda this week, featuring big brands across many verticals who will be covering needs, use cases, progress, in addition to all the latest progress with the most hottest technologies,” Das said.
 
One highlight will be the End User Insight Panel, which will be part of the opening session on Nov.18.  The panelists include Frank Fu, senior technologist, ETA Global R&D for The Coca Cola Company; Dirk Schapeler, director digital health at Bayer HealthCare LLC; and Scott Demarest, director at Colgate-Palmolive. Each will discuss what their company wants from printed electronics.
 
Keynote sessions include speakers fromthe United States Olympic Committee, Qualcomm, Hewlett-Packard and United Technologies Research Center.  There will be seven concurrent sessions on Nov. 18, and nine sessions on Nov. 19.
 
Das anticipates plenty of interesting sessions, with co-located conferences on IoT, Electric Vehicles, Energy Harvesting, Sensors, Wearable Technology and 3D Printing adding valuable insights.
 
“Highlights will be focused sessions on wearable technology, vehicles, stretchable electronics, sensors, and IoT, among others,” Das noted. “We have sessions covering new innovations such as 3D printed electronics and structural electronics. In wearables, we want to bring designers of clothing together with the technology innovators, and therefore have involved organizations such as the Fashion Institute of Technology, who will be hosting a wearable technology panel discussion with brands.”
 
 
The co-located programs include Energy Harvesting & Storage USA 2015, Graphene USA 2015, 3D Printing USA 2015, Internet of Things Applications USA 2015, IDTechEx Wearable USA 2015; Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing USA 2015 and IDTechEx Sensors USA 2015.
 
“The co-located sessions add a tremendous and unique benefit of attending,” Das said. “This is because printed electronics is an enabling technology, and therefore to really help it become deployed, we feel we need to bring together whole end use industries with the printed electronics supply chain. Conferences on IoT, Electric Vehicles, Energy Harvesting, Sensors, Wearable Technology and 3D Printing do this, creating a unique environment. It also means at one event you can learn all about these related technologies.”
 
One new feature is the IDTechEx Launchpad, whichwill show new products and ideas.
 
“In our ongoing aim of being the first to show attendees new products and concepts, we created the IDTechEx Launchpad as a way to allow early stage companies with impressive products a chance to get in front of our thousands of attendees,” Das said. “Attendees benefit by seeing new relevant products for the first time – I think they are all indeed very exciting. The zone has been kindly sponsored by Qualcomm, who will also be showing their new printed electronics enabled golf club sensor.”
 
There will also be Demonstration Street, offering end users an idea of how flexible and printed electronics can work for them.
 
“Our Demonstration Street continues to build in momentum and is the largest collection of printed electronics-based products in one place,” Das said. “This takes you beyond the Powerpoints and allows attendees to see what is really possible and what is just round the corner.”

For more information, see www.idtechex.com/printed-electronics-usa.