The field of flexible electronics is showing strong growth, with displays and wearable electronics of particular interest, and 2014FLEX, organized by FlexTech Alliance, will bring the latest advances to its attendees.

2014FLEX will be held Feb. 3-6 in Phoenix, AZ. The conference draws more than 600 professionals and features more than 100 presenters. There is also an exhibition, featuring every sector of the supply chain. Heidi Hoffman of FlexTech Alliance said that early expectations for 2014FLEX are promising.

“We are seeing 10% increases in our early numbers for conference attendee,” Hoffman said. “If this holds, we think this will be biggest event ever.

“Conference attendance is only one measure, but we do know more companies, research organizations and universities are starting or directing activities into the flexible and printed electronics area,” Hoffman added. “We have seen this all year in workshop attendance as well. Booths shall be about the same, which I think reflects why the theme of the conference is not “Past the Tipping Point,” but rather, “Approaching the Tipping Point.

“The Technical Program has been expanded to 100+ papers (vs. 81 last year),” Hoffman said. “There will be expanded networking opportunities – earlier and longer exhibitor receptions and longer lunches, and we have added an Exhibitor Showcase to the event, a stage for exhibitors to give product demonstrations in the exhibit hall.”

The conference begins Monday, Feb. 3 with a trio of three-hour Short Courses: Materials, Processes & Tools for Roll-to-Roll Fabrication of Flexible Devices and Electronics; Design Characteristics and Considerations for Flexible Substrates; and Understanding Flexible AMOLED Technology and Market Opportunities.

The full conference begins on Tuesday, Feb. 4. After introductory remarks by Keith Rollins of DuPont Teijin Films, Cindy Giroux, Corning Inc., will present a talk on “Flexible Glass, Enabling the Future of Electronics” Michael McCreary of E Ink will then discuss “Color EPD Displays & The Future of E-Reader & Commercial Display Technology.”

Michael Hack, Universal Display Corporation, will offer insights on “How Flexible OLED Displays Will Curve the Future,” and Sweta Dash of IHS will close Session 1 with “The Flexible Display Market and Technology: Is It Approaching a Tipping Point?”

“Our Plenary talks are divided into three first-day buckets: Displays, Volume Manufacturing and New Technologies,” said Hoffman. “Each of these talks has insightful speakers and/or major industry companies. For the Displays Session, we have Corning, E-Ink, UDC and HIS, so Flexible Glass, EPD displays, and OLED displays will be covered, and then the market researcher talking about how each technology will play with the others.”

Session 2 analyzes Volume Manufacturing, with talks by Thomas Kurfess, Georgia Institute of Technology (“Manufacturing, The Road to Success”); Anwar Mohammed, Flextronics International (“Manufacturing and Reliability Challenges in the Wearable Electronics (WE) Industry”) Rich Baker, SGIA/Integrity Industrial Ink Jet Integration, LLC (“Inkjet For Printed Electronics Manufacturing”) and Alex Beavers of SRI (“SRI Innovations in Flex Circuit Metallization and Electrostatic Adhesion that are Facilitating Advances in Wearable Electronics and High Density Packaging”).

“For Session 2 – Volume Manufacturing, we have Thomas Kurfess with the Obama Administration perspective on manufacturing in the U.S.; Anwar Mohammed with Flextronics, who has a great perspective on the types of customers coming to him and what they need in flexible; Rich Baker with the Specialty Graphics Industry Association, large scale guys who bring such a refreshing perspective; and Alex Beavers from SRI on wearable electronics and high density packaging,” Hoffman added.

After lunch, Session 3 will discuss New Technologies, starting with Davor Sutija of ThinFilm Electronics, whose topic is “A Smarter Everyday Powered by Printed Electronics.”  Kenneth Church, Structural & Printing Emerging Technologies Center, University of Texas at El Paso, will then discuss “Printed Electronics: Catalyzing the 3D Revolution.”

Malcolm Thompson, Nano-Bio Medical Consortium (NBMC), will analyze “Physiological Monitoring with Printed Devices.” John Batey, FlexTech Alliance, will close Session 3 with a talk on “Determining What Flexible Electronics Users Want With Users Groups.” An Exhibitor Reception and the Industry Dinner & FLEXI Awards Ceremony will close the evening.

“For Session 3 – New Technologies, we lead off again with a supply chain company that has its finger on the pulse of what integrators are trying to do with printed electronics and how far the envelope has been pushed,” Hoffman noted. “3D printing is a hot topic and is the focus of the next paper, which delves into what’s real, what’s hype and then what the roadmap looks like.

“Next is Malcolm Thompson with FlexTech/NBMC who, along with the Air Force funders, are driving the development of the physiological monitoring on a more detailed level than currently underway with retail or commercially-targeted product,” Hoffman added. “That session ends with an unveiling of the new FlexTech Users Groups – a place for the integrators to learn, share, discuss and probe the technology that they want to design into their products. “

The conference breaks into four concurrent sessions on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

Track A focuses on Flexible Display Manufacturing, TFTs, Inspection and Printing Systems. Track B’s speakers cover topics such as CNT Technology, Process Technology, Printing Technology and Conductive Materials. Track C covers the Nano Bio Manufacturing Consortium (NBMC), Sensors and Hybrid Flexible Technology. Track D covers Breaking News & Late Papers.

Hoffman said that the NBMC sessions, led by Malcolm Thompson, will be a highlight.

“Malcolm is really excited by the line up of papers there, and I think they, together, provide an excellent overview of all research directions for Nano-Bio Manufacturing.”

Organizations that will be presenting in the NBMC sessions include the Air Force Research Labs, GE Global Research, DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Lockheed Martin, American Semiconductors, Princeton University, Brewer Science and Northeastern University.

The conference’s final sessions will be held Thursday, Feb. 6. Track A will cover Fabrication on Plastic Substrates, Transparent Conductors and Manufacturing. Track B analyzes Systems and Circuits, Printed Devices and Printing Technology & Displays. Track C looks at Biomedical Devices.

“Each of the sessions pretty much starts out with an excellent invited talk as identified by our great Conference Committee, led by Ross Bringans of PARC, Mike Ideacavage and Bob Miller of EMD Millipore,” Hoffman said. “I can’t say enough about the enthusiasm of our committee and their hard work at pulling together the Technical Conference. They have brought in a lot of new speakers and organizations.”

For more information on 2014FLEX, see FlexTech’s web site at www.flextech.org.