Partnerships between universities, companies and governments can go a long way in helping to boost a growing industry, providing resources and contacts.
 
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) realizes the value of these partnerships, as well as the potential for the flexible and printed electronics field. With that in mind, MassTech awarded a $4 million grant to University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC).  The four-year grant award will be matched by $12 million in industry support, and is managed by the Innovation Institute at MassTech.
 
“We have already seen great success stem from this partnership to fund research, support education and make new strides in innovation,” said Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker. “By connecting the incredible resources in our universities with the business community, the Commonwealth will continue to stimulate economic growth and create more good-paying jobs.”
 
“The Innovation Institute has a mandate to support cluster growth. The Printed Electronics Research Center at UMass Lowell represents a multi-discipline collaborative research approach that aligns with this focus,” said Pat Larkin, director of the Innovation Institute at MassTech. “The work enabled by this investment will support novel product development, increased business activity, and increased hiring, both at PERC and by participating companies. It will also enhance the ecosystem for OEMs, Tier 1 and 2 vendors, to materials suppliers, small businesses and startups.”
 
UMass Lowell has a wealth of resources, beginning with the Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center, an 84,000 square foot, state-of-the-art research facility. The grant from MassTech will outfit laboratories and other research space at the Saab Center. The Saab Center is also home to the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI), which will participate in PERC.
 
PERC started in January 2015 with the MassTech grant. In addition to its corporate sponsorship, PERC has been awarded funding from several federal agencies, including an America Makes project that involves working with a team of corporate partners on additive design tools.
 
The PERC facility has been fitted out with a variety of fabrication and testing equipment, including advanced printing systems, microwave characterization systems, advanced modeling tools, an anechoic chamber for antenna characterization and a phased array radar system.
 
Dr. Craig Armiento, a professor in UMass Lowell’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is the director of PERC and the co-director of RURI, as well as director of the Center for Photonics, Electromagnetics and Nanoelectronics (CPEN). He discussed the opportunities for flexible and printed electronics in Massachusetts.
 
“The University of Massachusetts Lowell established the Printed Electronics Research Collaborative (PERC) with a mission to advance the ecosystem for printed electronics,” Dr. Armiento said. “PERC is focused on establishing research partnerships between industry (large, medium and small companies), universities and government (state and federal) to foster the printed electronics supply chain, from enabling materials to system demonstrations.
 
Dr. Armiento said that the pre-existing relationship between UMass Lowell and Raytheon allows PERC to develop printed electronics and additive manufacturing technologies for Department of Defense (DoD) applications.
 
“PERC has established working research relationships that pre-position teams for federal funding opportunities,” he added. “Although the initial focus of PERC is on defense applications, we expect our work to expand into other industry sectors such as health care, logistics, communications and consumer electronics.”


Flexible and printed electroncis fits in nicely with the core mission of PERC and RURI, which is to develop new devices and subsystems that provide electromagnetic, electronic or photonic functionality using additive manufacturing approaches.
 
Dr. Armiento added that these devices and subsystems are often fabricated using 3D printers or on plastic substrates using high-resolution printing techniques for patterning functional inks.
 
“UMass Lowell has expertise in a variety of technologies relevant to printed electronics, such as nanotechnology, microwave electronics, electromagnetic modeling and plastics engineering” Dr. Armiento noted. “Our capabilities include advanced printing technologies, novel inks, electromagnetic simulation and design and tailored plastic substrates.
 
“Devices that have been demonstrated include printed antenna arrays (two-dimensional and three-dimensional), frequency selective surfaces, printed varactors and transistors (based on carbon nanotubes),” he added. “These technologies can be applied to system applications such as phased array radars, lightweight communications systems and radio-frequency identification (RFID).”
 
PERC currently has eight member companies: Raytheon, BAE Systems, Rogers Corp., SI2 Technologies, Triton Systems, MicroChem, Flexcon and Creative Materials.
 
“These companies represent various segments of the supply chain for printed electronics.,” Dr. Armiento said. “Discussions with additional companies are underway and new PERC members will be added in the coming months. The facility is operational and manufacturing prototype devices and systems.”
 
Providing students with industry experienceis an added benefit for PERC.
 
“Another important aspect of PERC is that UMass Lowell graduate and undergraduate students work closely with our member companies on a number of projects, offering real-world experience to prepare them for the workplace,” said Dr. Armiento. “Our PERC partners view these student interactions as a means to recruit the next generation of engineers that are well-versed in additive manufacturing disciplines.”
 
Dr. Armiento sees great opportunities for printed electronics in the coming years.
 
“Printed electronics will transform the electronics form factor in a way that is as revolutionary as the introduction of the transistor radio in the 1960s,” he said. “This technology will fundamentally change the way that humans interact with electronics.
 
“The defense industry has embraced the concept of additive manufacturing (AM) for building mechanical parts in both metals and plastics,” Dr. Armiento added. “There is now a growing interest in exploiting additive concepts for the production of electronics. Printed electronics promises rapid prototyping as well as the ability to change the form factor for electronics from rigid circuit boards to solutions that are flexible, lightweight, conformable and wearable.”
 

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