Injection Moulding Asia Electronics/electrical Industry collaborating with the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, and human machine interface technologies manufacturer GGI Solutions to advance the use of engineered surfaces with printed electronics in nextgeneration mobile wireless communications. CRC and NRCC are both members of intelliFLEX, a notfor-profit industry alliance in Canada, aiming to accelerating the growth of the flexible and hybrid electronics sector of more than 300 organisations across the country. Researchers at the CRC are using engineered surfaces to control the propagation of electromagnetic signals in a wireless communications environment. One of the enabling fabrication technologies is printed electronics. It explained that by printing metals and dielectrics (an additive fabrication process), engineered surfaces can be incorporated in existing building materials such as wallpaper, or drywall, in a low-cost, high-volume, and readily commercialised manner.
Novares and Quad are working on more solutions with intuitive intelligent interfaces using 3D-shaped electronics for a vehicle prototype
provider, Novares, has recently acquired a minority stake in European printed flexible electronics specialist, Quad Industries, to develop new systems with intuitive intelligent interfaces for all passengers, and add to Novares’s solutions for cars. Novares’s investment is part of a development partnership forged between the two companies in May 2018 that are collaborating on advanced user experience projects within Novares’s open innovation lab, the Nova Car. Quad’s technology is already integrated in the Novares “Touch’N Play” concept, incorporated in the Novares demo car. Novares and Quad are working on even more solutions with intuitive intelligent interfaces using 3D-shaped electronics for Novares’s second vehicle prototype, which will be unveiled in Paris in June. Future co-developments include Quad’s technologies in proximity sensing, gesture control, vital signs monitoring or stretchable sensors.
CRC, NRC and GGI Solutions are collaborating to advance the use of engineered surfaces with printed electronics in next-generation mobile wireless communications
Packaging got smart-tagged The growth of the smart packaging market is propelling the development of printed electronics in the segment. The global smart packaging market is growing at a fast rate. In three years’ time, it is forecast to achieve a CAGR of almost 8% from 2014 to US$37.8 billion, according to Allied Market Research. Scoping into smart packaging, Bericap, Germany headquartered supplier of caps and closures, is partnering with California-headquartered near field communications (NFC) solutions provider Thinfilm Electronics to develop fully integrated digital authentication solutions for closures in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and industrial applications. The collaboration will embed advanced chips into the closures to create dependable and cost-effective solutions for brand protection and authentication purposes. Thinfilm’s NFC OpenSense and SpeedTap products communicate wirelessly with NFC-enabled smartphones and can be applied to everyday objects. Thinfilm provides fully integrated services throughout the entire process incorporating NFC tags, integrating them onto products and delivering data and actionable insights via the CNECT cloud-based platform at scale.
Improving wireless coverage using these materials would be much cheaper than installing additional cell towers or repeaters. Eventually, this concept could be used in designing new buildings, or even in the building codes to plan for wireless coverage in a similar way as heating and cooling is today. Collaboration to step-up connected mobility Market researchers are of a similar mind that the printed electronics market is poised for billion dollar growth as it matures over time. Markets and Markets estimated the printed electronics market to double by 2023 to US$13.6 billion from US$6.8 billion in 2018, registering a CAGR of 14.9%. Printed electronics are gaining high traction worldwide owing to the rise in the application in IoT. In part, it is also driven by the synergistic efforts of companies to develop better versions of the technology. Printed electronics are suited in concept cars with connectivity capabilities. Novares Venture Capital Fund of the France-headquartered global plastics solutions 7 M AY 2 0 1 9
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