drupa 2012 to Address Printed Electronics Topic
The topic of printed electronics will be addressed three times at the upcoming drupa 2012: at its own theme world in the drupa innovation park 2012, at a conference day in the drupa cube and at a Highlights Tour. In addition, about 30 exhibitors will present products and processes in this field. The co-operation partner for this theme is the Organic and Printed Electronics Association (OE-A) within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). drupa will take place from May 3–16, 2012 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The theme world Printed Electronics in the drupa innovation park in Hall 7.0 will provide a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art technology. The focus will be on both new printing processes and machinery as well as highly innovative products for these production processes. This former experimental field has become a highly industrialized segment with a huge market potential and the OE-A stand will showcase a wealth of exhibits for the different application areas for printed electronics. "We are showing a number of applications at drupa, which have resulted from collaboration with our international member companies: from interactive books and intelligent packaging to sensors, displays and flexible solar cells,” stated Dr. Klaus Hecker, managing director of OE-A.
Visitors to the OE-A booth will receive a comprehensive industry guide on printed electronics and a credit-card sized energy-sufficient flashlight. The printing machine on which these often tiny products are printed is as big as the finished product is small: microFlex by 3D-Micromac is 26 feet long and a world first in its current design. A whole range of electronic functions can be printed on it, such as batteries, RFID labels, scrollable displays and flexible solar cells. Above all, it is the microFlex's better performance (higher throughput figures at a lower price) that perfectly demonstrates the development rate of printed electronics: prototypes that were once expensive are becoming progressively cheaper, bringing commercial opportunities within reach of a growing number of providers.
Many other companies in the drupa innovation park will focus on printed elecetronics. Coatema will also display its Smartcoater production machine. This printing machine's five individual modules include the systems necessary to produce all the coats for an electronically printed product which makes pre- or post-processing obsolete. The Altana Group (umbrella brand for Elantas, Eckart, Byk and Actega) will exhibit their developments in functional ink, while Novacentrix will offer equipment for curing printed electronics products. Platingtech will present printed textiles functions and a new printing plate for the screen printing of printed electronics. The Organic Electronics Saxony (OES) organization will also be represented. Three founding members of the OES received the German Future Award in 2011 for their advances in printed displays, printed lighting and printed photovoltaic. Ynvisible will showcase their latest developments in electrochromic displays. COLAE InnovationLab GmbH will present the work of their leading-edge cluster Forum Organic Electronics, whose members include 25 companies, universities and research institutes from the metropolitan Rhine-Neckar region.
Outside the drupa innovation park, an additional 17 exhibitors will show related technologies in the other halls at the drupa 2012 fairgrounds and the "Printed Electronics Products" roadmap will help to locate them (available at all information counters onsite).
May 12, 2012 will be the "Future of Print I—Printed Electronics" theme day in the drupa cube. Leading companies such as Heraeus, PolyIC, Plastic Logic and Printechnologics will provide insights into their newly developed product applications. This theme day will be organized by OE-A and will reflect the latest developments in this innovative technology. For the conference program and online tickets, visit www.drupa.com.
One of the Highlights Tours organized by the publishing company Deutscher Drucker will be dedicated to the topic "Functional Printers and Printed Electronics." The tours will be conducted on weekdays, with the German language tour starting at 11:15 am and the English language tour beginning at 2:15 pm. Detailed information about registration and prices is available at www.highlightstouren.de.
For further information on visiting or exhibiting at drupa 2012, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit our Website www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at www.blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/mdnachicago.
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