The Innovations in Large-Area Electronics (innoLAE) Conference continues to attract growing interest and engagement from researchers, manufacturers, integrators and users involved in large-area electronics (LAE) - a new way of making electronics which includes printable, flexible, plastic, organic and bio- electronics.
Delegates, presenters and exhibitors at this year’s 5th annual innoLAE 2019 conference gathered at the Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre in Hinxton, Cambridge from 21-23 January 2019 to share knowledge, build collaborations and network. Communication between the sectors and stake-holders involved in LAE is essential for tackling challenges along the chain of innovation: from proof-of-concept research to the design of manufacturing, scale-up and end-of-life processes. The innoLAE conference aims to facilitate such crucial communication between academia and industry, so we are delighted to announce continued growth, record abstract submissions, the highest conference sponsorship to date and registrations from more institutions and countries than any previous year.
innoLAE 2019
The innoLAE industry day, conference and exhibition attracted over 300 delegates, reaching people from 156 institutions across 21 countries.
innoLAE 2019 Conference and Exhibition
Attendees - Supporting innovation by connecting academia and industry
The innoLAE conference once again managed to attract the unique academia : industry balance which makes the conference such a productive space. Many attendees listed the mix of speakers and delegates as the most valuable and distinctive characteristic of the conference.
“Good match between industry and academia.”
- innoLAE 2019 Conference exhibitor
“There is a mix of representatives from academia, SMEs and large organisations that provides an immediate overview of the current industry, trends and next generation developments.”
- innoLAE 2019 Conference exhibitor, Richard Dixon, Dycotech Materials
Programme - Scientific excellence, manufacturing advances and commercial opportunity
Feedback from innoLAE delegates across the past 5 years highlights their appreciation for the calibre and coverage of the conference programme. innoLAE 2019 was no exception, setting conference records for the number of abstracts submitted, speakers presenting and posters displayed.
“The quality of invited speakers has been amazing. Whilst quite large the conference is very intimate.”
- innoLAE 2019 Conference poster presenter
“Good talks. I liked the 50/50 split of academic and industry, good perspective.”
- innoLAE 2019 Conference poster presenter
Keynotes
Dr Janos Veres, PARC
This year the programme presented three keynote presentations – featuring Prof. Dr Karl Leo, award-winning pioneer in the field of organic semiconductors, entrepreneurial technologist Dr Janos Veres who leads the Novel and Printed Electronics Program at PARC, and Marco Meloni, a research analyst at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation – a global thought leader aiming to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Parallel presentation tracks
Parallel track presentations covered the latest innovations in LAE devices, circuits, materials, manufacturing, applications and bioelectronics.
Workshops
This year the programme was further extended to include two topical workshops.
A third track was added to accommodate a workshop covering the evolution of electronic textiles for wearable applications - a very well-received session which presented state-of-the-art advances and stimulated important cross-disciplinary debate.
The second workshop represented the first of its kind, an opportunity for LAE students, manufacturers, designers and end users to engage with the challenges, opportunities and importance of the circular economy for the LAE industry.
Posters
54 poster presenters displayed their work during the poster session.
Two poster prizes and two runner-up prizes were awarded.
Exhibition
The innoLAE conference exhibition showcased 24 leading companies' expertise, products, facilities and latest developments.
"A must attend event for all those involved in printed/emerging electronics."
- innoLAE 2019 Conference exhibitor, Jeremy Davis, Semitronics
innoLAE 2019 Industry Day
Industry day is a networking event designed to bring together experts in research, technology innovation and manufacturing of large-area electronics. The industry-focused event attracted registrations from 116 delegates from 85 organisations (33 of which provided a 90 second company pitch). The event was once again well received by attendees who value the opportunity to meet industry partners, gain an up-to-date overview of the industry and learn about the latest developments and unmet needs in the field.
“This is a great showcase for the printed electronics sector. It goes from technology suppliers to technology users, including some excellent overview of the sector.”
- innoLAE 2019 Industry Day delegate
“The interface between research commercialisation and scale up is one of the best things about this meeting.”
- innoLAE 2019 Industry Day delegate, Dr Catherine Gardner, Xaar
Thank you to the programme committee, conference delegates, presenters, exhibitors, industry day sponsors Semitronics and Coatema, and conference sponsors - Centre for Process Innovation, NovaCentrix, Arm, FlexEnable, Altium and Beko R&D - for contributing to another successful and productive innoLAE conference.
