Winners of Printed Electronics Awards announced

The IDTechEx Printed Electronics Awards have been presented in recognition of outstanding achievement. The awards were presented by Dr Peter Harrop, CEO of IDTechEx.

Categories and winners include:

•Technical Development Materials Award Winner: Kovio

•Technical Development Manufacturing Award Winner: Optomec

•Technical Development Device Award Winner: Add-vision

•Best New Product Development Award Winner: HelioVolt

•Best Commercialization Award Winner: Elumin8

•Printed Electronics USA champion: Andy Hannah, CEO, Plextronics

Kovio was awarded with the Technical Development Materials Award after achieving outstanding material mobility from an ink-jet printed thin-film transistor (TFT). The company has invented a printed electronics material and printed semiconductor process combining of printable silicon, dielectric, doped silicon, metal and insulator inks — that enables all-printed silicon high performance TFT.

Optomec has won the Technical Development Manufacturing Award for the M3D Aerosol Jet Deposition System that will be used for high-volume printing of collector lines on solar cells. The system is a fine feature, non-contact printed electronics solution for solar cell manufacturers that can print narrower lines with higher yields.

Add-Vision won the Technical Development Device Award for demonstrating clear advancements in all-printed P-OLED display technology. The company has developed a technology that offers the display characteristics of OLED displays on flexible substrates, while maintaining the manufacturing flow, tools and low start-up costs of conventional printing.

Elumin8 wins the Best Commercialization Award. In 2003, the company started to develop large electroluminescent lamps for outdoor advertising. Prior to this, EL lamps had been widely used in avionic, military, automotive, marine and commercial displays where the total area of a single backlight rarely exceeded 100-200 cm².

HelioVolt won the Best New Product Development Award. In the face of silicon shortages and continued solar cost issues, the company’s proprietary FASSTT manufacturing process offers a rapid, low-cost method for printing CIGS photovoltaic coatings.

Andy Hannah, CEO of Plextronics, was awarded the Printed Electronics USA Champion Award. The purpose of this award is to recognise an individual who has given outstanding contribution to the industry by promoting it to a wider audience, and by also achieving significant technical and commercial development in their own companies.

As CEO of Plextronics, Andy has achieved this, with the company making significant technical developments and for his role promoting the industry globally, including being Vice Chairman of the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A).