NextFlex Launches $11.5 Million Funding Round for Flexible Hybrid Electronics Innovations

Reading time ( words)

NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Manufacturing Institute, released Project Call 7.0 (PC 7.0), the latest call for proposals that seek to fund projects that further the development and adoption of FHE while addressing key challenges in advanced manufacturing while supporting Department of Defense priorities. The total PC 7.0 project value is expected to exceed $11.5M (project value/investment figures include cost-sharing), bringing the total anticipated investment in advancing FHE since NextFlex’s formation to $128M.

Building from the success and maturity of past Project Calls, PC 7.0 continues the use of broadly defined topics to enable a diverse proposer base, with special emphasis on areas in which FHE can impact high priority U.S. manufacturing opportunities and areas of emerging importance within the FHE community. Areas of emphasis include FHE enabled manufacturing for automotive applications, additive approaches to FHE device fabrication, applying hybrid electronic manufacturing to applications in advanced packaging, and exploring how FHE manufacturing can support improved environmental sustainability in electronics manufacturing.

“We are delighted to announce this new round of funding for advanced manufacturing developments in the US,” said Malcolm Thompson, PhD, Executive Director of NextFlex. “The benefits of FHE – additively manufactured electronic systems that are lightweight, thin, and conformable, are transforming our perceptions of how ubiquitous electronics can truly be. With each successive project call, the NextFlex member community moves the technology closer to commercialization and wide adoption.”

Project proposals should include a plan for transitioning projects to the U.S. industrial manufacturing base while focusing on manufacturing challenges in these topic areas: 

• Manufacturing of FHE-Enabled Automotive Components
• Advanced Packaging Approaches for IC Integration in FHE Devices
• Additively Manufactured Electronic Components and Devices
• Improved Environmental Sustainability of Electronics with FHE Manufacturing
• Manufacturing of Soft and Stretchable Electronics
• Enhanced Dielectric Materials & Manufacturing Methods for FHE Devices
• Wearable Human Monitoring / Interface Demonstrator
• Open Topic for “New Project Leads”

In addition, NextFlex announces the release of its FHE Technology Roadmaps. Developed by subject matter experts from industry, academia and government, the NextFlex Technical Working Groups in 11 technical areas of emphasis – Automotive; Device Integration & Packaging; Materials; Modeling & Design; Printed Components & Microfluidics; Standards, Test & Reliability; Asset Monitoring Systems; Flexible Power; Human Monitoring Systems; Integrated Antenna Arrays; and Soft Wearable Robotics – update the roadmaps each year. This is the first time, however, that a public version of the roadmaps is being made available. The roadmaps contain detailed information on the current state of the art, market opportunities and needs, key stakeholders, a five-year forward-looking development roadmap, and prioritized technical gaps identified by each Technical Working Group. These roadmaps inform the priorities for NextFlex Project Calls.

10/30/2022 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 Magazine

We recently conducted a roundtable with a team of printed electronic circuit experts from companies that run the gamut: John Lee and Kevin Miller of Insulectro, Mike Wagner of Butler Technologies, Tom Bianchi of Eastprint, and John Voultos of Sheldahl Flexible Technologies. In this third and final installment of the roundtable, these experts discuss some of the differences and similarities between PEC and traditional PCB processes, the future of printed electronic circuits, and why the best way to learn about this technology is through networking with veterans of this segment who are eager to share their expertise with the next generation.

10/03/2022 | Malcolm Thompson, NextFlex

The chip shortage is by no means over, with estimates expecting it will last into 2023. Some could see it taking even longer, such as Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who expects it to see shortages into 2024 due to those now impacting electronics production equipment. But if there’s any bright spot to be had, it’s that a crisis often leads to long-term solutions. In this case, it’s the increase in government funding for semiconductor production in the United States. Once the CHIPS Act proceeds, we can significantly accelerate building semiconductor fabs in the United States and work toward preventing future chip shortages that would put us back into our current situation.

09/22/2022 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 Magazine

We recently held a roundtable with a team of printed electronic circuit experts from companies that run the gamut: John Lee and Kevin Miller of Insulectro, Mike Wagner of Butler Technologies, Tom Bianchi of Eastprint, and John Voultos of Sheldahl Flexible Technologies. In the first part of this roundtable, the team dispelled a variety of myths surrounding PEC. In this second part of the roundtable, the participants discuss what designers and fabricators need to know to jump into printed electronics, and some of the drivers behind this growing technology.