WEST LAFAYETTE – Researchers at Purdue University and Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) are partnering with global industry leaders in the Midwest and the state of Indiana as part of a $171 million flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing initiative to advance research and manufacturing in the field of flexible hybrid electronics.
Researchers at Purdue will lead a $13 million component of the five-year U.S. Department of Defense effort to launch the Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute (FHE MII), which will focus on the design, manufacturing and integration of electronics and sensors. It also will examine assembly and test automation for using complex flexible hybrid electronics on non-traditional conformal, bendable, stretchable and foldable substrates.
“This public-private partnership represents the ideal mix of industry and university researchers working together to create jobs, strengthen the economy and potentially benefit a wide array of markets,” said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. “The spinoff benefits to students also will be substantial by providing research opportunities to prepare them for careers in the increasingly competitive global marketplace that demand highly skilled people.”
Flexible hybrid electronics, an emerging manufacturing capability, enables the integration of thin silicon electronic devices, sensing elements, communications and power on non-traditional flexible substrates. These could include flexible glass, plastic, paper – even the human skin – and are used in everything from wristwatches, video displays and other communication components to medical prosthetics, robotics and sensors.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Friday (Aug. 28) the selection of the FlexTech Alliance for Flexible, Hybrid and Printed Electronics team during a ceremony in San Jose, California, where the national institute will be based.
The project, which is receiving $75 million from the Department of Defense and $96 million in cost-sharing from private companies, universities and many state economic development agencies, joins five other federal institutes launched through President Barack Obama's National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI).
Joining Purdue on the FHE MII project are 96 companies, 11 laboratories and non-profits, 41 other universities, and 14 state and regional organizations.
The Purdue-IUPUI team, led by Purdue electrical and computer engineering professor Ali Shakouri, will focus on applying flexible hybrid electronics in pharmaceuticals, or smart pills, sensors used in food packaging or agriculture, and smart wound dressings.
Key industry partners include Eli Lilly & Co., Roche Diagnostics USA, Molex Inc., IMA Life, Landauer, Smith & Nephew, Kimball Electronics and Samsung. Another key partner is the Battery Innovation Center, adjacent to the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana.
“As the nation's leader in manufacturing and a life sciences industry that's grown by $27 billion in just over a decade, Indiana is the ideal place to develop these next generation, advanced flexible electronics manufacturing technologies,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith. “These types of collaborative initiatives between the state, private industry and Indiana's top research universities are key to driving our economy forward. Combined with the state's growing, skilled workforce and resources like the Battery Innovation Center, Hoosiers are leading discovery and innovation that power our world.”
