In order to build a stronger organic and printed electronics eco system, OE-A covers several important and current topics and issues. Through a number of working groups, OE-A enables and fosters collaboration among all members along the value chain – from research and development to production and integration into final end-products.
By means of discussion and cooperation in the individual working groups, OE-A members are able to gather valuable information, publish research, share best practices, initiate new and innovative developments, further improve existing products and processes, and find solutions to specific challenges.
The OE-A Working Group Roadmap develops the OE-A Roadmap for organic and printed electronics. Based on the work of more than 250 experts, this key publication represents the common perspectives of all OE-A members. The roadmap has become widely recognized by industry, government agencies, and scientists as an important framework and tool for defining what is “state of the art” in organic and printed electronics.
OE-A Roadmap White Paper
Increasing numbers of printed electronics products are readily available on the market, and many novel applications are evolving from the lab-scale development, to prototyping or early production. It is therefore important to provide up-to-date market and technology information, develop a common opinion about what kind of products, processes and materials will be available and when, and identify the key issues that need to be addressed. These primary functions of the OE-A Roadmap help end-users, developers and funding bodies alike and helps to guide their individual view into a coherent vision. Because printed electronics is a rapidly changing field, the OE-A Roadmap is published regularly and covers the industry from technology to application.
- OE-A Roadmap Press Release
- Download OE-A Roadmap White Paper
(OE-A members can find this in My.OE-A) - Download OE-A Roadmap Summary
Industry Sectors
Applied Technologies
Enabling Technologies
- Functional Materials
- Substrate Materials
- Printing, Coating and Patterning Techniques
Get involved
OE-A is always looking for new experts who would like to contribute to the further development and next version of the OE-A Roadmap. As active member of the project groups you can meet other experts along the entire value chain and take part in the exchange of latest technologies.
The OE-A Working Group Sustainability aims to identify and understand the sustainability benefits of organic and printed electronics technology, emphasizing its contribution to a sustainable future in an open dialogue with key stake holders, markets, regulators, and wider society.
OE-A Sustainability
As the organic and printed electronics industry moves into commercialization, the OE-A believes that sustainability is an increasingly important topic. It is critical that we examine our products and processes to identify how efficiently they are produced, how well we use the materials with which they are constructed, and how well they use power and other consumables when in operation. Finally, when these devices come to the end of their lifetime, we need to identify how they can be recycled or dealt with in a responsible, sustainable manner. Additionally, the OE-A aims to understand the key changes in regulations that will affect the industry in the short, medium and long term, and how they will harmonize with the benefits of organic and printed electronics. Moreover, the OE-A would like to provide the organic and printed electronics community with information, guidelines and methodologies that will allow members to understand the sustainability of their own products and processes.
Regulatory Framework
OE-A, together with its members, has set up a regulatory framework in order to make the printed electronics industry aware of international regulations and directives as well as standards in the areas of waste management and material use.
Sustainability Definition
Our comprehension of sustainability is based on the principles of economic success, fairness, respect & responsibility and includes the dimensions of society, ecology & economy. We comprehend sustainable action in terms of the definition of the Brundtland-report1 and the definitions of the German “Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung2“.
1 „Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.“ (Brundtland-report, 1987)
2 „Sustainable development means to consider ecological aspects equal to social and economic aspects. Therefore, sustainable economy means: For our children and grandchildren, we must leave behind us a sound ecological and economic structure.“ (Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, 2001)
OPE Journal Sustainability Interview
Shedding light on the sustainable aspects of printed electronics
In an exclusive interview with OPE journal, Sophie Isabel Verstraelen, project manager at OE-A, presents the goals and current projects of the association’s Working Group Sustainability.
The OE-A Working Group Hybrid Systems aims to bring together companies, research centers and universities that deal with combination of traditional silicon electronics with printed electronics. This group furthermore works on identifying best practices and competencies, as well as future concepts.
OE-A Hybrid Systems
The combination of printed and classical silicon electronics needs a lot of exchange and interaction between the individual experts from the respective fields. For this purpose, the Working Group Hybrid Systems provides a networking platform where current technologies and solutions are discussed, and development partners can be found. Because future topics are identified interactively, the results of the regular meetings are also fed into the OE-A Roadmap for Organic and Printed Electronics, to support and update it with the most recent advances. The Working Group Hybrid Systems, thus, helps to bridge the gap between functional printing of electronics on flexible substrates and silicon semiconductors on rigid PCBs.
Hybrid System Explained
Hybrid systems combine printed and silicon-based components. This is where the best of both worlds is achieved: The high processing power of silicon electronics with the flexible, thin, and lightweight characteristics of organic and printed electronics, enabling a broad range of new applications, such as functionalized films for Film Insert Molding (FIM).
The OE-A Competition Working Group illustrates the potential of the organic and printed electronics technology as well as fostering cooperation among its members.
OE-A Competition
Apart from the fact that a number of project teams have already worked together on a variety of demonstrators over the years, this working group organizes the annual OE-A Competition to support companies, designers, scientists, and engineers in developing a vision of future applications in organic and printed electronics. OE-A members can participate by submitting their new products and prototypes, thereby promoting their latest innovations.
The submitted projects will be rated in three categories by a jury of representatives from well-known international companies and institutes:
- Prototypes and New Products
- Freestyle Demonstrator
- Publicly Funded Project
The resulting demonstrators and design concepts will be exhibited at LOPEC, where the best concept as well as the best demonstrator in each category will be honored.
Take part in OE-A Competition 2022
The OE-A Competition 2022 has officially launched! Taking part in the annually run competition is now possible. We invite both members and non-members* of the OE-A to participate in one or more of the three different categories. OE-A is looking for your new ideas, prototypes and designs related to flexible, organic and #PrintedElectronics.
Make your Printed Electronics ideas seen now. More information
Throwback OE-A Competition 2021 Online
Since many years the OE-A annually launches the OE-A competition to support companies and designers as well as young engineers and scientists to develop a vision of future applications in flexible, organic and printed electronics.This year OE-A Competition 2021 took place in an online format and the OE-A received 22 submissions from 13 countries, which can be viewed here:
And the winners are…
The jury selected the following entries as the best of the OE-A Competition 2021:
- Prototypes & New Products: OccluSense®– Dental Pressure Measuring System , Innovation Lab
- Freestyle Demonstrator: Dose-counting Smart Label for Inhalers, Fleep Tech
- Publicly Funded Project Demonstrator: SUPERSMART Anti-Counterfeiting Label, Fraunhofer ISC & Partners
- Public Choice Award: S-Console Smart Gear Selector, Centi
Barrier materials and films, e.g. for encapsulation of OLEDs and OPV, remain a challenge, and further standardization efforts are required to qualify encapsulation. The OE-A Working Group Encapsulation addresses several topics relating to the encapsulation of organic electronics.
OE-A Encapsulation
The goal of the OE-A Working Group Encapsulation is to gather the experts in the field, identify red brick walls and define goals, in order to trigger the standards development process. Therefore, the group started round-robin tests to clarify permeation testing, qualify sealant materials and barrier-on-foil materials with optical and electrical, as well as calcium-tests. The focus lies on “Lead Applications and Communication in the Value Chain”, “State-of-the-Art and Roadmap”, as well as “Standardization of Encapsulation Metrology”.
OE-A Encapsulation Database
OE-A is hosting an Encapsulation State-of-the-Art Database exclusively for OE-A members to provide them with latest information in the field of encapsulation
The basic functionalities of this database are:
- Information about the activities of the OE-A Working Group Encapsulation
- Sharing of files and documents
- Sharing of News
- Discussions
Interested OE-A members will be granted access by contacting daria.firlus@oe-a.org or jan.krausmann@oe-a.org.
Experimental comparison of high-performance water vapor permeation measurement methods
A standardized measurement for the transport rate of water vapor has been published by G. Nisato and others. Current topics include, among others, the measurement of side diffusion of water vapor through the barrier layer.
The OE-A Working Group Education promotes training and education activities in the field of organic and printed electronics in order to support the OE-A’s mission to build a bridge between academia, science and industry. Its key objective is to encourage international education and training activities in Europe, North America and Asia.
OE-A Education
By addressing individuals who are already active in or will (soon) be entering the field of organic and printed electronics at the various educational institutions, the community aims to create a pool of highly-qualified students and employees trained in disciplines relevant to these emerging markets who can be recruited in the future. These activities are conducted in close cooperation with several EC-funded projects.
OE-A Education Platform
The OE-A Working Group Education also started a platform to connect OE-A member companies with students in this field. The company profiles include the respective activities, the options offered (internships, Bachelor or Master theses, or PhD programs), as well as relevant contact persons.
State-of-the-Art University Activities
Another key objective of the Working Group Education is to list the state-of-the-art university activities in the field of large area, organic and printed electronics in Europe, North America and Asia. This will contribute to future steps, such as:
- Identifying publicly available courses and needs of the organic and printed electronics industry; and
- Providing information on continuing education on a web portal.
Additional Initiatives
To further support the education of students and young professionals in the field of organic and printed electronics, the OE-A working group Education regularly hosts free seminars and workshops for students and published a book about materials and printing processes, which can be purchased. OE-A members are eligible for a 20% discount.
The OE-A Women in Printed Electronics inititiative raises awareness of the benefits of diversity to the printed electronics industry and beyond.
OE-A Women in Printed Electronics
Printed electronics has already reached many industries and is successful in numerous fields. Nevertheless, there is a great potential for possibilities and innovation waiting to be discovered. The laws of economics and many studies of diversity tell us that if we tapped the entire pool of human resources and talent, our collective performance would improve . It is up to us to demonstrate that diversity enables us to innovate more, better and in a healthier way. Printed electronics also has so much potential because it does not stick to old and “rigid” concepts, but creates new, pioneering products through the cooperation of different disciplines, breaking up all thought patterns. These rigid thought patterns can best be broken by bringing together as many different points of view and impulses as possible. With this discussion we would therfore like to raise awareness of the benefits of diversity to the printed electronics industry and beyond.
OE-A Women in Printed Electronics – OPE Journal Interview
Seizing opportunities, breaking the glass ceiling
Take a look at the attendees of a major printed electronics event like LOPEC and you will certainly agree that we are part of a male-dominated industry. Together with its partners from the OE-A, OPE journal decided to shed light on this issue by interviewing well-known female experts from the PE community: Andrea Glawe from KROENERT, Corinne Versini from Genes’Ink and Sophie Isabel Verstraelen from the OE-A.
Read more
Panel Discussion at LOPEC 2022
For the first time there will be a panel discussion at LOPEC which will highlight the topic ‘Women in Printed Electronics’, the new initiative by OE-A. The focus will be on how diversity can boost the printed electronics technology and industry, especially in the currently fast changing world. Detailed info will be available soon.
OE-A & HTCE Web-Seminar | Diversity in Tech
In line with the OE-A Web-Seminar Series ‘Printed Electronics Insights’, OE-A, in cooperation with the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, organized a web-seminar with a special topic ‘Diversity in Tech’. On 27 August, speakers such as Helen Kardan (ASML), Gillian Ewers (PagmatIC) and Ashok Sridhar (Holst Centre / TNO) will stress the importance of diversity in the high tech scene as well as explain the latest about printed electronics in healthcare and IoT.
