Stretching Northeast Ohio’s Leadership in
Flexible Electronics
Thanks to its expertise in additive manufacturing and polymers,
Northeast Ohio is growing a robust flexible electronics cluster.
Flexible electronics refers to electronic devices that can be bent,
rolled, or folded without losing functionality. According to
experts, the global flexible electronics market will grow to $250
billion in the next 10 years.
More notably, our very own Northeast Ohio is capturing a
significant portion of the flexible electronics market. Read on to
learn more about some of the companies and organizations that are
making a name for themselves in this growing area.
With a number of locations in Northeast Ohio, Avery Dennison is
one company to take note of in the flexible electronics sector.
Through their Vancive division, they are developing new
technologies in connection with healthcare leaders around the
globe. For example, their suite of Metria health
products enables people to collect lifestyle data such as activity
levels, sleep quality and much more all by wearing a disposable
medical patch. The data collected can be viewed online and then
analyzed for a medical professional to review. This is a
powerful tool for those seeking to manage their diabetes, weight
loss and other health-related issues. To learn more about the
Metria IH1 patch, click here.
Blue Spark
Technologies is another major player in the area of flexible
electronic. Based in Westlake, Blue Spark Technologies is the
innovator behind TempTraq.
TempTraq is the first and only 24-hour intelligent thermometer that
continuously senses, records and sends alerts of a child’s
temperature to compatible Apple and Android mobile devices through
a dedicated mobile app. To learn more about how TempTraq works,
visit https://www.temptraq.com/FAQs.
Located near Kent State University, Kent Displays is a world leader
in the research, development and manufacturing of no power LCD
technology. Five years ago, the company launched the Boogie Board
Original 8.5 LCD eWriter which transformed the way people take
notes. A few years prior, the company installed a new roll-to-roll
production line at their headquarters in Kent to mass produce
Reflex LCDs from rolls of plastic. This production line is the
first of its kind in the world. This year, the company will roll
out two new versions of the Boogie Board that will be available for
the 2015 holiday season.
Another organization in the region that is an early adopter of
new technology is NASA. With
the Glenn Research Center located in Cleveland, we are fortunate to
have this level of expertise and leadership right in our backyard.
One project NASA is currently working on is a printable spacecraft,
which is a two dimensional “sheet” that contains all of
the functional subsystems of a typical spacecraft. The idea is to
push the current state of the art for functionality as well as
introduce design and manufacturing compatibility challenges among
the functional subsystems. A representative from NASA further
addressed this subject during a FlexTech Workshop held at The
University of Akron last year. The workshop led to tours of the
campus-based National Polymer Innovation Center (NPIC) and Valtronic, an innovator and
manufacturer of miniaturized electronic products.
As flexible electronics support a number of diverse industries
such as aerospace and aviation, automotive, biomedical/medical
devices, energy, ICE and polymers and materials, Northeast Ohio is
well-poised to benefit from continued growth in these areas. The
companies noted above are just a sampling of the many regional
organizations playing a part in the flexible electronics cluster.
With a projected $250 billion global market in the next 10 years,
Northeast Ohio is on track to capture a significant piece of the
flexible electronics pie.