Institute 5 – Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute (Nextflex – America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute)
Abstract
Flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing involves highly tailorable devices on non-traditional, compliant substrates that combine thinned components manufactured from traditional processes with components that are added via “printing” processes. This institute will invest in prototyping and scale-up of manufacturing processes for high speed pick-and-place, printed circuits, and hybrid fabrication that will enable defense and commercial applications in wearable electronics, unattended sensors and integrated array antennas, medical devices and soft robotics devices, and the continuous improvement in SWAPC (Size, Weight And Power plus Cost) for electronic systems. This institute will establish an end-to-end domestic innovation ‘ecosystem,’ containing design, packaging, assembly and test automation research and workforce development capabilities which can be accessed by small, medium and large companies as well as academic institutes. The goal is to help enable the creation of a sustainable domestic industrial base which can rapidly respond to global needs using a quick technology cycle and scale-up. This institute was established in 2015, with cooperative agreement funds programmed in this budget through FY 2019.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2018
- Source ID
- a0fdcbcaf2f667f6952de8bf2d9ff5fc