LOPEC to showcase latest thinking in printed electronics

A large number of key industry players have already registered to exhibit at the 2018 event, including Bosch Rexroth, Cambridge Display Technology, DuPont, Fujifilm Dimatix, Merck, NovaCentrix, PolyIC, Schott and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

With around 200 conference presentations from 22 different countries, the LOPEC Conference is the world's leading communication platform for research, information and solutions in the printed electronics industry. The conference presentations are tailored exactly to the various interests of delegates. The conference program starts daily with the Plenary Session in which experts discuss the key issues of the industry. The Business Conference focuses on business strategies, market analyses, and business models, whereas the Technical Conference geared towards industry and applications. The Scientific Conference offers a forum for scientists to discuss the latest concepts and the results of their research.

According to Exhibition Director Barbara Ismaier, more than 2500 participants from 50 countries came to Munich for the three days of LOPEC 2017. This equates to an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year. Once again, LOPEC 2017 demonstrated why the event is considered world-leading, with a truly international feel. No less than 54 percent of the participants come from abroad, with the best-represented countries after Germany being the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The event also played host for the first time to a 40-strong delegation from China.

LOPEC broke new ground in terms of exhibitors and floor space, too, with 154 exhibitors from 17 countries representing an increase of four percent compared to the 2016 event. It was also eight percent larger in terms of space and was fully booked down to the last stand. LOPEC is organized jointly by Messe München and the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association).

Printed electronics is often referred to as organic electronics, plastic electronics, flexible electronics, polymer electronics, large area electronics and thin film electronics – terms which all mean the same thing: a new way of adding electronics to a traditional, or entirely new application.

Printed Electronics is a technology based on the combination of new materials with large area, high volume deposition and patterning techniques and which is quickly becoming adopted across a wide variety of exciting new applications including smart packaging and the rapidly growing “wearables” sector. As a result of these materials and techniques, conductive plastics can be printed on paper, textiles and foils at low cost to create extremely thin, flexible and transparent electronic components used across many applications including solar cells, sensors, keyboards and touch displays.