New-Tech Europe | September 2016 | Digital Edition

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2.65 MILLION EURO EUROPEAN PROJECT TO SUPPORT FLEXIBLE SEMICONDUCTOR ADOPTION IN ASIA

SmartKem has secured a €1.8million EU grant to support the industrialisation and technology transfer of their semiconductor platform to display makers in Asia. With a €850k contribution from SmartKem, the €2.65million project will accelerate the adoption of organic semiconductors as a universal thin film transistor (TFT) backplane platform for the mass manufacture of flexible and curved mobile, embedded and large area OLED and LCD displays.

It also provides world leading reduction in power consumption in any display format, translating to weekly and not daily charging of mobile OLED and LCD display based devices such as smartwatches and smartphones. SmartKem will lead the 2-year project, which will focus on the industrialisation and transfer of their organic semiconductor platform

over large area plastic substrates using standard slit coat processing. The main objective will be to maintain electrical and physical uniformity and quality of transistor performance over large area formats for mass production on existing production lines in Asia. The requirements for the project deliverables are driven by a number of commercial agreements that SmartKem have with display OEMs for the adoption of the truFLEX ® technology platform for flexible display manufacture. The success of the project will ensure a strong European position in the supply of specialised, high value materials to this new, high growth sector of the display industry in Asia.

Organic semiconductors, a key enabling component in the evolution of flexible active matrix displays, is competing to offer manufacturers a route to the production of high performance curved, foldable and even roll-able OLED and LCD displays. SmartKem is at the forefront of this market as a leading innovator of organic semiconductors for the low temperature, solution coat production of high performance TFTs on plastic. Adoption of the SmartKem semiconductor platform, truFLEX ® not only offers an ultra-flexible TFT platform for new form factor displays but also a transistor that delivers simplified pixel drive circuitry through high transistor electrical stability.

GE Plans to Invest 1.4B USD to Acquire Additive Manufacturing Companies Arcam and SLM; Accelerates Efforts in Important Digital Industrial Space

GE (NYSE: GE), the world’s leading digital industrial company, today announced plans to acquire two suppliers of additive manufacturing equipment, Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AG for $1.4 billion. Both companies will report into David Joyce, President & CEO of GE Aviation. Joyce will lead the growth of these businesses in the additive manufacturing equipment and services industry. In addition, he will lead the integration effort and the GE Store initiative to drive additive manufacturing applications across GE. “Additive manufacturing is a key part of GE’s evolution into a digital industrial company. We are creating a more productive world with our innovative world-class machines, materials

and software. We are poised to not only benefit from this movement as a customer, but spearhead it as a leading supplier,” said Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE. “Additive manufacturing will drive new levels of productivity for GE, our customers, including a wide array of additive manufacturing customers, and for the industrial world.” GE expects to grow the new additive business to $1 billion by 2020 at attractive returns and also expects $3-5 billion of product cost-out across the company over the next ten years. Arcam AB, based in Mölndal, Sweden, invented the electron beam melting machine for metal-based additive manufacturing, and also produces advanced metal

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