Department of Defense announces new flexible electronics institute

As part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) effort to partner with the private sector and academia to help the United States increase innovative manufacturing, the Obama administration recently announced a Manufacturing Innovation Institute for flexible hybrid electronics to a group of 162 companies, universities and nonprofits led by the FlexTech Alliance.

Part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation announced by President Obama in 2012, this announcement follows a competitive nationwide bid process for the seventh of nine such manufacturing institutes launched by the administration, and the fifth of six manufacturing institutes led by the DoD.

The cooperative agreement will be managed by the U.S. Air Force Research laboratory (AFRL) and will receive $75 million in DoD funding over five years matched with more than $90 million from industry, academia, and local governments.

Flexible hybrid electronics manufacturing refers to the production of electronics and sensors packaging through new techniques in electronic device handling and high precision printing on flexible, stretchable substrates. Potential products include wearable devices and improved medical health monitoring technologies, all of which will have applications in both the consumer economy and the development of military solutions.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense