Western Michigan University Electrifying the Printing Industry
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The printed electronics industry is forecasted to be a $57 billion industry within the next eight years. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich., USA, has made a big investment in this technology through the Center for the Advancement of Printed Electronics, CAPE.
CAPE is located within Western Michigan's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a 343,000 ft2, $72.5 million, high-tech facility. Dr. Margaret Joyce, the center's director, says that "our current research is focused on sub-50 micron printing using the AccuPress and new rotogravure engraving technology. We are also working on printing of circuit boards and photovoltaics. We have printed many different types of electronic materials and have made great progress over the past few months improving the compatibility between printed layers through ink formulation adjustments and treatment of the printed layers. Though we continue to print materials using numerous print methods, our major focus is on rotogravure printing."
Dr. Joyce received her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in Paper Engineering and Science and is an expert in coatings, substrates, rheology, and surface chemistry. The center is operated and maintained by an interdisciplinary team of faculty and researchers across five engineering departments. Its research focuses on the application of materials for the fabrication of printed electronic devices.
The CAPE faculty is unique in having expertise for all printing processes for depositing electronic materials. This includes knowledge of the process parameters important to optimize ink transfer and image fidelity during gravure, flexographic, inkjet, offset, and screen printing.
More information is available online.
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