CPES2022 creates community, networking

Returning to a live, in-person format after a two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance recently hosted its CPES2022 conference at the Rose Theatre in Brampton, ON.  The Canadian Printed and flexible Electronics Symposium focused on sustainability the most relevant, state-of-the-art technical topics, and global networking.

“intelliFLEX continues to build and broaden our ecosystem and CPES2022 clearly met a need for our community” says Dr. Michelle Chrétien, intelliFLEX President and CEO and associate vice-president, research at Conestoga College. “It is refreshing to experience the excitement of people enjoying the symposium and be surrounded by the resulting energy.”

Dr. Michelle Chrétien, intelliFLEX President and CEO (right) and associate vice-president, research at Conestoga College, receives flowers from Howard Campbell, Chair of the intelliFLEX Board of Directors (left) in recognition for her work and efforts behind the CPES2022 conference.

Agenda

With specific focus on printable, flexible, wearable electronics, CPES2022 served up several presentations with themes of technical leadership, sustainability and international networking. The varied range of speakers touched on multiple topics, including: the circular economy; advances in manufacturing; materials innovations; smart packaging; IoT and cybersecurity; international business and networks; textile electronics.

“The agenda was very well received, with experts in their respective fields offering great  for the attendees. We are delighted by positive responses and appreciation shown by presenters for an in-person venue enabling them to reach and interact directly with audiences” says Dr. Arnold Kell, Research Officer at the Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Center of the National Research Council of Canada, the chair of the CPES2022 Speaker Selection Committee and a huge supporter in staging the event.

Speakers

Among the speakers included: Chloé Bois (I-CI), Tricia Breen-Carmichael (U. of Windsor) and Neil Graddage (NRC) for Sustainability. Erika Rebrosova (Sun Chemical), Francois LaPointe (NRC) and Sylvain Cloutier (ETS) guided the choices for Materials Innovations, while James Lee (Jones Healthcare Group) and Ngoc-Duc Trinh (I-CI) teamed up for Smart Packaging. Advances in Manufacturing was steered by Stan Farnsworth (PulseForge), Marie-Josée Turgeon (C2MI) and Martin Bolduc (UQTR). Marie O’Mahony (O’Mahony Consultancy) and Ye Tao (NRC) provided suggestions for Textile Electronics. Ignac Kolenko (Conestoga College) and Greg Walker (CABA) recommended speakers for IoT and Cybersecurity

“We are gratified by the level of interest and support we have received for this exciting event.  Newcomers and industry veterans were pleased with the content, contacts, venue and food.  This event delivered a unique opportunity to maximize networking with key contacts from around the globe,” concludes Howard Campbell, chair of the intelliFLEX board of directors.

Awards

The nominating committee for intelliFLEX Innovation Alliance determined the most deserving recipients for its Awards segment of the proceedings.  The winners were as follows:

Research Innovation – FPInnovations was granted the award for its work with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), renewable nanomaterials obtained by strong acid hydrolysis of biomass.

“There is worldwide interest in bio-based materials, sustainability, and how they critically contribute to the bioeconomy,” said Dr. Wadood Hamad, research manager of the Transformation and Interfaces Group based in Vancouver. He added, “FPInnovations’ R&D pioneered many developments around CNCs and filaments. And, we are now actively engaging in mapping out the best cost-performance scenarios for each material and endeavouring to find the most effective applications in terms of economic and societal impact.”

Most Innovative New Product/Commercialization – PulseForge won with its next-generation thermal processing, enabling applications such as soldering SAC305 onto lightweight PET. This new thermal processing decarbonizes the supply chain by utilizing as little as 15% of the energy of standard processing, can be set up in minutes, and is a fraction of the footprint of current equipment.  This tied nicely into the overall sustainability theme of the symposium.

Stan Farnsworth, Chief Marketing Officer PulseForge Inc. (left) is shown receiving the Award from Howard Campbell, Chair of the intelliFLEX Board of Directors.

Women in FHE STEM – Dr. Chantal Paquet, National Research Council of Canada

Dr. Paquet is a talented polymeric materials chemist whose impactful scientific contributions generate commercially relevant materials and processes. With over 2500 career citations with an h-index of 21, as well as 12 patents, Dr. Paquet has built new research areas, industry and Government collaboration, and technology transfer – never losing sight of the science needed to drive it.

Notably, she co-developed molecular inks for printed electronics, allowing Canadian company E2IP to compete globally and develop new technologies such as in-mold electronics.  These team achievements were rewarded with the NRC Outstanding Achievement Award for Technology to Market in 2017 and an NRC Intellectual Property Award in 2021.  E2IP’s awards include CES, ADRIQ and Crystal Cabin (Aerospace).

Her scientific expertise, leadership, client focus, organizational commitment, and pragmatic approach has enabled her team to succeed and made her the most deserving candidate for this Award.  She is shown receiving the Award from Dr. Michelle Chretien, President and CEO of intelliFLEX, and herself a previous winner of the same Award.

Dr. Chantal Paquet, (left) National Research Council of Canada receives her award from Michelle Chrétien, intelliFLEX President and CEO.

Past winners acknowledged

In a welcome touch, acknowledging the return of in-person events, last year’s Research Innovation Award winners were presented their trophies in-person at the event.

Dr. Ngoc Duc Trinh, Dir., R&D, Printability and Graphic Communications Institute,

won the award in 2021 for his contributions towards smart labels to be used across a variety of applications, with a focus on cold-chain monitoring.  he is shown receiving the Award from Howard Campbell, Chair of the intelliFLEX Board of Directors.

Dr. Ngoc Duc Trinh, (left) Dir., R&D, Printability and Graphic Communications Institute received his award from Howard Campbell of intelliFlex.

Dr. Arnold Kell and Paul Trudeau, research officers, National Research Council of Canada also shared the CPES2021 Research Innovation Award in recognition for their contribution toward innovative Molecular Inks (M-inks), Olga Mozenson, Technical Officer on their team, is shown receiving the Award on their behalf from Howard Campbell, Chair of the intelliFLEX Board of Directors.  Also of note is the huge contribution by Arnold Kell to CPES2022, serving as the Chair of the Speaker Select Committee, which received rave reviews for the agenda that was offered at the symposium.