Our Impressions After IDTechEx Show! in Santa Clara
In the edge of the world and all of western civilization, two brave travelers have faced the challenges of an intercontinental adventure. Landing in the golden state of North America, the team of Saule Technologies was about to attend and exhibit at the IDTechEx Show!, one of the most prestigious events for a range of emerging technologies.
The event co-locates a conference and exhibition of nine fields: 3D printing, Electric Vehicles, Energy Harvesting, Energy Storage, Graphene & 2D materials, Internet of Things applications, Printed Electronics, Sensors, and Wearable Electronics.
Silicon Valley is the land for many successful start-ups and the home for several of the world’s most influential companies. As such, this location offers the perfect spot for the tech-savvy to get in touch with the world’s latest inventions.
Our first journey has led us on an official company tour, organized to provide an insight into the local printed electronics environment. Paul Semenza bid us a warm welcome at NextFlex. As the Director of Commercialization, he introduced us to the consortium that has been established to support the development of flexible and hybrid electronics in the United States. We were impressed by the space and the facilities available for the members, that range from small start-ups to giants like BASF.
The next stop was at the headquarters of Kateeva, the company that has developed the ink-jet encapsulation of OLED modules, which is the key enabling technology for curved and flexible displays. Jeff Hebb, the Vice President of Marketing has introduced us to the topic and led us to their immense buildings, where they research and assemble the equipment for sale.
The preparation for the exhibition commenced the upcoming day. The Santa Clara convention center was busy with enthusiastic people building their booths to highlight their technology, and establishing their first connections with their neighbors.
The organizers of the event paid a special attention to start-up companies and dedicated the Launchpad section to promising candidates. With only 10 companies eligible the present there, it was a great success for Saule Technologies to have the honor to be one of the chosen ones. We took the occasion to introduce the world to the first-ever DIN A4 sized (210 × 297 mm), ink-jet printed, flexible perovskite solar module.
The 2 days of the event passed rapidly, with a never-ceasing wave of visitors approaching our booth. We had insightful and exciting discussions and established many connections with the prospect of a potentially fruitful collaboration. Our Communication Manager David gave a speech on perovskite solar cells and their market potential, which sparked a lively discussion with the audience.
The IDTechEx Show! 2017 was a well-targeted, very tech event, and our positive experiences were further enhanced by the delicious food that was served for lunch on both days.
We would like to thank the organizing team for this wonderful possibility, in particular for Molly Muckle and Cath Davies for their hard work and constant support to prepare for the occasion. We are looking forward to seeing you next time again!
