News

NextFlex Reaches Out to Future Leaders to Build Manufacturing Awareness, Excitement

Department of Commerce
Education, Innovation, Workforce
By Dr. Malcolm J. Thompson, Executive Director, NextFlex

NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute, is excited to celebrate this year’s Manufacturing Day by announcing plans for a pilot program that will essentially extend the next few weeks into “Manufacturing Month” for a group of Silicon Valley high school students. Details follow, but first – what is NextFlex?

NextFlex was established as a Manufacturing USA institute last year to fulfill a unique vision: integrating electronics with people and things via Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE). FHE combines unique materials and printing technology with everyday products, adding the power of silicon chips, to create smart, lightweight, low-cost, flexible, conformable and stretchable electronic products. These products can sense conditions (human health, operational performance), communicate information, and make decisions.

The potential applications are virtually limitless. Here are just a few examples, some of which are already being developed: bandages that accelerate wound healing by managing oxygen levels in the wound; biodegradable sensors that can tell farmers when to water crops on demand, reducing water usage while maintaining crop yield; wearable devices that can monitor and assess body chemistry, not just pulse and heart rate; and ultrathin sensors that wrap around gas pipelines to detect leaks.

Read the full article on the Department of Commerce blog.