| Posted: October 23, 2008 |
Flexible organic electronics research network expands with new partner Solvay |
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(Nanowerk News) The international chemical and
pharmaceutical group Solvay today signs an agreement to become part of the
research network of Holst Centre, an open-innovation initiative by IMEC
(Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands).
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Flexible organic electronics - or systems-in-foil - will in the future be
driven by an industry producing, laminating and combining a variety of
smart foils. As an example, one can envisage light-emitting foils, memory-
and processing foils being powered by a battery- or organic photovoltaic
(OPV), forming products like intelligent wall-paper, smart bandages and
smart windows. This requires an entire chain of production, involving
companies with dedicated knowhow in one or some of the intermediate steps.
Getting a systems-in-foil product efficiently to the market will therefore
require insight in the vast number of possible technologies and solutions.
Also, this allows industrial standardization being set-up in an early
stage.
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To support this vision, Holst Centre gathers an entire ecosystem of
materials suppliers, equipment vendors and integrated device manufacturers
around a shared research program with a well-defined central roadmap.
Solvay is the newest partner joining in the Systems-in-Foil program. It
thereby adds another impressive name to a list of world-leading partners
(both large multinationals as SMEs): ASML, Agfa, Akzo Nobel, Bekaert,
Huntsman, Merck, NXP, Orbotech, Philips, Polymer Vision and Singulus
Mastering.
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The contract is signed between Solvay and TNO, coordinator of the
Systems-in-Foil program. By joining the program, Solvay will actively take
part in the research on-site of the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, where
Holst Centre is located. Industrial residents of Solvay will join forces
with the interdisciplinary teams of Holst Centre researchers, PhDs and
industrial residents of the other program partners.
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About Solvay
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SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with
headquarters in Brussels. It employs more than 28,000 people in 50
countries. In 2007, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.6 billion,
generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and
Pharmaceuticals. Solvay (NYSE Euronext : SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB -
Reuters: SOLBt.BR) is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in
Brussels. Details are available at www.solvay.com.
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About Holst Centre
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Holst Centre is an independent open-innovation R&D centre that develops
generic technologies for Wireless Autonomous Transducer Solutions and for
Systems-in-Foil. A key feature of Holst Centre is its partnership model
with industry and academia around shared roadmaps and programs. It is this
kind of cross-fertilization that enables Holst Centre to tune its
scientific strategy to industrial needs.
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Holst Centre was set up in 2005 by IMEC (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The
Netherlands) with support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and
the Government of Flanders. It is named after Gilles Holst, a Dutch pioneer
in Research and Development and first director of Philips Research.
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Located on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Holst Centre benefits from
the state-of-the-art on-site facilities. Holst Centre has over 100
employees (growing to over 200 by 2010) and a commitment from over 15
leading industrial partners. More information: www.holstcentre.com
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