A Webinar Week Primer

As we near our FIRST webinar week series ever (can’t contain the excitement, sorry not sorry), we would like to give you a little preview of what topics you can expect in each webinar. Let’s dive in, shall we? 

Going Green: Calculating the Carbon Footprint of the LEL 

We have talked before about the potential impact of e-textiles on the environment. In our blog post, “Do E-Textiles Contribute to Electronic Waste?”, we explored the research of Andreas Koehler. Koehler says that solutions for safer disposal and recycling of e-textiles should be sought sooner than later, and we agree. E-waste poses a significant threat to the health of our environment, and so does the manufacturing process—as well as components used. Here at Loomia, we are constantly looking for ways to innovate without harming (or decreasing the level of harm) to the environment. We will dive into these more in our webinar, but what we can say is: the next five to ten years will be very exciting and eye-opening to the industry.  

We can drive eco-conscious innovation while maintaining the utmost quality and performance. It can and will be done. However, it is going to take the collective of this industry and its partners to do so. As mentioned in our blog, a governing body will need to draft new standards for the Consumer Products Safety Commission. FCC and CE certifications will need to be updated to include environmental safety points, and processes for safe recycling of e-textiles and flexible electronics will need to be adopted. There are so many different aspects at play here.  

There are concerns that when you make an electronics product environmentally friendly, you sacrific quality and performance. This does not have to be the case. Our Loomia Electronic Layer (LEL) technology, for example, can be integrated into virtually any surface material. This includes things like recycled textiles, recycled wood, etc. We worked with Lingrove to create a Multi-function Demonstrator that utilized their plant-based EKOA composite. This composite is low-carbon, and Loomia’s components still offered the same level of performance as they would with any other material. And, the applications are wide ranging! From luxury automotive interiors (which require a very high level of performance and quality) to commercial furnishings, the EKOA composite with LEL integration is the perfect use case to illustrate just how advanced eco-conscious innovation can be.  

Bend, Connect & Innovate: Real World Applications of Flexible Electronics 

Flexible electronics, or “flex electronics” have come a long way in the ten or so years we’ve been in business. And, they only continue to prove more and more impactful. Flex electronics are anything from e-textiles to wearable devices, and everything in between. The formal definition of flex electronics is, “Electronics made of bendable or stretchable substrates and components.” It turns out, they have a longer history than most know; they’ve been around since 1903! Dr. Ken Gileo developed and patented electronic devices that consist of metal conduictors on coated paper, and the technology was born.  

Flexible electronics are truly revolutionizing industries and enhancing user experiences, and there are many different types of components with varying use cases. There are four main types of flex electronic components: Single-Sided, Double-Sided, Multi-Layer, and Rigid-Flex. Single-Sided flexible electronics (flex PCBs), are typically used in laptops and heart monitors. A Double-Sided PCB can be found in much larger applications such as HVAC systems and automotive dashboards. Multi-Layer PCBs are even more complex, and are used for large industrial applications like x-ray machines, and Rigid-Flex PCBs are used in wireless communication systems and entertainment systems. As you can tell, the uses for flexible electronics are broad.  

To put it simply, we would not have half the products we have today without flexible electronics. Your television can’t run without them--and neither can your car. Think about it: transporation and entertainment are just about as vital to humans today as food and water. Regardless of whether or not you are in the industry, this is a topic of interest to anyone and everyone.  

We highly recommend registering for our webinar week series, as the knowledge you will gain is sure to be vast and valuable. These two topics are of importance not only to the industry, but the entire population. We hope it creates deeper conversation, and greater learning.