Project Call 5.0 - NextFlex

About

NextFlex Project Calls fulfill one of the Institute’s primary goals: fostering technology innovation and commercialization.

Project Call 5.0 (PC 5.0) focuses on areas identified in the Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Roadmap developed by NextFlex Technical Working Groups. This roadmap is developed by industry, government, nonprofit, and academic subject matter experts, and reviewed by the Institute’s Technical and Governing Councils. Project call topics address identified gaps where the manufacturing readiness lags other aspects of the FHE ecosystem.

A wide range of topics comprise this latest project call. PC 5.0 focuses primarily on manufacturing challenges and less on the development of complete functional demonstrator systems than some previous NextFlex Project Calls. Topics have been developed by both Manufacturing Thrust Area and Technology Platform Demonstrator Technical Working Groups, addressing general and specific manufacturing challenges. Physical hardware deliverables are still strongly desired, and for some topics, are required.

Among the PC 5.0 topics are some for which DoD agencies may be willing to co-fund projects and/or provide funding for follow-on activities. These topics are indicated in the Project Call 5.0 Guidebook.

Manufacturing Topics

Demonstration of Inkjet Printing as a Path to Digital Manufacturing
DataCubes for the FHE Material and Process Database
- A. Printed Stretchable Conductors
- B. Adhesives for Surface Mount and Die Attach
Flexible Hybrid Electronics Process Design Kit 2.0
Structural Health Monitoring: Scalable Manufacturing of Embedded Sensors
Trusted Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Anti-Counterfeiting, and Data Privacy
Evaluation and Testing of Flexible Batteries
Additively Manufactured High Temperature Electronics for Hypersonics

Agency Co-Funded Topics

Temperature and Humidity Sensing in Extreme Environments
Conformal Antennas for Telemetry
Flexible Interconnects for Large Deployable X-Band Phased Arrays

Through this project call, NextFlex awarded multiple projects at a total value of around $11.5 million, including approximately $4.7 million in government funding.

PC 5.0 projects have been awarded and announced.