Funding accelerates shift from lab to fab for organic semiconductors.

More than 500 engineers, researchers,
business leaders and investors from all over the world are expected
to meet in Frankfurt at the end of September to report progress and
discuss future directions in the organic electronics and organic
semiconductor industries.



Over the past eight years more than
US$1,500 million has been invested in this technology by US and
European VCs and governments. In some areas of the technology, Europe
is outspending the US by 3 to 1. This investment has created a number
of European companies such as Polymer Vision, Plastic Logic, Konarka,
and Nanoident, that are in the process of launching their first
products based on organic electronics. Historically this funding has
been directed towards technology development but an increasing
proportion is being used to establish large scale manufacturing
capability. Last year alone Plastic Logic received more than US$100
million in investment to build the first the organic transistor fab.



With an increasing number of
applications now moving towards commercialisation, the theme of this
year's conference is ‘From Lab to Fab'. Industry keynote
speakers, include Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled, Jeremy Burroughes,
CTO of Cambridge Display Technology, Edzer Huitema, CTO of Polymer
Vision, and Christoph Brabec, CTO of Konarka Technologies, each of
whom will present technical and commercial progress. This year OSC is
very fortunate to also have Sir Robin Saxby, founder and chairman of
ARM, the world's leading semiconductor IP company, who will present
how ARM made the successful transition from start up to global
standard.




This major and long established annual
conference will take place at the Frankfurt Messe, Frankfurt,
Germany, from 29 September to 1 October 2008. The Organic
Semiconductor Conference (OSC-08) provides an international forum for
expert discussions on the latest research and development in organic
semiconductor technologies.




cintelliq, the provider of information
services and technology consulting to the organic semiconductor
industry is hosting the conference. cintelliq is committed to
developing a conference format that is open to all participants in
the industry and not be biased towards any particular geographic
region, application area or special interest group. This inclusive
ethos is reflected in this year's association sponsors which
include the FlexTech Alliance (formerly the US Display Consortium),
the OLED Association and the UK Display and Lighting Network.



OSC-08 will feature nearly 90 speakers,
over half of whom are representing organisations which did not
present at last year's conference. OSC-08 also offers eight new pre
conference seminars covering a range of topics, including overviews
of organic semiconductor technology, printing processes,
manufacturing issues, and a review of IP activities in organic
photovoltaics and organic lighting. Combined with the co-located
exhibition, which is already 50% sold, an exhibitor forum and a
networking dinner, OSC-08 is a significant international event which
up to 500 attendees from Europe, the US and the Far East are expected
to attend.



Conference presentations will cover a
broad range of topics, not only organic semiconductor technologies,
but also organic electronics, printed electronics, flexible
electronics, etc. Applications to be discussed will include OLEDs,
organic lighting, organic photovoltaics, organic RFID, organic
memory, organic sensors, organic integrated circuits, smart
packaging, etc.



Jiro Kasahara, R&D Director and
General Manager, Advanced Materials Laboratories, Sony Corporation,
commented, “OSC is an important and attractive conference for
people in both industry and academia. It is useful to have a chance
to get together and network with people from the major and active
players worldwide. OSC is definitely the one conference which people
working in organic electronics do not want to miss.”



Craig Cruickshank, cintelliq CEO, said,
“OSC-08 is the ideal opportunity for anyone with an interest in the
industry, from all geographic regions, to meet and exchange ideas in
a stimulating and productive environment. Each year our delegates
comment on how successful the event has been for information
gathering and networking.”