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U.S. Display Technology Leaders and Government Officials Converge in Arizona to Unveil Roadmap for Bringing Flexible Displays to Fruition
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PRNewswire
(05/17/2004 4:58 PM EDT)
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TEMPE, Ariz., May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 75 representatives for leading display technology companies, government officials and academia converged at Arizona State University's Research Park last week to kick off the largest-ever initiative focused on flexible display technology research, development and prototype manufacturing. This university-industry-government collaboration is chartered with accelerating the development of flexible display technology, as well as promoting the growth of the U.S.-based flexible display industry. This collaboration is being realized through the Flexible Display Center (FDC).Created this past February, the FDC will spearhead the Army's quest to equip the soldier with conformal and flexible displays that are lightweight, rugged, low power and low cost-enhancing his/her performance on the battlefield through improved situational awareness and operational effectiveness. During last week's summit, top industry, government and academia partners came together to engage in in-depth discussions on numerous advancements and technology hurdles that must be addressed in order to speed manufacturing of flexible display technologies.According to FDC Director, Greg Raupp, much progress was made during this two-day forum that engaged most major U.S. display industry companies, as well as display technology users and system integrators. "The FDC has an aggressive roadmap, and only through an unprecedented and genuine collaborative effort will we be able to take flexible display technology from concept to reality. In today's dynamic environment, information is critical to military engagement and national security. Since visual information is the most effective communication vehicle, high-performance displays can enable a decisive and winning advantage. The FDC will integrate the best technology components being developed by industry, the government and universities into high-performance flexible displays. These displays will be used by the Army's system integrators to equip tomorrow's soldier with the technology critical to their situational awareness and survivability."MG General Doesburg, Commanding General of the Army's Research Development and Engineering Command, said, "I see this Flexible Display Center as a leading development center for revolutionary technology for Future Combat System and Future Force's informational requirements. The center's partnerships with leading industry, university, and system integrators will provide the ability to accelerate the fielding of technology to soldiers. We will have low-power, light-weight and cost-effective flexible display technology that provides new capabilities for our soldiers."Dr. John Parmentola, Director for Research and Laboratory Management for the Army stated, "Through the convergence of a number of key technologies and the strong academic, industry and Army partnerships represented through this new state-of-the-art Army Flexible Display Center, a paradigm-shifting technology will be realized that will radically change the way information is accessed and acted upon by our soldiers on the battlefield and, at the same time, provide highly innovative handheld information technologies for the commercial sector."Flexible display technology will soon be integrated in a wide variety of applications, from command centers and rollable maps to vehicle platforms and display-embedded uniforms -- and will revolutionize the way in which information is disseminated. In addition to military uses, flexible display technology promises to assist U.S. display companies by creating future commercial applications such as automotive, portable information devices, mobile phones, tablet PCs, PDAs and more. As such, the FDC is also chartered with providing a foundation to facilitate corporate alliances that encourage information disclosure necessary to help accelerate the manufacturing of flexible display technologies for the commercial market.The FDC brings together the intellectual horsepower, technological know-how and financial resources of the U.S. Army, ASU and industry partners to achieve this mission. The FDC is headquartered out of ASU's state-of-the-art 250,000 square-foot multi-functional display manufacturing R&D facility at ASU's Research Park. This expansive facility features 43,500 square feet of advanced cleanroom space and extensive wet and dry labs. Within this space, the Center will create one-of-a-kind, low-volume prototype manufacturing pilot lines and integrated R&D laboratories to enable collaborative and intensive technology development and integration. Within the first year, the FDC will have a fully operational 6-inch thin-film transistor (TFT) and a state-of-the-art organic light emitting diode (OLED) R&D laboratory and supporting characterization labs.Initial technology targets are reflective and emissive full-color, 4-inch diagonal active matrix QVGA displays on conformal plastic substrates. Longer- term targets will be fully flexible/rollable display prototypes/demonstrators with higher performance, quality, capability and form factor (size). To demonstrate form factor scale-up, the Center will install and qualify a "Gen II" TFT pilot line processing 470 x 370 mm rectangular plates in the third year of operation.About the Flexible Display CenterHeadquartered at Arizona State University's Science and Technology Park in Tempe, Ariz., the Flexible Display Center is a collaborative effort between university, industry and government affiliates dedicated to the research and development of flexible display technology. The Center, which was established in February 2004, will further the Army's Flexible Display Initiative (FDI), working to create flexible display products for military applications. In joint efforts with industry affiliates, the Center will also drive the acceleration of commercial applications. More information about the Flexible Display Center can be found at http://www.asu.edu/research
CONTACT: Greg Raupp of ASU, +1-480-965-8752, or raupp@asu.edu; orMarie Labrie of MCA, +1-650-968-8900, or , for ASU
Web site: http://www.asu.edu/
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