SmartKem expands in Asia following business boom
High-tech materials company, SmartKem, has appointed a new Head of Engineering with Intramezzo.
The following article comes from displayplus.net
Following a significant uptake of its innovative tru-FLEX® technology in Asian markets, UK based semiconductor company SmartKem (www.smartkem.com) has announced the appointment of Chris Nice as Head of Engineering with immediate effect.
The expansion of the leadership team will ensure the continued delivery of SmartKem’s semiconductor platform against increasing demand from the Asian market for materials that enable the manufacture of flexible, high performance transistor backplanes to drive a new generation of flexible displays.
Nice brings with him a wealth of experience from senior process engineering positions in the Asian display sector and has a proven track record in process development and technology transfer in display and semiconductor device fabrication. His appointment will enable SmartKem to further support the adoption of its semiconductor platform within the rapidly expanding Asian market space.
Smartkem’s tru-FLEX® is a fully printable organic semiconductor ink
that is solution processed at low temperatures to fabricate fully flexible thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane arrays on plastic substrates. These TFT arrays can then be integrated as a pixel driver ‘backplane’ array with OLED, EPD and LCD ‘frontplanes’ for the manufacture of ultra-flexible, lightweight and low power displays for wearable, mobile and large area applications.
The tru-FLEX® semiconductor platform has gained significant traction in the market as a TFT technology that offers superior transistor performance whilst providing display manufacturers with a clear cost-down route to market for rugged conformal and foldable display manufacture.
“We are delighted to have Chris on board and his experience in the field of semiconductor engineering and industrial applications will offer support to SmartKem’s pipeline of joint agreements for the adoption of tru-FLEX®,” commented Steve Kelly, CEO of SmartKem.
“Chris’s appointment clearly demonstrates the company’s growth over recent months, specifically in the Asian markets, as we push to become the leading international provider of semiconductors for this new exciting era of flexible, foldable and low power displays. Chris has shown great enthusiasm in joining the team and we believe his considerable expertise will be invaluable in realising our full potential in this major geography.”
Through years of working within Asia, Nice has developed a strong understanding of the requirements of local manufacturers and the delivery of technology to meet their requirements. In his most recent role at Huawei, Nice focused on the development and yield improvement of e-beam, plasma deposition and etch processes as well as the subsequent technology transfer between UK production and Chinese based counterparts.
By applying this understanding at SmartKem, he will be able to effectively manage and optimise the adoption cycle of the tru-FLEX® technology platform with leading Asian manufacturers.
Having worked in various senior technical and engineering roles throughout his career for companies including CDT, Liquivista and Plastic Logic, Nice has extensive knowledge of both semiconductor and display technology markets. His additional expertise in mapping, packaging and transfer of processes for Asian manufacturers will complement the already impressive SmartKem team.