The Ups and Downs of Printed Electronics: In Search of Technology and Business Applications

Tolis Voutsas has been actively involved in display technology and business since 1989. He started his career at SHARP in 1994 and contributed to numerous projects pertinent to a-Si and poly-Si TFT material, process and device technology for AM-LCDs. His experience covers both research and technical management. He has held a number of engineering and management positions within SHARP, with his current role mostly focusing on technology strategy and new business outlook. He has studied flexible and printed electronics for the past few years with a broad view on different materials and printing technologies. Tolis has authored or co-authored 3 book chapters on TFT technology and numerous journal publications. He has been issued more than 70 US patents. He received a Diploma in Engineering from the Polytechnic School of Thessaloniki (Greece) and MS and Ph.D. degrees from Lehigh University. He also received a MS degree in Engineering Management from Washington State University. He is currently serving as the Regional VP for Americas in the Society for Information Display (SID).

Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE) was founded in 1990 to develop new ideas and technology for Sharp products and to support Sharp business in Europe. SLE is a UK private limited company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sharp Corporation. Research and development areas range from IT through optical devices to display electronics, optics, Solar and PV, health and energy. In 2009 a new heath and energy group was established in SLE, the energy team develops and demonstrates novel energy devices and energy management tools for a low carbon, high energy efficiency, European consumer market. With the 'Eco house' vision in mind, Sharp is aiming to become a "total solutions" company: both creating solar panels and developing advanced sustainable energy technologies to provide the public with locally produced energy and energy efficient homes and devices.