Research Articles

Thursday 20 August 2020 - Metal Additive Manufacturing: Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain - This webinar includes: Overview of latest market forecast and key trends; Technology benchmarking and new entrant analysis; Latest in material considerations and supply chain progressions; and Deep-dive into relevant sectors and the impact of COVID-19.

Dr Nadia Tsao and Raghu Das share some of the research from the new IDTechEx report, "Skin Sensors 2020- 2030: Technologies, Markets, Players, Forecasts", www.IDTechEx.com/SkinSensors

With an increase in temperature, there is an increase in demand for tap water. One area which is affected is the South West Water network, with water shortages across Sussex and up to 300 households left without tap water for five days. But could this have been averted? Yes - it could.

The new IDTechEx report, "Sensors 2021-2041" uniquely analyses the whole subject in the light of such seismic changes as the COVID-19 virus. The sensor business is in turmoil. The industries that spend most on sensors are changing as are the sensors.

The metal additive manufacturing market will be negatively impacted by the 2020 pandemic. Despite this short-to-mid-term setback, the industry is forecast to rise and exceed $10Bn within the next 10-years. The emerging and established printer players grab nearly all of the headlines, but most of this forecast annual revenue will be in material sales in which there is great untapped potential.

In the past two decades, the car market has declined twice: first due to the 2008 economic crisis, and then due to falling sales in China. Most recently, the lockdowns implemented to combat the coronavirus pandemic, causing auto-production plants to close globally and a loss of consumer spending will lead to an unprecedented 23% decline in 2020 (IDTechEx prediction).

It is often imagined that agriculture is alien to new technologies. This is far from reality. In fact, agriculture has always been a pioneer in the adoption of new technologies, embracing motor/power, modified seed, and agrochemical technologies over many decades to boost productivity.

Nearly every sector is proposing the use of artificial intelligence. Materials science R&D is relatively late to this trend, and there are many industry-specific hurdles, but the opportunities are beginning to be realized and the potential impact is significant.

Tuesday 11 August - The electric car market is facing fresh, unforeseen challenges in 2020, and in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, electric vehicles with a higher upfront price are a hard sell. How is the industry, and how are governments, responding? Are electric cars de-railed from their pre-coronavirus trajectory?

Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered by the most, as two competing technologies. Although both technologies power an electric motor, they have different properties and each of them is well suited for some uses more than others.

Join Dr Peter Harrop in his latest presentation on Electric Vehicles in Construction, Agriculture & Mining, a $100 Billion Market Soon.

MicroLED, believed by many to be the next generation of display technology, has been pursued by players of LED, display, OEM, materials and so on. Differentiated from LCD and OLED, microLED is considered to be the only display technology that has no size limitation. What are the potential applications?

Cultured meat, the idea that meat products can be artificially grown in a lab without requiring the slaughter of animals, has been attracting headlines.

Deep learning has revolutionized image recognition and analysis, making unprecedented performance leaps between 2010-2014. These rapid advancements enabled the development of automated, accurate, accessible, and cost-effective medical diagnostics.

Dr Michael Dent shares some of the research from the brand new IDTechEx report, "Genetic Technologies in Agriculture 2020-2030".

Solid-state batteries keep on attracting tremendous attention and investment with the maturing technologies and closeness to mass production.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced shoppers online, driving huge demand for home delivery. Moreover, growth has the potential to resume beyond the pandemic: in addition to consumer goods, the genie is out the bottle for home grocery delivery, which many consumers, having experienced it for the first time, will want to continue. Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are the backbone of this growing demand for delivery infrastructure.

Bioplastics, plastics made from a biological feedstock, could be a renewable and more sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics. Unlike the vast majority of fossil-based plastics, many bioplastics are biodegradable, which could help provide a solution to the dizzying escalation in plastic waste seen across much of the world. And although bioplastics have historically struggled to deliver the same performance as fossil-based plastics, technology is increasingly closing the gap, creating highly functional plastics that do not cost the Earth. "Bioplastics 2020-2025", the recent report by IDTechEx, explores the emerging technologies around bioplastics and forecasts the future of the industry over the next five years.

With a surface area of up to 2 square meters, skin is the largest organ of the human body. Skin acts as an outer covering and barrier - not only is skin health crucial to the overall health of an individual, but skin appearance has significant societal impact as well (body image, communication, etc.).

In the future, all materials scientists and chemists will have access to machine learning tools to enhance their R&D. Seamlessly integrating these underlying operations will not happen quickly, but overlooking the developments in materials informatics will lead to a loss of any competitive advantage.

"Passing $2bn by 2030, energy harvesting modules become key to smartwatches, IoT and more" IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop shares some of the research from IDTechEx report: "Energy Harvesting for Electronic Devices 2020-2040 Materials, self-charging device opportunities, technology roadmaps, forecasts"

Estimates vary but we are certainly in $100 billion, 100GW territory with the booming photovoltaic market. The new IDTechEx report, "Electronics Reshaped 2020-2040" reveals solar market growth by new capabilities opening previously impossible applications.

Solid-state batteries keep attracting tremendous attention and investment with the maturing technologies and closeness to mass production. Even with the influence of COVID-19, the potential market size is expected to grow to over $6 billion by 2030 according to IDTechEx.

Join IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop in this 8-minute presentation on Sensors, discussing patents, the effect of COVID19, sensor market drivers in construction, agriculture, mining, military, aerospace, consumer electronics, medical, automotive & rail.

By 2030, IDTechEx predicts the augmented, virtual and mixed reality market to be over $30Bn. With COVID limiting physical interaction, virtual communication and interaction will be the normal for many years to come.

A detailed look at the technologies underpinning printed image and piezoresistive sensors; An assessment of the technological readiness level of competing technologies; Discussion of existing and emerging applications; and Identification of technological challenges and innovation opportunities

The world has a problem with plastic waste. Despite global plastic production continuing to accelerate, recycling rates remain stubbornly low, with only about 15% of the 400 million tonnes of plastic currently produced annually being recycled.

When considering the prospects of an emerging technology, it is easy to make broad-brush claims. For example, stating that 'greater numbers of connected devices, commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), will increase demand for printed sensors' seems an uncontroversial statement.

There is little doubt that additive manufacturing will become a key enabling technology across a wide range of sectors. Over the past few years revenues have grown, notable new entrants have emerged, investments have been significant, and material portfolios broadened.

Genetically modified (GM) crops are unpopular. Despite their vast potential to help improve global food security while reducing pesticide use, many countries are extremely resistant to planting GM crops, with 85% of global GM agricultural land coming from just four countries: the US, Brazil, Argentina and Canada.

​A detailed list of over 60 different application areas which e-textile products have been developed for; Market data around current market size by product type and market sector; Overview of project/product maturity by application area; and Discussion of the best strategies and market forecasts for the sector into the next decade.

There are huge materials opportunities in emerging photovoltaics. Hear Dr Peter Harrop discuss the topic in this short presentation (9mins in length) sharing research from the new IDTechEx report, "Materials Opportunities in Emerging Photovoltaics 2020-2040". IDTechEx #IDTechExResearch #Photovoltaics #AdvancedMaterials #Solar #ElectricVehicles #PVMaterials #Perovskite

While the COVID-19 outbreak continues to rise in some countries, many others have successfully brought down the number of daily new cases and reproduction number. European countries have loosened the general lockdown, such as Germany, Spain, and UK. Gone together with the quarantine are the huge daily COVID-19 testing numbers.

IDTechEx has reports on many types of sensors from vehicle RADAR to biosensors, printed to wearable. By popular request, an overview of all of them is now available, called "Sensors 2021-2041". Some of the research is shared in this webinar.

Radar uptake in vehicles will continue its increase, driven both by an increase in the number of adopting cars and by the radar content per vehicle. Both trends are driven by the increasing adoption of ADAS and will be sustained and strengthened in the longer term by the emergence of highly automated or autonomous driving.

28th July - From this webinar, you will learn: An introduction of thin, flexible and printed batteries; Common technologies applied in these batteries; Potential applications and special focus; and Current status and future opportunities