Rakel Herrero, researcher at the NAITEC Technology Centre, was invited to give the keynote speech at the prestigious Korean Printed and Flexible Electronics Association meeting in Jeonju from 16 to 18 October. This presentation is a milestone as Korea is the world’s largest printed electronics powerhouse and Herrero is the first person from Spain to give a plenary presentation at this event.

The meetings of the Korean Printed and Flexible Electronics Association started in 2019 and only have two keynote speakers invited by the organisation: one from the United States and one from Europe, represented in this case by Herrero. The rest of the presentations, 18 in total, will be given by Korean experts, which underlines the importance of the participation of the researcher, who is developing her career as a project manager at the NAITEC centre in Estella-Lizarra (Navarre).

During his presentation, Herrero will discuss the latest innovations in printed electronics, highlighting NAITEC’s pioneering role in Spain and its applications at an industrial level. Herrero will also lecture at two leading research centres in South Korea: the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), which specialises in inkjet printing technologies, and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), which specialises in roll-to-roll technologies.

NAITEC has a track record of research in digital manufacturing and functional inkjet printing, functional printing and printed electronics that has established it as a benchmark in the industry.

NAITEC has already hosted the General Assembly and Working Group meetings of the IEC TC-119 Printed Electronics Standardisation Committee, which discusses the standards that will apply to materials, processes and products manufactured by printed electronics. 27 researchers came to Navarra from Korea, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Finland, with NAITEC as the only state representative.

This participation not only consolidates NAITEC’s position in the field of printed electronics, but also strengthens scientific cooperation with South Korea, one of the main centres of technological innovation in Asia.