KYMIRA Ltd announces it will collaborate with Dycotec Materials and CPI to develop a scalable industrial method to produce and integrate flexible electronic systems into comfortable, smart garments for remote biosensing and monitoring within healthcare and professional sports.
Funded in partnership with Innovate UK, the project will build on extensive prior knowledge developed by all partners, delivering the knowhow to create manufacturable e-textiles that can survive the rigours, stresses and strains associated with conventional clothing. The key objectives of this work are to:
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Formulate new, robust, washable inks, adhesives and encapsulants for wearable technology (DYCOTEC)
Scale up the flexible electronics production and assembly processes to industrially relevant volumes. (CPI)
Design, develop and test of smart garment, working with key clients to ensure products meet market requirements (KYMIRA)
The consortium aims to develop demonstrable prototypes of sporting and medical garments ahead of future manufacturing. Each of the project partners have developed synergistic, early stage technologies demonstrating different aspects of flexible electronics for textile integration, from functional electronic materials, printing and fabrication process up-scale, to the design and integration of electronics into garments.
Wearable electronics offers a remarkable opportunity for tackling key societal healthcare challenges. The European Parliament Scientific and Technology Options Assessment Panel has identified wearables as one of the ten technologies that will change our lives in the coming years. The results from this proposal have the potential to cover a broad range of the UK government's Industrial Strategy points; immediately addressing the need for value added manufacturing by industrialising the next generation of e-textiles.
"We are delighted to be part of the project, which enables Dycotec Materials to extend its existing portfolio of products, including conductive, insulating and adhesive inks for the wearables market. We see great opportunity working with companies at the forefront of wearable technology such as KYMIRA and look forward to closely collaborating with the world renowned UK centre for printed electronics, CPI" stated Dr Ian Clark, Director of Business Development at Dycotec Materials Ltd.
Duncan Lindsay, Business Development Director at CPI, said: "We are delighted to be providing our expertise and state of the art equipment to tackle the important challenge of scaling up production of flexible electronics for e-textiles. The Feelers project demonstrates the importance of bringing end-users into the development process, and CPI is playing a vital role in this, helping bring an idea to commercialisation''.
Phil Kunovski, CTO at KYMIRA Ltd added, "I've been looking forward to starting this project ever since we received the positive notification from Innovate UK. This planned work as part of this industrial research will be critical to many of KYMIRA's smart garment ambitions, and I'm very pleased to be working with both CPI and Dycotec Materials, both of whom are highly capable and knowledgeable partners in their respective fields."
About CPI
CPI is an independent technology innovation centre and a founding member of the UK Government's High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Founded in 2004, CPI applies its years of experience across a broad range of industries to ensure that every great invention gets the best opportunity to become a successfully marketed product.
CPI's integrated approach provides its partners with a unique combination of assets, expertise and skills to drive successful innovation. With a deep understanding of innovation processes and funding, outstanding technical expertise and industry-relevant assets, CPI enables products and processes to be quickly and cost-effectively brought to market. By employing bright minds from both academia and industry, CPI helps create a bespoke team that will provide the right support, helping you to navigate the route to commercialisation while reducing risk along the way.
We form connections throughout the supply chain, bringing together investors, government organisations and academic institutions to facilitate the necessary partnerships for effective innovation. This increases productivity across industries and supports the development of next-generation manufacturing, highly-skilled jobs and economic growth for the UK.
About DYCOTEC MATERIALS Ltd
Dycotec Materials Ltd is a world leader in the development and manufacture of printed electronics materials. Headquartered at our 21,000 ft2 facility in picturesque Wiltshire, UK, we supply globally over 50 products including; electrically/thermally conductive, insulators, dielectric and overcoat inks for a broad range of deposition techniques. We provide materials from low volume samples to high volume and collaborate closely with our customers during the qualification phase to ensure fast to market product development. We routinely customise our materials specifically for end application use.
Our materials are used in a broad range of applications such as; semiconductor, automotive, solar cell, aerospace, display, medical, sensor and wearable/smart clothing. We work in partnership with internationally renowned institutes on addressing some of society's most pressing needs providing materials for clean technology and next generation medical devices.
Contact
Dr Ian Clark
Dycotec Materials Ltd
About KYMIRA Ltd
KYMIRA® is one of the world's leading smart textile companies and a multi-award-winning innovator – developing products and technologies that help, change, and ultimately save people's lives. Our goal is to save or positively impact 1,000,000 or more lives by 2030 and become a globally recognised brand, solidifying our position as the global leader in the smart garment and textile industries.
The team strive to solve and improve large societal issues and are working in partnership with leading institutions such as the European Space Agency, Innovate UK, Universities, and the NHS, to research cutting edge technologies and e-textiles. The company works within the Medical, Sport, Defence and Space verticals, across B2B and consumer markets. By blending technology with biology in perfect synergy, we are able to release and enhance human ability.
KYMIRA products are used by Olympic athletes, elite teams, and recreational athletes alike, even world record explorers! This is alongside Medical professionals, patients, and research institutions. Profits from sales are reinvested into new medical research, as we strive for a healthier and safer tomorrow.
Contact
Sarah Jenner
KYMIRA Ltd