CSEM (Neuchâtel, Switzerland) posted a solid financial performance in 2020 and made further progress on important technological breakthroughs despite the economic and social impact of the pandemic. CSEM’s staff worked hard throughout the year, fulfilling their mission: providing industry with cutting-edge R&D. The full-year results are encouraging, and the Center is optimistic about 2021. Project volumes remained high, with joint R&D work carried out with 225 businesses, and overall revenue growth remained strong, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in prior years due to COVID-19. Also last year, CEO Mario El-Khoury announced he would leave CSEM after 11 successful years at its helm; he was replaced at the beginning of 2021 by Alexandre Pauchard, who plans to continue in the direction set by his predecessor.
High-tech carbon nanomaterial developer Canatu (Vantaa, Finland) has signed a major joint development agreement with DENSO (Kariya, Japan), a leading mobility supplier, to develop high-performance reactors used in Carbon NanoBud (CNB) film production. The collaboration aims to improve CNB film manufacturing productivity by a factor of three compared with the current throughput. To achieve higher productivity, the 1.5-year development project will focus on improving reactor design, process controls and serviceability. The JDA was signed in May 2021 with the project starting immediately after.
With the establishment of flexible displays behind us, many have asked what the next big development in display technology will be. Recently, free-form displays have been gaining traction as next-generation technology that will allow for both high-resolution visuals and portability at the same time. While the technology is still in its nascent stages, significant research has been carried out on stretchable displays (a core technology for free-form displays) that can be stretched in all directions like rubber bands to change their shapes.
