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JULY 2019 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 69 Shaughnessy: What trends do you all see in the PEC market? Do you think printed electronics is finally gaining acceptance? Ponomarenko: Significant invest- ment in materials development, as well as big names getting be- hind the technology, are indica- tors to us that printed electronics is gaining its place in the market. We don't see this trend as replac- ing traditional approaches, but extending the reach of electronics into new domains. Shaughnessy: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Ponomarenko: For us, printed electronics is part of the larger landscape of structural electron- ics. If you are moving in that di- rection technologically but expe- rience challenges at the design stage, Altium would be like to hear from you to explore possible solutions. You can email me di- rectly at nikolay.ponomarenko@ altium.com. Shaughnessy: Thanks for your time, Nikolay. Ponomarenko: Thank you. Visit I-007eBooks.com to download your copy of Altium's book The Printed Circuit De- signer's Guide to... Design for Manufacturing as well as other free, educational titles. FLEX007 the graphene sheet alignment and orientation, which is critical for realizing graphene fibers with high thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. This microfluidics- enabled assembly method also provides the flexibility to tailor the microstructures of the graphene fibers by con- trolling flow patterns. "The control of different flow patterns offers a unique opportunity and flexibility in tailoring macroscopic gra- phene structures from perfectly aligned graphene fibers and tubes to 3D open architecture with vertically aligned graphene sheet arrangement," said Jie Lian, a professor in the Rensselaer Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) and the lead author on the article. "This research paves the way for new sciences to optimize the fiber as- sembly and microstructure to develop high-performance graphene fibers," said Lian. (Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic In- stitute has developed a new microfluidics-assisted tech- nique for developing high-performance macroscopic gra- phene fibers. A recently discovered member of the carbon fiber family, graphene fiber has potential applications in diverse technological areas, from energy storage to elec- tronics, optics, electromagnetics, thermal conductor and management, and structural applications. Their findings are published in Nature Nanotechnology. It has historically been difficult to simultaneously optimize both the thermal, electri- cal, and mechanical properties of graphene fibers. However, the Rens- selaer team has demonstrated their ability to do both. Macroscopic graphene fibers can be manufactured by fluidics-enabled assembly from 2D graphene oxide sheets dispersed in aqueous solu- tions forming lyotropic liquid crystal. Strong shape and size confinements are demonstrated for fine control of Researchers Pioneer Microfluidics-enabled Manufacturing of Macroscopic Graphene Fibers Nikolay Ponomarenko