In response to this revolution, the Basque technology centers GAIKER and Tekniker have signed a collaboration agreement to promote the development of innovative solutions that integrate this technology and pool the expertise and know-how of these two driving forces of Basque industry.
This new alliance between the two centers, members of BRTA (Basque Research and Technology Alliance), will open up significant opportunities for collaboration, development, and implementation of joint solutions for integrating electronics into plastic components and generating synergies with other stakeholders in the business sector.
“At Tekniker, our mission is to improve the competitiveness of the region's industrial fabric. With this partnership, we aim to encourage the transfer of new knowledge and technology in a rapidly growing field: electronics embedded in plastic parts,” explains Luis Uriarte, CEO of Tekniker.
For his part, Santiago Rementeria, CEO of GAIKER, emphasizes, “The technology to be developed and transferred under this agreement is in demand by leading industrial sectors in the Basque Country, and at GAIKER, we see it as yet another opportunity to add value to companies in our region.”
Extensive Technology Catalog:
The agreement between Tekniker and GAIKER will allow both centers to contribute a comprehensive catalog of technologies in which they specialize in the field of integrated electronics in plastic parts using IME (Integrated Micro-Engineering).
The technologies covered by this partnership include, in the case of Tekniker, the design of printed electronics for IME, 2D printing of electronic circuits (including the materials involved in printing, such as substrates and inks), and the insertion of components that are not currently printable.
For its part, GAIKER will contribute its expertise in technologies associated with plastic materials, from material selection and processing: thermoforming of the printed circuit board and injection overmolding of the printed circuit boards, safeguarding the connection elements, as well as the eco-design and sustainability aspects of the solutions adopted, promoting a circular economy.
Furthermore, each technology has its own associated characterization procedures. On the one hand, Tekniker will perform the final functionality and robustness tests of the product in terms of electronics; and on the other hand, GAIKER will do the same with the applied plastic materials.
