Dear Reader,

January is a transition month. The holiday season is over, but spring has not yet arrived and winter’s gray remains a while longer. So we were fortunate to be able to attend CES in Las Vegas for an exhilarating week in January. The energy at CES is palpable, with the attendees, exhibitors and media contributing to making this one of, if not the most, influential technology events in the world. At the joint OE-A booth, we were in the middle of it. Together with our members, we met and discussed with technology leaders, implementers and innovators.

CES for us set the stage for the upcoming "Printed Electronics Week" in Munich, starting with the OE-A° Meeting on Monday, March 4, and continuing with the LOPEC conference and exhibition from Tuesday to Thursday, March 5 - 7. It was great at CES to see that printed electronics is an integral part of the big trends such as AI, industrial metaverse, sustainability, medical and mobility. These trends will be reflected at the OE-A Meeting and at LOPEC in Munich. A presentation on Generative AI as an evolutionary step will give us food for thought at the OE-A Meeting. Speaking of new things, we will be kicking off the new Fuel Cell Working Group!

Smart Living and Mobility are also focus topics of LOPEC, and sustainability as an overarching theme continues to grow in importance. Exhibitors at LOPEC will demonstrate their commitment to sustainable solutions through printed electronics technologies and products that reduce waste and develop renewable energy sources. In addition to the many presentations on sustainability, we would like to draw your attention to two special events. On Wednesday morning at 08:00 am (the early bird catches the worm), Dr. Alain Schumacher, CTO at IEE, and Vice Chair Europe of OE-A, will give a presentation on products, trends and facts for a sustainable future as part of the Open Plenary. And for Wednesday afternoon at 03:00 pm, we have invited a panel of experts to discuss how printed electronics can meet the increasing demands from an environmental perspective. Be sure to plan some extra time for these highlights (both events are free for visitors with an exhibition ticket).

Last but not least, we welcome the new team of the OPE Journal, Bettina Maurer, Editor in Chief, and Ibo Ücel, Sales Manager, in the printed electronics community. Both will deep dive into the scene in Munich, so be sure to introduce yourselves when you see them.

We look forward to seeing you at the OE-A Meeting and LOPEC 2024 in Munich! PS: Mark your calendars for drupa, May 28 - June 07 in Düsseldorf! We will be there with great events - details to follow.