Nature Conference on Flexible Electronics - Challenges and Opportunities & International Symposium on Optoelectronics, Materials, and Energy (iSOME-2016)

"Flexible electronics is the frontier field of the international science and technology rapid rising in recent years. It can satisfy the expanding needs of wearable intelligent device, real-time health monitoring, clean energy and so forth. Flexible electronics is expected to become one of the pillar industries in the national economic development and science and technology progress," said in the opening ceremony by Academician and President Huang Wei who is the chair of Nature Conference on Flexible Electronics-Challenges and Opportunities & International Symposium on Optoelectronics, Materials, and Energy (iSOME-2016). Director of the department of science and technology of Jiangsu province Wang Qin, Party secretary of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology Chen Huijuan, deputy director of Education Department of Jiangsu Cao Yumei, Dr. Karl Ziemelis from Nature Publishing Group, Dr. Joanne Baker from Nature Publishing Group and other leaders attended the opening ceremony.

Nature Conference on Flexible Electronics - Challenges and Opportunities & International Symposium on Optoelectronics, Materials, and Energy (iSOME-2016) was organized by Nanjing Tech University,Nature,andNature Communications. There are 4 plenary speakers, 15 invited speakers and 19 invited short talk speakers from universities, research institutes and companies of over ten countries and regions such as America, England, Singapore, German, Australia, Spain, Italy, Netherland, Japan, and Korea with total attendance of more than 250. In addition, to further promote the academic communications and show abundant research achievements, 80 posters were presented in the Conference.

The Conference lasted for three days and covered four sessions, including flexible opportunities, in search of flexibility, stretching the limits and forum on a flexible future. In the round-table discussion session, the current Physical Sciences Editor ofNatureKarl Ziemelis held the forum. Prof. Donal Bradley from the University of Oxford, Prof. Huang Yonggang from Northwestern University, Prof. Hideo Hosono from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Academician Wang Zhonglin from Georgia Tech and Senior Managing Executive Officer Dr. Ikuzo Ogawa from sumitomo attended the forum. They further discussed about the current status and future of flexible electronics, with emphasis on the most promising research directions and the practical difficulties that need to be overcome on the road to commercialization. The Conference held nearly 40 seminars with frequently spotlights and no empty seats and attracted widespread attention of mainstream media.

In the closing ceremony of the Conference, Prof. Zhang Hua from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore looked back into the three-day seminars and express his sincere thanks to the organizers Nanjing Tech University,NatureandNature Communicationsas well as the Academician and President Huang Wei and other scientists attended. Prof. Zhang Hua, as a speaker and an audience, indicated that the Conference showed the arrival times of flexible electronics to all the attendees. Flexible electronics will make a new breakthrough and have a bright future. During the closing ceremony, 20 outstanding posters were awarded as outstanding prizes, first prizes, second prizes and third prizes respectively.

The successfully convening of the Conference will facilitate to break the boundaries of traditional disciplinary and promote the development of flexible electronics. This is NanjingTech's another milestone collaboration with Nature Publishing Group in the wake of the launch of the Nature Partner Journal Flexible Electronics this March. It will further enhance NanjingTech's global influence in scientific and technological innovations and serve as a bridge for the communication and cooperation between Jiangsu scientists and research institutions and their counterparts in the world.