SUINK project to contribute to Europe’s
green and digital transformation
Tekniker and Greenovate! Europe are proud to announce the launch of the SUINK
project aiming to develop innovative green solutions to supply power to a wide range of sensors for the automotive sector
Eibar (Spain), 15 September 2022
Tekniker and Greenovate! Europe are glad to announce the launch of a new European project on functional electronics: the SUINK project (SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing).
The main objective of SUINK is to design and implement sustainable, flexible, and printable self-charging power systems able to supply power to a wide range of sensors.
Today a modern car is equipped with over 60 sensors to monitor essential aspects such as temperature, oil pressure, emission levels, speed, etc. This number is only expected to increase as self-driving and electric vehicles become more popular. However, these kinds of sensors need to be connected to a power source using cables and connectors, which add undesired weight, and lower the overall reliability of the vehicle.
The digital transformation presents enormous growth potential for EU companies and society. The need for a better energy efficiency and industrial productivity have been drivers to develop embedded electronics solutions, which help to reduce the weight and volume of smart products.
The next generation of functional electronics must incorporate new sustainable design, manufacturing, use and end-of-life techniques that are scalable, safer, cheaper, cleaner and less energy consuming. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their associated performance indicators, which take into account the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental), must be the key
drivers of this new generation of functional electronics.
The innovative power systems to be developed by the SUINK project will address this challenge by relying on sustainable elements, including a piezoelectric energy generator, to harvest electrical energy from mechanical vibrations, and a rectifying system as a connection circuit with a supercapacitor as an energy
storage component.
The overall solution will be based on the combination of biobased conductive, dielectric, and piezoelectric inks that will be applied by inkjet printing on biobased flexible surfaces.
This innovative technology will be applied to produce temperature, humidity, and strain sensors for the automotive sector, exploiting vibrations from the moving vehicle as a source of energy. Further applications
will include the development of a new recyclable energy-harvesting textile material to be used in vehicles’ interiors.
By reducing the weight of components, the SUINK project will contribute to increase the productivity and energy efficiency of the automotive industry, following a fully circular economy approach: from design to
the end-of-life of products, implementing new recyclability and reusability protocols.
“SUINK will help boost European leadership in flexible, printed and organic electronics
while contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Enabling circular economy and sustainability, the SUINK project will contribute to both the environment and European businesses!”
-Estibaliz Gómez, SUINK Coordinator from Tekniker
Funded by Horizon Europe for a duration of four years, SUINK kicked off on September 15th, 2022, in Eibar (Spain). Co-ordinated by Tekniker, it brings together 11 partners from 5 countries across Europe:
Spain: Tekniker, Universidad del País Vasco, Oribay.
Belgium: Centexbel, Greenovate! Europe.
France: Dowel Innovation, Institut Mines-Télécom.
Finland: Kaira Clan, Tampere University.
Italy: Gemmate Technologies, Centro Researcher Fiat.
“Kaira Clan is honored to be taking part in the SUINK Project. For our part in the project, Kaira Clan will be analyzing the progress of the developed solutions in reference to the circular economy criteria that have been set for this project. We look forward to working with this amazing team to bring change into the automotive industry.”
-Tero Blomqvist, CEO Kaira Clan.
The SUINK website (www.suink.eu) will be available soon. In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
ABOUT SUINK
Coordinated by Tekniker in Eibar (Spain), SUINK (SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing)
is a four-year project that has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement n. 101070112. For more details, please visit: www.suink.eu
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Ms. Estibaliz Gómez
Project Coordinator, Tekniker
email: estibaliz.gomez@tekniker.es
MEDIA CONTACT
Ms. Elisa Casazza
Project Manager, Greenovate! Europe
email: e.casazza@greenovate-europe.eu
Ms. Carrie Schoeller
Marketing Manager, Kaira Clan
email: carrie.schoeller@kairaclan.com
Eibar (Spain), 15 September 2022
Tekniker and Greenovate! Europe are glad to announce the launch of a new European project on functional electronics: the SUINK project (SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing).
The main objective of SUINK is to design and implement sustainable, flexible, and printable self-charging power systems able to supply power to a wide range of sensors.
Today a modern car is equipped with over 60 sensors to monitor essential aspects such as temperature, oil pressure, emission levels, speed, etc. This number is only expected to increase as self-driving and electric vehicles become more popular. However, these kinds of sensors need to be connected to a power source using cables and connectors, which add undesired weight, and lower the overall reliability of the vehicle.
The digital transformation presents enormous growth potential for EU companies and society. The need for a better energy efficiency and industrial productivity have been drivers to develop embedded electronics solutions, which help to reduce the weight and volume of smart products.
The next generation of functional electronics must incorporate new sustainable design, manufacturing, use and end-of-life techniques that are scalable, safer, cheaper, cleaner and less energy consuming. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their associated performance indicators, which take into account the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental), must be the key
drivers of this new generation of functional electronics.
The innovative power systems to be developed by the SUINK project will address this challenge by relying on sustainable elements, including a piezoelectric energy generator, to harvest electrical energy from mechanical vibrations, and a rectifying system as a connection circuit with a supercapacitor as an energy
storage component.
The overall solution will be based on the combination of biobased conductive, dielectric, and piezoelectric inks that will be applied by inkjet printing on biobased flexible surfaces.
This innovative technology will be applied to produce temperature, humidity, and strain sensors for the automotive sector, exploiting vibrations from the moving vehicle as a source of energy. Further applications
will include the development of a new recyclable energy-harvesting textile material to be used in vehicles’ interiors.
By reducing the weight of components, the SUINK project will contribute to increase the productivity and energy efficiency of the automotive industry, following a fully circular economy approach: from design to
the end-of-life of products, implementing new recyclability and reusability protocols.
“SUINK will help boost European leadership in flexible, printed and organic electronics
while contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Enabling circular economy and sustainability, the SUINK project will contribute to both the environment and European businesses!”
-Estibaliz Gómez, SUINK Coordinator from Tekniker
Funded by Horizon Europe for a duration of four years, SUINK kicked off on September 15th, 2022, in Eibar (Spain). Co-ordinated by Tekniker, it brings together 11 partners from 5 countries across Europe:
Spain: Tekniker, Universidad del País Vasco, Oribay.
Belgium: Centexbel, Greenovate! Europe.
France: Dowel Innovation, Institut Mines-Télécom.
Finland: Kaira Clan, Tampere University.
Italy: Gemmate Technologies, Centro Researcher Fiat.
“Kaira Clan is honored to be taking part in the SUINK Project. For our part in the project, Kaira Clan will be analyzing the progress of the developed solutions in reference to the circular economy criteria that have been set for this project. We look forward to working with this amazing team to bring change into the automotive industry.” -Tero Blomqvist, CEO Kaira Clan.
ABOUT SUINK
Coordinated by Tekniker in Eibar (Spain), SUINK (SUstainable self-charging power systems developed by INKjet printing)
is a four-year project that has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement n. 101070112. For more details, please visit: www.suink.eu
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Ms. Estibaliz Gómez
Project Coordinator, Tekniker
email: estibaliz.gomez@tekniker.es
MEDIA CONTACT
Ms. Elisa Casazza
Project Manager, Greenovate! Europe
email: e.casazza@greenovate-europe.eu
Kaira Clan
Carrie Schoeller
carrie.schoeller@kairaclan.com
Marketing Manager
+358 50 4619718
