It’s Only Common Sense: Creativity Is Noisy, Messy, and So Worth It
Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘The Soul of a New Machine’
Recognizing innovations and other outstanding accomplishments in flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), FlexTech, a SEMI Technology Community, announced winners of the 2026 FLEXI Awards presented at the FLEX Conference on February 25 at the Wigwam Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 2026 FLEXI Awards spotlight FHE contributions in six categories: R&D Achievement, Product Innovation, Environmental Sustainability, Technology Leadership in Workforce Development, Industry Leadership, and Lifetime Achievement.
2026 FLEXI Award Winners
Environmental Sustainability Champion – Dr. Masoud Mahjouri-Samani
This award recognizes and honors an individual for their volunteering efforts and contributed achievements in advancing the flexible and hybrid electronics industry towards environmental sustainability.
NanoPrintek introduces the world’s first dry, ink-free, multimaterial electronics printing platform, enabling on-demand, conformal, and supply-chain-independent manufacturing. This breakthrough delivers unmatched flexibility, precision, and sustainability for next-generation flexible and hybrid electronics.
“We are honored to receive the FLEXI 2026 Award for Environmental Sustainability,” said Dr. Mahjouri-Samani, Founder and President, NanoPrintek. “At NanoPrintek, sustainability is not an afterthought; it is embedded into the core of our ink-free, dry printing technology. By eliminating inks, solvents, waste streams, and supply-chain-dependent consumables, we enable a fundamentally cleaner, more resilient, and cost-effective way to manufacture electronics. This recognition affirms that sustainable manufacturing and high-performance electronics can, and must, go hand in hand.”
Product Innovation – Voltera
SEMI FlexTech presents this award to a company for introducing an innovation in flexible electronics products in the last twelve months.
Voltera, led by Jesus Zozaya, is driving product innovation in flexible electronics with V-One and NOVA, enabling low-cost, low-waste additive manufacturing. Their advocacy for FHE promotes awareness and adoption of sustainable, on-demand circuit printing technologies.
“It is an honor for Voltera to receive this year's FLEXI Product Innovation award,” said Zozaya, CEO and Co-founder, Voltera. “We are grateful to SEMI FlexTech for recognizing our work of removing barriers and making sustainable, low-cost, and low-waste circuit printing more accessible for everyone in the flexible electronics industry.”
Technology Leadership in Workforce Development – Dr. Benyamin Davaji
This award recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to the flexible electronics industry through education via a certified education institution, re-skilling of the present workforce, or internal corporate workforce development activity. Judging is based on the quality of education, practical applicability, number of students completing the course, and degree of focus on flexible, printed electronics.
Dr. Benyamin Davaji, Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, advances digital twins and AI for flexible electronics manufacturing, delivering influential research, democratized education, and workforce development. His integrated model couples high-impact publications with hands-on training, cultivating industry transformation and next-generation manufacturing talent.
“This recognition reflects the collective effort to bring digital‑twin intelligence and AI into the heart of flexible electronics and semiconductor design and manufacturing,” said Dr. Davaji. “Our goal is to accelerate innovation while broadening access to the tools and knowledge that empower the future workforce. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to an ecosystem that is rapidly transforming how we design, build, and scale the next generation of electronic devices. I envision digital twins becoming a transformative asset for future electronics research, education, and advanced manufacturing.”
R&D Achievements – Dr. Felippe J. Pavinatto
SEMI FlexTech evaluates entries for this award based on their world-class research approach, originality, and commercial potential for expanding the scope for flexible or printed electronics or their manufacturing processes. Consideration is given to the ability of entrants to identify and solve a real problem.
Dr. Felippe Pavinatto, Senior Engineer, GE Aerospace, advances FHE innovation through pioneering work in additive manufacturing, harsh-environment sensors, integrated electronics, and functional materials, driving scalable processes and impactful research that has strengthened next-generation FHE across multiple industries.
“I am very happy and honored to receive the FLEXI Award in the R&D Achievements category,” said, Dr. Pavinatto. “This is an amazing recognition coming from an outstanding FHE community at FlexTech. I would like to thank GE Aerospace for being such an innovative company and for empowering me to pursue high impact R&D projects. Also, I am grateful for the many amazing collaborators I had over the years, who certainly share part of this. This award serves as great motivation for me to continue to develop FHE solutions for next generation aerospace systems.”
Industry Leadership – Stephaney Shanks Ph.D.
This award honors an individual who has built awareness of the capabilities and possibilities that flexible and hybrid electronics bring to the broader field of electronics and who has demonstrated outstanding industry leadership in public forums, association activity, and within their organization.
Dr. Stephaney D. Shanks, Vice President, AV, is a leading innovator advancing flexible hybrid electronics through wearable sensing, technical gap analysis, and high-impact programs. Her leadership drives reliable, real-world human performance technologies and strengthens U.S. readiness across defense and health sectors.
"I am truly honored to receive the 2026 FLEXI Industry Leadership Award,” said Dr. Shanks. “Throughout my career, I have focused on translating emerging technologies into measurable, real-world impact, particularly in advancing human performance, health, and readiness. This recognition reflects the collective effort of extraordinary partners and teams who are continually expanding what’s possible in flexible hybrid electronics. I am grateful to work alongside innovators who are not only pushing the field forward, but ensuring it delivers meaningful outcomes where it matters most.”
Lifetime Achievement – Dr. John A. Rogers
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual whose career has been defined by sustained excellence, visionary thinking, and transformative impact. This award acknowledges not only a record of remarkable accomplishments, but also a lasting legacy—one that continues to influence the evolution, adoption, and global recognition of flexible and hybrid electronics.
Professor Rogers, Director, Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, is a leading scientist in printed and flexible electronics, especially relating to the bio-application industry. His work is focused on solving real world problems and results in many startup-company spin outs.
“I am truly delighted for our work in this area to be recognized in this manner – efforts that have relied on dozens of collaborators across academia and industry, extending over a continuous span of nearly thirty years,” said Dr. Rogers.
2026 Innovators of the Future Award Winners
In addition to the FLEXI Awards, SEMI FlexTech recognized students with the Innovators of the Future Awards. This award showcases emerging talent in the flexible electronics industry who are eager to make an impact by re-imagining how flexible technology can be used in a broad range of applications from wearable devices to precision agriculture.
FLEX 2026 invited students from leading research universities to showcase their ideas for cutting-edge flexible electronics. Awards went to the top three presenters, selected based on their knowledge of the project and ability to clearly present the objective, process and their findings. A panel of experts from industry, government, and academia evaluated the projects during a recorded presentation and a live Q&A session.
Ajay Pratap, Boise State University
Won first place for his entry titled “Multifunctional MXene PVBVA e-tattoos for sensing, energy harvesting, and charge storage”
Daniel Bousquet, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Won second place for his entry titled “Development of an X-Band Frequency Selective Surface for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding in Harsh Environments”
Morgan Michael, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Won third place for his entry titled “Vinyl Norbornene Low-Loss Dielectric for Harsh Environment Printable Electronics”
