Unique collaboration will expose all aspects of the inkjet process
FOM, Océ, the University of Twente and Eindhoven University of Technology are starting a fundamental research programme that should run for twelve years.
The FOM Foundation, Océ, University of Twente (UT) and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) signed a collaboration agreement at the end of May for a new FOM Industrial Partnership Programme (IPP), 'Fundamental fluid dynamics challenges in inkjet printing'. The wide-ranging research programme must lead to a better understanding of the interaction between the jetted drops and paper and make the development of a new generation of inkjet printers possible. The programme contains two lines of research. A unique aspect is that the four parties involved have joined forces to realise a coherent programme; they are also jointly contributing the funding. The total budget for the programme is 6.3 million euros. The programme leader is professor Detlef Lohse (UT).
A new FOM group at Océ
Within the programme a new FOM research group will start that will be accommodated at Océ. Besides two group leaders who work at Océ, twelve PhD students based at Océ/Twente and Océ/Eindhoven respectively) and two postdocs (for four years) will be appointed. The research will focus on droplet formation, the prevention of air bubbles and the drying of the drops on paper. The scientists will also investigate how the ink interacts with various types of substrate. The aim is that there will be a lot of exchange between the three locations. The planned duration of the programme is six years with the intention to extend the collaboration for a further period of six years.
Collaboration follows on from previous IPP
Océ and FOM have already enjoyed a successful collaboration in the now concluded IPP 'Contact line control during wetting and dewetting' for which Detlef Lohse was also the programme leader. Over the years Océ has also funded and co-funded a substantial number of different projects at mainly TU/e and UT, which have now largely been completed as well. With a view to more coherency in the research, Océ decided to collaborate in this large programme with a longer duration. Océ is contributing fifty percent of the funding in cash and the other fifty percent is coming from Impulse programmes of the UT and TU/e and the IPP of FOM.
Anton Schaaf, CEO of Océ, is pleased with the realisation of the IPP: "For more than thirty years Océ has been one of the pioneers of inkjet research. We continue to invest in this and you can see that in the groundbreaking products we launch. The added value of this research programme lies in the broad collaboration. Previously Océ worked on a one-to-one basis with the three research institutes. Now we will make use of all the available expertise to push the research to new heights."
Frank Baaijens, rector of TU/e, endorses the advantages of the collaboration: "In 2013 the TU/e started with Impulse programmes that contain new research and are partly funded by industry. This initiative has yielded a lot of fruitful collaboration. We are proud that Océ is one of our partners."
Ed Brinksma, rector of UT, says: "UT has good experiences in collaborating with Océ. Cross-fertilisation between the Physics of Fluids group and Océ has yielded many new discoveries, publications and PhD theses. With this programme that process is being continued. Which is fantastic."
Programme leader Detlef Lohse expects that the research will lead to many new insights: "You would have thought that all of the secrets of the inkjet process would have been revealed by now. Yet that is not the case. For example, we do not know how fast the ink drops can be applied without losing the stability of the jetting process. By gaining an understanding of this mechanism we hope to be able to contribute to the inkjet technology of the future. However the real advantage of this programme is the many opportunities it also provides for fundamental research in this area. This was also the case in our previous collaborations with Océ and that resulted in leading publications about fundamental problems in physics of fluids." An example of this is the publication about droplet formation, see figure 1.
About IPP
Since 2004 FOM has used Industrial Partnership Programmes (IPP) to link academic knowledge to industrial ambitions by carrying out high-quality physics research in collaboration with companies. In 2014 the IPPs were evaluated by an external committee, which concluded in its report that the IPP as an instrument for public-private partnership occupies a unique position within the innovation landscape, yields high quality science, and is therefore of considerable strategic importance for fundamental physics and the application of this.
About Océ
Since it was founded in 1877 Océ has been a world leader in the areas of digital imaging, industrial printing and business services. Océ's mission is to accelerate new developments in digital print technologies and to apply these in products and services from local creative studios to worldwide multinationals. Océ is part of the Canon Group and has an extensive network of R&D centres for the development of emerging digital print technologies in future markets. Océ’s head office in the Netherlands lies in the high-tech heart of Europe.
Contact
Detlef Lohse, +31 53 489 24 70
Michiel van den Hout, IPP Office FOM, +31 30 600 12 73