image: The Graphene Experience Zone contained an impressive collection of demonstrators and prototypes, it showcased graphene mobile innovation in a truly interactive way view more
Credit: GF/R.Josa
Held over four days in Barcelona, Mobile World Congress 2017 attracted over 108,000 visitors, all with the desire to experience the best of new mobile technologies. The Graphene Experience Zone was located in the vibrant NEXTech Hall 8.0, dedicated to cutting-edge developments in mobile technologies and disruptive technologies of the future.
The 165 m2 Graphene Experience Zone showcased 20 demonstrators and prototypes from 26 industrial and academic partners of the Graphene Flagship, collected into five application areas. The application areas were targeted to show Mobile World Congress attendees how graphene and related materials can be used in the mobile ecosystem, to enable fast data communication, efficient energy technologies, distributed sensing via the Internet of Things, and wearable biomedical devices for health and wellness.
The centrepiece of the Graphene Experience Zone was the BAC Mono graphene enhanced car, produced in collaboration with Haydale. This eye-catching supercar captured the interest of visitors, who were inspired by hearing how graphene-enhanced bodywork improved the performance and boosted the fuel efficiency.
The Graphene Experience Zone was a stop on 19 tours, including both the NEXTech and Women4Tech tours organised by the GSMA. Several key attendees were shown hand-picked highlights of graphene technologies, including European Commissioner Andrus Ansip, GSMA Ltd. CEO John Hoffman and several members of the local government.
Alongside the Graphene Experience Zone, the Graphene Flagship also held a Graphene Connect workshop. The aim of this workshop was to provide an opportunity for the mobile community to explore the benefits and potential of graphene and related materials, and discuss opportunities for new technologies and partnership with expert researchers from the Graphene Flagship. This event presented industrial-focused research from the Graphene Flagship in the areas of data communication, flexible electronics, and high-performance sensors, as well as providing an opportunity for the audience to learn about graphene from Konstantin Novoselov, who shared the 2010 Nobel prize in physics for his groundbreaking experiments on graphene.
This year, the GSMA launched the Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo Barcelona), which ran alongside Mobile World Congress to engage children and inspire them to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) disciplines. At YoMo, Graphene Flagship partners ICFO, IIT, Novalia and the University of Cambridge presented Graphopolis, an interactive workshop designed to collectively create an interactive map of a city based on graphene.
Professor Andrea Ferrari, Science and Technology Officer and Chair of the Management Panel of the Graphene Flagship stated: "Yet again the Flagship participation to the MWC was a great success. Not only the devices and demonstrators showed the steady progress towards innovation and commercialization, but our participation to the inaugural Youth Mobile Festival was an excellent means to get younger generations excited about the potential of graphene and related materials"
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Revisit the vibrant Graphene Experience Zone at Mobile World Congress 2017 with our post show video.
For an overview of the demos present at the Graphene Experience Zone please download our digital brochure at: http://graphene-flagship.eu/SiteCollectionDocuments/MWC/Graphene%20Experience%20Zone%20Digital%20Brochure.pdf
And for high resolution images of the Graphene Experience Zone: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151519747@N06/
Graphene Flagship partners exhibiting their technology:
- AMO
- BAC-Mono
- Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
- Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica
- Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le telecomunicazioni (CNIT)
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
- Delft University of Technology (TU-Deflt)
- Emberion
- Ericsson
- FGV Cambridge Nanosystems
- FlexEnable
- G-Next
- Graphenea
- Haydale
- ICFO - Institute of Photonic Sciences
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)
- IMEC
- Institut de la Vision
- Momo design
- Nokia
- Novalia
- Raspibo
- RWTH Aachen University
- Thales
- The University of Cambridge - Cambridge Graphene Centre (UCAM CGC)
- The University of Manchester - National Graphene Institute (UoM NGI)