Fabrics have been used for centuries to passively communicate information through pattern, color and form factor.  Advances in multi-material fiber drawing processes have enabled the integration of both light emitting and high bandwidth optical devices within fibers of ever shrinking dimensions, thereby facilitating the development of a new form of fabric communication applications.  Fibers with embedded light emitting diodes are capable of transmitting information to the surrounding, while photodiode fiber devices are capable of receiving and transducing information transmitted optically, changing the way we think about fabrics and textiles in general.  In this talk, I will describe the integration of LEDs and high bandwidth photodiode dice within thermoplastic fibers with cross-sectional dimensions below 300 microns.  Successful integration of semiconductor devices such as InGaN, Si, InGaAs, or GaAs photodiodes permit broad spectrum coverage from the visible to 1.5 microns.  The resulting fibers may be converted into fabrics via conventional textile processes such as weaving, knitting, braiding and more. A few use cases will be described such as communicating apparel for roadway safety, LiFi to garments and caps, as well as broadcast of data in real time for physiological monitoring.

Dr. Michael Rein is a Senior Product Engineer at the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) manufacturing institute. Michael leads the development of technology which bridges two yet foreign technological domains – electronics and textiles. He is currently managing programs at AFFOA that develop product prototypes with advanced multifunctional fibers and electronic textiles to enable a transformation of the US textile industry through innovation. Previously, Michael played a critical role in developing a novel approach to include prefabricated semiconducting devices into textile grade fibers at MIT.  Michael has also lead several materials engineering projects in the field of advanced composites, non destructive testing and carbon nanotube based sensors at Rafael – Adanced Defense Systems in Israel.

Dr. Rein received a BSc degree in Materials Engineering and a BA in Physics from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, MSc in Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT.