So my name is Joss, and I’m. And I interrupt you. I’m working on research in circular economy and automotive sector, and I would like to know your point of view. If you accept, I’m getting going to record our conversation, transcribe it and put the transcription with a pseudonym, not your real name, in a repository of text documents that will be used for the research. If you do this and you change your mind and no longer want to participate, get in touch with us and we will immediately remove your interview from the repository. I’m leaving you an information sheet with contact information, so if you agree, please tell me your name and that you agree.
Alan Brown I agree.
Thank you Alan. So the first question, can you tell me a bit about your educational and professional background and interests?
Sure Educational wise, I’ve got you know, I’ve got a background in chemistry. I’ve been in the conductive ink business for almost 20 years now, and that ranges from everything production, technical and now business development.
What is your area of expertise?
Conductive inks.
Uh, the theme of this conference is the future of Electronics Reshaped. What does the idea of reshaping electronics for the future mean to you?
Finding niche applications where materials can be used as applications emerge. You know, not, you know, non-traditional applications as things get, you know, artificial intelligence, internet of things. How applications grow.
What do you think is the relationship between electronics and sustainability?
Good question. You know, as we continue to evolve, we need to have materials that can be recycled, that we can be more. I can’t think of the word more practical with the way we use. We use materials in order to enable them to work work longer as well.
Could you define a circular economy in your own words? What is it?
A circular economy in my own words would be when you can start with a material, it gets used into an application, and then those materials can be repurposed to start all over again through the supply chain.
Do you participate in a circular economy yourself in any aspects of your life?
That’s that’s what I have to think about. I mean, sure, my personal life. Yeah, sure.
Yeah. For example. What?
Oh, boy. You know, I know that we use materials at home that we will repurpose for other applications we do not like to. We do not like to be wasteful.
Do you think electronics can play a role in making the car industry more sustainable?
Yeah I do. It’s again depending on how how materials are used. There are many different applications that electronics can be, you know, like printed electronics can be used in, in in the automotive sector, we’re already involved in applications where materials are used. But again, can you make things more lightweight, more efficient? More, more. Oh, less reliant on fuel? There are things where where materials can play a part to help help achieve that.
And what about circular economy? Do you think electronics can play a role in making the car industry more circular, reusing and so on.
Yeah. You know, as long as materials, you know, can be repurposed. Yes. I do think that could help with that.