Voltera

October's a packed month for us on the road. 🧳

We're hitting three events back to back: TechBlick Berlin (Oct 20-22), IEEE Sensors in Rotterdam (Oct 25-28), and SMTA International in Illinois (Oct 27-29). ✈️

If you're at any of these, come say hi — we'd love to connect. 🤝

TechBlick Berlin: https://hubs.ly/Q04ymKlM0
IEEE Sensors: https://hubs.ly/Q04ymKnp0
SMTA International: https://hubs.ly/Q04ymKmC0

Been soldering for years? Conductive ink still isn't like copper. 🔩

Silver ink doesn't conduct heat the same way, which means solder spreads slower — tinning your pads first goes a long way. Push your iron too hot or too long (above 180°C or over 30 seconds), and you risk "silver scavenging," where the silver in your traces dissolves right into the solder. ⚠️

The fix: keep your iron at 180°C, use only silver-compatible solder alloy, and tin your pads and component leads before joining anything. 🔧

Read our guide on hand soldering: https://hubs.ly/Q04xWPrm0

Could astronauts one day monitor water quality using electronics printed in space? Researchers are already validating the process. 🚀

Oregon State University, working with NASA, used V-One to print an unconventional gold-platinum (AuPt) conductive ink onto ceramic substrates — developing conductivity sensors aimed at in-space water monitoring for future ISS and Artemis missions. 💧

Read the full paper: Schlake, E., Fox, A., & Kandadai, N. (2026). Laser Sintering Gold Platinum Conductivity Sensors for Water Reclamation Processes in Space. https://hubs.ly/Q04xWPcf0

A significant amount of food waste happens before it even reaches the checkout line. 🍎

PULR Technologies, based in Trois-Rivières, is tackling this with smart labels that give food supply chains real visibility into how products are handled: temperature exposure, shelf life remaining, cold chain breaks, instead of relying on guesswork. 📦

To develop these labels, PULR used NOVA to test material combinations, print functional patterns, and iterate quickly, all in-house without sending sensitive designs off-site. 🔬

Better traceability means less food discarded while still safe to sell, and fewer risks slipping through when it isn't. 🌱

Read the full story: https://hubs.ly/Q04xWP870

Want to iterate fast on FR1 and FR4 boards without switching tools? 🎯

V-One prints, drills, solders, reflows printed circuit boards, right on your desk.

Engineers, product developers, students, and researchers around the world have used it to print sensors, antennas, green electronics, and more.

See what V-One can do: https://hubs.ly/Q04xWP1M0

What's next for conductive inks in printed electronics? Find out live. 🎙️

Join us Thursday, October 1 at 11 a.m. ET for a conversation with Léonardo Giacomini, Product Manager at VFP Ink Technologies, alongside our own Tom Pol. 🔬

Giacomini will spotlight VFP's Silver Electron flexible silver ink and other next-gen materials, and show how they pair with NOVA for direct ink writing of conductive features. Tom will cover how NOVA enables rapid prototyping and material testing across a wide range of functional inks. ⚡

Register free: https://hubs.ly/Q04xWP5s0

Why does NOVA heat its dispenser to exactly 35°C? Here's the science. 🌡️

A 10°C swing in room temperature can cause a 70% change in ink viscosity, and that translates to a 50% shift in flow rate. AC turning on, sunlight, HVAC vents — all of it can throw off your print without you noticing. 📐

By actively heating the dispenser to 35°C, well above typical room temperature, NOVA keeps viscosity (and therefore flow rate) stable, so print quality stays consistent regardless of what's happening in your space. 🔬

Read the full breakdown: https://hubs.ly/Q04xktzx0

Building multilayer circuits on NOVA? A few tips to help you print smoothly:
🔹 Fiducial markers keep every layer aligned
🔹 Give crossover traces enough overlap to make a strong connection
🔹 Always check material datasheets before combining inks

Read full breakdown of base, dielectric, and crossover layer design: https://hubs.ly/Q04xks7k0

We're heading to EPTECH Kitchener — come find us! 📍

Catch us on September 30 in Kitchener-Waterloo, where our Technical Sales Lead, Gio Obando, will explore how innovators around the world are using Voltera’s prototyping platforms to develop cutting-edge applications, including wearable sensors, printed batteries, antennas, and more.

Spots are free. Reserve yours before they fill up: https://hubs.ly/Q04xkryx0. 🎟️

We look forward to seeing you!

Are you developing robots that do martial arts, cook dinner, or run errands for you? Every robot runs on the same basic loop: sense, decide, move. 🤖

Here's that loop in its simplest form — a line-following robot controlled entirely by a double-sided PCB printed with silver ink on FR1. ⚡

Infrared sensors detect the path, a motor driver handles the steering, and timers do the rest. 🔧

We drilled 39 through-holes with V-One, printed both sides of the board, dispensed solder paste, then manually soldered the components into place. 🎯

Read the white paper: https://hubs.ly/Q04xkq7N0