Thanks to investment in R&D and manufacturing, as well as growing demand for vehicle interior sensing solutions, IEE S.A. maintains a profitable position on the market amidst global instability.  

High energy prices, high inflation, high interest rates, geopolitical challenges, and economic recession – the overall climate has not been particularly favorable to the automotive industry. Nevertheless, IEE Group (which includes ALL Circuits, acquired in 2015, delivering electronics manufacturing services) has continued to grow its revenue significantly.  

IEE Group managed to generate a total revenue of 682,4 million euros in 2023, an increase of 24,6% compared to 2022 (547,8 million Euros). EBITDA is at 64,5 million euros, which means a progress of 60,5% compared to 2022 (40,2 million Euros).  

The main drivers behind IEE’s continuous growth are technologies such as hands on/off sensing (HOD) that support assisted and automated driving functionalities, novel vehicle safety features like Child Presence Detection (VitaSense, LiDAS), and the increasing fitment of seat belt reminder systems (SBR) to the rear seats of vehicles. Furthermore, our daughter company, ALL Circuits, has seen an increase in orders of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) for electric vehicles (inverters, battery management electronics) during the past year.  

“We take pride in our in-house built sensors that make cars all over the world safer and enhance the driver and passenger experience. Innovation has always been at the heart of IEE’s strategy, and we continue to invest in vehicle interior sensing solutions to further improve occupant safety and comfort. We also support safe usage of assisted and automated driving systems,” says Paul Schockmel, CEO at IEE S.A.  

For over three decades, IEE has gathered incomparable car seat and car interior know-how, with which it kept developing a wide variety of safety and comfort sensing solutions renowned worldwide. ALL Circuits ranks 45 among the global Top 50 EMS companies and is strongly benefitting from the vehicle electrification trends in Europe.  

Over the past 5 years, IEE has invested an estimated 30 million euros in Luxembourg, where the headquarters are, in R&D and Manufacturing 4.0. Aside from investing into resources, building up and developing solutions for growing markets such as car electrification and automated driving, IEE looks into the future and develops innovative technologies and new applications also outside of the automotive industry, in eHealth, and Industry 4.0, for example. 

IEE’s Management expects the company to be in the growth curve also this year with full order books. IEE Group booked new orders in 2023 which are worth more than 1500 million Euros. The Management is made up of Paul Schockmel (CEO), Kevin Hui (CFO), Alain Schumacher (CTO), Christophe Keiser (COO) and Bruno Racault (President at ALL Circuits).

LiDAS, IEE’s child presence detection system for school buses and child transport vehicles, will be included on the official list of safety devices published by the Agency for Children and Families in Japan. The institution is tasked with helping to prevent children from being left behind.

LiDAS – the Life Detection Assistance System for improved school bus safety has taken a major leap, gaining further international recognition in May 2023.

LiDAS was first launched in the United States in 2019 as a solution to what was initially seen as a one-country issue: Children being sometimes left behind at the end of a school drop-off shift. The cause seems to be related to the fact that the United States relies mostly on the use of school bus transportation rather than individual parent drop off in public schools. The consequence ranges from severe emotional trauma of child and caregivers to a child’s loss of life.

This is, however, a universal problem and Japan was the next country to campaign for a system such as LiDAS when a tragic accident occurred last year. A little girl was accidentally forgotten in a school van on a very hot day. Due to miscommunication and human error a little girl lost her life. The school principal had to replace a missing driver that day; he did not know the routine. Teachers believed the little girl was at home and did not start looking for her until late.

Japan started to investigate appropriate systems that are most efficient so that no further accidents should happen. A law has been adopted requiring kindergarten and day care vans/buses to be equipped with technology helping to prevent children being left unattended. The official certification of LiDAS by Japanese authorities allows installers to benefit from the financial grant defined by the law.

As a pioneer for child presence detection systems in cars – VitaSense – IEE had the necessary skills and tools to extend the efficacy of such radar systems when Dr. Joseph Funyak, IEE Sr. VP in the Transformative Products & Technology Group, proposed to develop LiDAS for use in school buses to protect a vulnerable population. Even though there are requirements in place to check that school children have safely left the vehicle, it is not uncommon that a child falls asleep in a less visible spot, or the driver is exhausted after a long day, or unforeseen circumstances such as an urgent phone call can be distractors.

“This distraction phenomenon is found in the data the State of Indiana collects”, stated Dr. Funyak. He continued, “The State of Indiana requires all Indiana schools to report in to the Department of Education when there is an incident of one or more children left on a school vehicle.  A review of this data shows that approximately two-thirds of the time the driver is distracted while searching for children left on the vehicle after a drop off.  The data also shows this occurs for very experienced drivers.  For example, the average number of years of experience for a driver involved in leaving one or more children on an Indiana school vehicle is 11.5 years for the school year just ending.”

“At the end of the day, whatever the reason, affordable technologies help save lives, give peace of mind to care takers and is available,” says Masaki Takahashi, Country Manager Japan at IEE. ”LiDAS has been field proven and is set to react immediately when the tiniest breathing motion of a living being is detected in a stationary vehicle, alerting the responsible people. For us, it is a big step that such issues are being taken into consideration more and more and addressed to prevent tragedies. We are, of course, well placed to provide solid technology to support school districts, drivers, parents, and children. Our communities deserve the confidence and peace of mind that our children have an extra layer of protection on their daily journeys back and forth. We are extremely pleased that the Government is convinced of the LiDAS functionality.”

LiDAS is an array of highly accurate sensors mounted in the ceiling of a vehicle. The system can “see” children hiding underneath a seat, even if covered by a blanket, for instance. It follows a customizable notification strategy if it detects movement inside, and alerts the pre-determined personnel (driver, fleet manager, etc.). It is a single, automated solution for safe pupil transportation.

LOPEC, translating into Large-area, Organic & Printed Electronics Convention is the leading international event for printed electronics. We have made a habit of not only attending it, but also participating in the OE-A competition (which is hosted within the frame of the event) -LOPEC is organized jointly by the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association, of which we are regular members) and Messe München GmbH.

This is where great minds in the world of printed electronics come together and, to everyone’s satisfaction and relief, this year, also face-to-face again. And this year again, our competition demonstrator seduced the jury, and we left the venue as winners in the category Best Prototype/New Product.

What about the demonstrator?

The winning demonstrator that we presented together with and thanks to one of our closest customers, Saphenus Medical Technology, is a feeling prosthesis, helping amputees “feel” the ground. That’s right: Suralis, as it is called, disposes of a unique, truly ground-breaking technology including sensors which improves the lives of those who lost their limb(s) by giving them back the sensation in a similar way a “real” leg does. Our smart footwear sensor transmits ground contact information to vibrators stimulating nerves in the upper leg. This means increased walking stability, confidence, and comfort, as well as reduced risk of phantom pain, of which most amputees suffer.

“For a medical product, it is very important to have a high-quality standard, not least because it must comply with various regulations,” says Rainer Schultheis, CEO at Saphenus. “Helping patients with phantom pain was our main motivator and we partnered with the right people who contributed to delivering this world-class technology.”

Why LOPEC?

Alain Schumacher, our CTO, who is also Vice Chair Europe within the Board of OE-A, appreciated that LOPEC is “the place to be for everyone who has a name in the printed electronics world, be it developer, organization, start-up, research institution, industrial. It is amazing what one can do for people by combining sensors with advanced medical technology. We have always been at the crossroads of various industries, supporting universities and customers with a fully customized service, from idea to mass production, going through solid research. This is how outstanding products such as “Suralis” come to life.

Our company won OE-A’s recognition in the same category for the ActiSense Smart Footwear System in 2020.

A novel approach to address vehicular heat stroke fatalities

IEE has pioneered many vehicle interior sensing solutions that led to vehicle safety improvements. Almost 30 years ago, our success story started with the development of seat-based occupant detection sensors. A first application was to avoid deployment of the front passenger airbag if the seat was not occupied, while today occupant detection is mostly used in the context of seat belt reminder systems for front and rear seats. We were first-to-market with capacitive sensing for occupant classification, allowing for automatic deactivation of the airbag for child seats, and hands off detection in the steering wheel to support assisted and automated driving functions. And now we revolutionize vehicle safety sensing once more: unattended child detection by in-vehicle radar technology.

Unfortunately, a number of children die every year of heat stroke in vehicles because they have been left unattended. It happens worldwide, but only the United States have somewhat reliable databases tracking this kind of incidents. The large majority of the victims are less than 3 years old. There are multiple reasons why a child may be left behind in the vehicle, but the key issue is: on a sunny day the vehicle interior temperature can reach a critical level within 15 minutes, and the children can do nothing to rescue themselves. As vehicle interior sensing specialists, we took up the challenge some 10+ years ago to find a solution to detect these children. Frequently the victims are young infants, that often fall asleep in vehicles. So, the challenge was to find a solution capable to quickly detect sleeping infants and to enable the vehicle to trigger an alert while the caretaker is still in the vicinity of the car.

After having evaluated a number of sensing approaches, we identified radar technology as the ideal technology. In combination with a smart algorithm, the system can detect the minor motions of a sleeping infant. And should the child be protected from the sun by a child seat integrated sunshade, the radar signals simply “looks through” the sunshade, which an optical system would not be able to do. Same for a child that might hide under the seat of a school bus. A radar sensor also creates no potential privacy issues as it doesn’t generate a picture of the vehicle interior.

For the system and algorithm development we recorded data for numerous sleeping and moving children of different ages, with a focus however on infants, as they are the most critical to detect. But as children are not always available for testing or demonstration purposes, a test tool was needed. As no suitable device was commercially available, we ran a project to develop an in-house test tool that was capable to mimic the breathing motion of a sleeping infant. This “breathing dummy” called Vivian has become a key element of our development.

Based on our radar technology, we have developed two different systems:

• VitaSense for passenger cars
• LiDAS for school buses

The VitaSense sensor module is integrated invisibly behind the headliner by the vehicle manufacturer, and the warning strategy (flashing lights, vehicle horn, smartphone message, etc) depends on the vehicle’s capabilities. VitaSense has entered the automotive market in December 2020 and is a finalist of this year’s Automotive News PACE award.

LiDAS (Life Detection Assistance System) can be integrated as an aftermarket solution into existing school bus fleets. LiDAS is made up of an array of radar sensors to cover the whole bus interior. It comes with a Central Control Unit, a wireless communication modem and a cloud-based data management hub, to trigger warnings and to interact with driver and fleet operator. Pilot trials with school districts started back in 2019, and market launch of LiDAS took place in 2020.

There is an increasing awareness of vehicle safety stakeholders and regulatory authorities for the issue of vehicular heat stroke. Euro NCAP has decided to introduce incentives for “Child Presence Detection” into its rating scheme starting 2023. They also have validated our test tool “Vivian”, so it can be used for the Euro NCAP assessment of VitaSense-equipped vehicles. In the United States, the recently adopted “Infrastructure bill” includes provisions to address the risk of leaving a child or unattended passenger in a vehicle.

Technology can be a key part of the solution if children are at risk because of memory failures, distraction or misunderstandings of the caretakers – humans are not perfect and will never be. We are confident that VitaSense and LiDAS will play an important role in reducing the number vehicular heat stroke incidents and help to save lives.

Press release, 22nd April 2021

IEE is the first sensor supplier to deploy 60-64 GHz radar technology for unattended child detection in North America, with both countries having certified VitaSense  

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took a major leap recently by granting waivers for the use of 57-64 GHz radar technology to help save children facing heatstroke risks when left unattended in a car. The decision came shortly after Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada (ISED) granted special authorization to IEE for the same technology.

The VitaSense system for unattended child detection was launched earlier this year in other parts of the world and will be introduced in North America with the arrival of the Genesis GV70 premium SUV in summer 2021.

“Many campaigners have been actively supporting the implementation of life-saving technology. This certification will help prevent tragedies or near-misses related to vehicular heatstroke. VitaSense plays a major role in the prevention mechanism, not only in the U.S., but worldwide, and we at IEE are celebrating the certification grant wholeheartedly. Our global teams worked around the clock for the success of this product. It is a great achievement to help families keep their kids safe,” says Paul Schockmel, CEO of IEE. “We are proud to be the first ones to bring such systems on the automotive market and we look forward to setting a new standard for car child safety.”

IEE’s VitaSense combines in-house sensing expertise with extended research conducted in real environment with universities and medical specialists. “It was important for us to study the physiology of occupants, from new-born babies to adults, to build a product that is able to detect even the slightest breathing movement, thus triggering the warning functions of the vehicle,” says Peter Larsen, Head of Radar Accelerator at IEE. “VitaSense is made for accuracy and reliability, all in a small unit behind the vehicle headliner which respects the car’s interior design. It is great news that the product is introduced in the U.S. and Canada. The journey continues.”

IEE commends ISED, the FCC and their staff for being pro-active in allowing this life-saving technology to enter the automotive market.

Not many people can speak with more passion and enthusiasm about printed electronics within IEE than Dr. Alain Schumacher. Which is no wonder, considering he has been active in the “field” for his entire career and knows the topic inside and out. Here is a short interview that sheds some light on the lesser publicized universe of printed electronics, widely integrated into IEE’s mainstream business, from the past and into the future.

IEE and Printed Electronics, how does that connect?

Starting out as a small company with a moderate presence in the industrial and medical markets, IEE decided to propose the potential of printed electronics to the automotive sector back in the days. This had a direct, significant impact on the evolution of our value chain. IEE experienced different challenges, decisions, and market circumstances which lead us to our present business model, mostly based on printed electronic devices. Printed electronics products are still at the very heart of the IEE business, 30 years down the road.

How have printed electronics built on IEE’s success over the years?

Initially a three-man crew, IEE S.A. is today a global market player with more than 2000 employees working in R&D and the production of sensing technologies. Our flexible printed electronics products integrate various market segments with a strong focus on systems designed for automotive interior comfort and safety applications. This is one of the most demanding sectors in terms of liability, technical and economical requirements, and a rather hostile environment for polymer-based electronic systems.

The development of sensor mats based on a similar principle as membrane switches but with improved reliability and performance were the entrance ticket to the global automotive market. Integrated in the car seat for Passenger Presence Detection (PPD) functionality, the systems enabled to better control the airbag firing, thus, to making passengers’ lives safer and reducing airbag repair costs. Since then, our sensor variants for additional applications have equipped no less than 400 million cars.

In time, the advantage of the favorable aspect ratio of thin flexible films combined with the high design freedom of printed electronics technology became obvious and opened the door for further sophisticated applications related to automotive safety and comfort (hands off detection for steering wheels) but also medical applications (footwear sensing solutions that help prevent Alzheimer’s’ and monitor health and sport performance).

What are the unique advantages of using printed electronics from IEE?

Obviously, our technology is much more than merely producing foil sensors. What truly makes us stand out and is our unique offer to customers for their various applications, which we prepare completely in-house, from A to Z. We first research a solution, develop it, put it on the production line, thoroughly check the quality of the end product, test it and when it is approved by our teams, it is ready to go to the customer and we start the mass production. We call this comprehensive service based on our extensive competences in material sciences, design, hardware and software development, manufacturing, quality, etc. “from lab to fab”.

What does it take for a company with roots in printed electronics to go towards IoT?

Identifying the potential of key technologies is the essential starting point to developing specific business ideas. But agility, innovative spirit, strong interdisciplinary and strategic partnerships as well as state-of-the-art customer intelligence, know-how and timely favorable market conditions are also mandatory prerequisites for a successful, sustainable, and prosperous evolution of any project.

Also, to maintain a competitive position in continuously challenging and changing market environments, the vision must be focused on how to satisfy the demand and potential functions best, rather than to hold on to traditional technologies. Thus, driving the establishment of high-level R&D infrastructures for more complex systems is required and competencies in disciplines like digitalization, big data, cyber security up to functional safety are being integrated into the making of future products. We know that printed/hybrid electronics technologies have great potential for future automotive and consumer applications. We are on the way to extending our market position via implementations of new technologies.

Alain Schumacher is Chief Technology Officer at IEE and acts as Vice-Chair Europe within the Board of Directors for OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association)

Press release, 19th January 2021

We’ve been pioneering the in-cabin automotive sensing solutions industry for almost 30 years, focusing on occupant detection and classification to enhance passenger safety. Today, IEE is ready to address Child Presence Detection and releases VitaSense, a highly accurate radar sensor system capable of detecting the vital signs of a new-born baby and help prevent tragic hot car deaths.  

“VitaSense is the world’s first interior radar sensing solution for Unattended Child Detection (UCD) in vehicles and is likely to become a landmark product for our company,” says Alain Schumacher, Chief Technology Officer at IEE. “Firstly, we identified the problem of children left unattended in vehicles, exposed to heatstroke risk. In the United States alone, 39 children die of vehicular heatstroke on average each year. With our experience in intelligent sensor solutions, we were eager to develop a product capable to “spot” these children, who are frequently sleeping infants, to enable the triggering of saving measures. 

We have conducted extensive research and tests together with universities and medical specialists. We monitored, analyzed and simulated a wealth of data coming from real-life breathing patterns, from new-born babies to adults. Thanks to our know-how, VitaSense has the necessary capabilities to detect children, even when they sleep, and when they lie beneath a blanket. We are very proud of our field work that helped us develop a high-accuracy, reliable sensor which contributes to saving lives.” 

VitaSense is a small sensing unit that can easily be integrated behind the vehicle’s headliner without altering the interior design.  When an unattended child is detected, the vehicle’s alarm and communications systems can alert caretakers or passers-by that a child is still present in the car. Various warnings can be triggered depending on the vehicle’s capabilities: flashing lights, sounds, smart phone messages, etc. As it is based on radar technology, VitaSense is fully respecting your privacy, as no camera is used. 

What makes VitaSense a ground-breaking, one-of-a-kind product is its unique mix of advanced sensing technology with innovative algorithms, in combination with easy implementation for the vehicle manufacturer. Fatal in-vehicle heatstroke accidents involving children is a global issue which has lately been receiving increasing attention. 

“With Euro NCAP incentives starting 2023 as well as the US Hot Cars Act on the political agenda, aiming at heatstroke prevention for Unattended Children, we know that VitaSense can become a product of choice for the world’s vehicle manufacturers. This is IEE’s first radar product which is part of a family of future applications,” says Alexander Treis, Business Development Manager at IEE.  

VitaSense is currently in mass production and the Genesis GV70 is the first vehicle equipped with this novel sensing solution as an option. Genesis is a premium brand of the Hyundai Motor Group. 

This November, we had the honor and the pleasure to host a large group of enthusiast Erasmus students coming from Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain and Austria to learn more about our sensing solutions and our company.

The group gathered in Luxembourg at LTEtt (Lycée Technique d’Ettelbruck) for the kick-off session of a new Erasmus+ project promoting European mobility, cooperation and cross-cultural education: Open Your Senses. This year, the theme is climate change and how to prevent it. One of the goals of the project is therefore to design a measurement box able to record environmental parameters like temperature, CO2, fine dust, etc. The box will be used in different countries for educational purposes and to raise awareness about climate change to a broad audience. The teachers decided that a company involved in designing high tech sensors such as IEE would make the perfect fit for this project and well worth a visit.

“We would like to stimulate these young people aged 16-21 towards new technologies and what can be achieved with them. Not all of them have a technical background, but what matters is to bring ideas together in an international environment and try to find solutions for a common goal. We thought IEE can contribute a lot to opening up their perspective on what sensors can do in practice, how they integrate various products and help inspire them for this project and future ones,” says Marc Engel, Electrotechnics teacher at LTEtt. “After all, to measure is to know,” he concludes.

It was a great experience as there was a lot of curiosity and interaction during the presentations and demos given by our staff. The young people were particularly fascinated with the sensing solutions used for digital shoes, the HOD steering wheel in the context of future assisted/automated driving and learned that they are also used in systems such as VitaSense that help save children’s lives.

After their stormy arrival in the IEE premises, their departure left us with the comforting feelings that we made them discover new, exciting things and that they will remember us for a while. Perhaps they will even think of our SBR sensor when travelling by car, knowing that our IEE-designed and produced sensor mat might be found underneath the car seat.

We, at IEE, were very grateful for their visit and would like to wish every single one of them the best of luck for the future. We have no doubt they will have a role to play in it. 

Ever since the mandatory implementation of the seat belts in cars in the mid-1960s, the device has been on every auto maker’s radar. As the belt wearing law reinforcements were slowly but surely shifting from addressing front seat passengers only to including rear seat passengers, car makers have been trying to improve the seat belts, making them safer, more comfortable and increasingly intelligent.

However, while its efficacy during accidents has been proven beyond anyone’s doubt throughout the years, not all drivers and passengers are wearing it, despite it being a legal obligation. Unless, that is, they are urged via seat belt reminders in a very insistent way to buckle up.

The role of the seat belt reminder is, of course, to make drivers and passengers adopt a safe behavior once the car is set in motion. Therefore, they are made to release warning signals ranging from visuals with blinking icons or text displays to high acoustic pitches of growing intensity. These “bothersome” reminders are there to motivate vehicle occupants more than any law can to buckle up before they start their journey. Are they effective? Yes! Audio visual seat belt reminders have proven to reduce the number
of unbelted occupants by 80%.

Having pioneered the development and manufacturing of occupant detection sensors for seat belt reminder systems, we at IEE firmly believe it is best to be reminded and to be alive.

Did you know that…

• In the early ‘70s, the U.S. tried to make interlock systems in cars compulsory to promote the use of seat belts. This failed because the car would not start unless all front seat passengers were buckled up. The public reacted against it and the requirement was withdrawn. Only few car brands decided to fit their vehicles with very basic seat belt reminder systems.
• The ‘90s changed that and the seat belt was again in the automotive safety spotlight. The seat belt reminders started to be taken seriously. Some vehicle manufacturers introduced more advanced SBR systems with audio visual signals and warning escalations.
• At IEE, we have been offering front passenger seat sensor mats for seat belt reminder solutions since 1997. In 2014 we produced the first rear seat occupant detection sensors to support advanced SBR for all vehicle occupants.
• In 2002, Euro NCAP began to grant bonus points to cars with built-in seat belt reminders, helping to improve the vehicle’s safety star rating. The first five-star ratings were enabled via the SBR points. Since then, SBR incentives have played a significant role in the Euro NCAP ratings and strongly influenced the vehicle manufacturer’s SBR installation rates.
• In 2009, the seat belt reminder becomes mandatory for the driver seat in the EU for new passenger cars.

Towards a 100% seat belt use across the EU

One can only hope for this, but more efforts are being deployed to reach this target and save more lives. An annual seat belt campaign is rolled out in the EU countries every year in March intended to educate and enforce good practice. Still, where education fails, technology and legislation together can help.  

1st September 2019 marks a new era, as the seat belt reminders have now become mandatory for every seat in new cars.

Since September 1st, 2019, EU legislation requires advanced SBR systems on the front seats of newly introduced vehicle models of any vehicle category. A simpler SBR variant is also required on the rear seats of passenger cars. From September 1st, 2021 onwards, these requirements will apply to all newly produced vehicles in the EU market.

Watch this video from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) below for further background information on the relevance of seat belt reminders. From us at IEE, take this piece of advice on board: buckle up every single day and for every single trip you make, even if it is a very short one. Stay safe behind the wheel.