Tyres are but one product that may benefit from Continental’s research into integrating printed electronics within rubber. At a facility in Freiburg, Germany, the company is working to digitalise rubber and plastic products that previously only performed mechanical tasks. Work conducted there under the leadership of Dr Tim Wolfer includes the three-year sensIC (sens for sensor and IC for integrated circuit) project, which is being co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to the tune of 2.9 million euros.