The Future Is Now: Dr Mike Hack Of Universal Display Corporation On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

As a part of our series called ‘The Future Is Now: ‘Cutting-edge technological breakthroughs’ we had the pleasure of interviewing: Mike Hack, Ph.D.

Mike Hack, Ph.D. is Vice President of Business Development for Universal Display Corporation (UDC), where he serves as a technology scout and leads the UDC evaluation teams given his extensive experience with many thin film technologies, both organic and inorganic, as well as display technologies. Prior to joining Universal Display in 1999, Mike was with dpiX, a Xerox Company, where he was responsible for manufacturing flat panel displays and digital medical imaging products based on amorphous silicon TFT technology. Mike received his Ph. D. degree from Cambridge University, England in 1981.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have been a passionate advocate for innovation throughout my career. My more than 40 years of being at the forefront of technological change and advancement includes helping to create energy-efficient products and reshape displays from bulky, low-performance devices into the vibrant thin screens we know today. I started my career working on a new semiconductor material, amorphous silicon, which could be used for both solar cells and displays. It was very exciting to work on something that could have a large impact on society and was still relatively unknown — exploring how we can produce clean energy and how we could revolutionize the display industry away from large Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) to portable displays. My work in this area continued when I joined UDC to develop incredible energy-efficient products — mainly OLED technologies and materials — that can leverage the benefits of organic electronics and also have a major impact on the display and consumer electronics industry. UDC’s high-performance, energy-efficient phosphorescent OLED materials and technology have been a driving force propelling OLEDs to become the dominant display technology with stunning visual performance and form factors. I’m proud to continue supporting the company in bringing energy-efficient OLED materials and technology to market, which I truly believe are making the world a better place.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Seeing so many foldable devices in the market today, I fondly reminisce about one of the first patents I filed at UDC for a concept called the Universal Communication Device — a pen-shaped device with a screen that rolled out. It was 2003, the days of bar and clamshell phones. OLEDs were not yet widely used in consumer electronics. Still, our founder, Sherwin Seligsohn, envisioned a future where OLEDs would be the ubiquitous display technology that enabled a world where flexible displays were a part of our daily lives. Twenty years later, with the help of UDC’s innovation, Sherwin’s vision is becoming a reality. In the last two decades, UDC has discovered, developed and commercialized increasingly energy-efficient OLED materials and technologies to support our customers and the expansion of the OLED ecosystem. OLEDs have become mainstream and are now enabling the form factor revolution. Companies are showcasing prototypes of slidable, rollable and expandable displays for devices from handhelds to TVs. I’m proud to work for a company that is making the high-performance, energy-efficient OLED materials that are enabling the OLED revolution. The beginning of the flexible OLED display future our founder envisioned has arrived.

Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

It’s exciting to work at a company that is focused on continuously inventing and developing materials and technologies to make OLED devices more energy efficient. UDC’s phosphorescent OLED materials and technology are lowering the carbon footprint of consumer electronics with OLED displays around the world and our ongoing work is enabling further improvements. In fact, we believe we are on track for a groundbreaking achievement — the commercial introduction of a phosphorescent blue OLED material in 2024. This is important because most OLED displays in the market today use red, green and blue materials to create the full spectrum of colors that form the images you see. Currently, only the red and green subpixels use energy-efficient phosphorescent OLED, along with an inefficient blue material.

How do you think this might change the world?

We believe that the introduction of our full suite of red, green and blue phosphorescent emissive materials will unlock a vast array of opportunities for higher energy efficiency and higher performance across a broad range of existing and new OLED applications. We believe phosphorescent blue will amplify the benefits of OLEDs such as lowering a device’s carbon footprint, which translates into longer battery life, smaller batteries, thinner devices, increased brightness, lower operating temperature, and other features.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

Having the best technology doesn’t always result in it being adopted and commercialized. The UDC team was skilled in working with our manufacturing partner to understand what they needed and what our customers needed to adopt phosphorescent OLED materials and technology. The combination of technical expertise and business savvy created was a combination for success.

The advent of smartphones changed the world and fueled widespread adoption of OLEDs. When consumers began adopting smartphones, the display — for truly the first time — became mobile, a screen that helped people with everything from navigation to entertainment and productivity. The energy efficiency benefits of UDC’s phosphorescent OLED materials provided tremendous value for displays in mobile devices, allowing panel makers to cut down on power consumption while offering vivid colors, a near infinite contrast ration, 180-degree viewing angles, and fast response times. In 2010, Samsung Unveiled the Galaxy S model smartphone that featured an OLED display, paving the way for the creation of a robust OLED ecosystem. Today, roughly half of smartphones use OLED displays and we expect additional expansion of OLEDs in tablets, laptops, monitors and TVs.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

The OLED industry is young, exciting and fast-moving. If you’re reading this on a smartphone, there’s a good chance that UDC’s high-performance, energy-efficient phosphorescent OLED materials are producing light and color to create the image you’re viewing right now. About half of smartphones around the world — as well as small, medium and large displays from smartwatches to TVs — feature OLED displays. But that’s only the beginning. We expect to see more widespread adoption of OLED displays in IT, bringing the quality and efficiency benefits of phosphorescent OLEDs to tablets, laptops and monitors. We’re also seeing more automotive manufacturers reimagine the cabins of their vehicles by using stunning OLED displays as the centerpiece.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I have been fortunate during my career to work with a myriad of talented people that have helped me grow — it’s been a journey of learning new technical and business skills and adapting to the ever-changing technology and business landscapes.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

As we fast forward into the future, we believe that OLEDs will be the ubiquitous display technology. OLEDs have applications spanning the consumer electronics landscape and are enabling conformable, foldable and rollable products to become prevalent in everyday life.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

• Find an Innovative and Inspiring Team — I was incredibly fortunate to find an inspiring, innovative and amazing team at Universal Display Corporation. It’s why I’ve stayed at the company for more than 20 years. In that time, I’ve seen us grow from an unprofitable start-up to a pioneering leader in the OLED industry. Working alongside what I believe are some of the brightest minds in tech keeps excitement high and the mind curious. We’re tackling major challenges in chemistry, physics and electrical engineering that lead to a better, greener world. Finding a team to join on a similar journey is a recipe for success.
• Embrace Travel — UDC is a global company with offices in China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, as well as our headquarters in New Jersey and subsidiaries in Delaware and California. Our work has allowed me to travel around the world. By embracing these opportunities, I am able to deeply appreciate exploring new places and cultures while sharing innovative scientific ideas.
• Never Stop Sharing Great Ideas — From discussing groundbreaking concepts with the brilliant minds inside UDC to bolster our research and development to spreading the word about our novel solutions to the world, sharing ideas is at the core of innovation. When I started, we were educating the world about the incredible performance and energy efficiency benefits of phosphorescent OLEDs. Today, we are talking about our next-generation materials and technology that continue to improve energy efficiency of consumer devices. On the horizon, we are developing a proprietary device architecture called Plasmonic PHOLED that we expect to further bolster the lifetime and energy efficiency of OLED devices. We also believe the OLED TV market has an enormous growth potential and that UDC’s groundbreaking Organic Vapor Jet Printing (OVJP) manufacturing platform can enable lower-cost, higher throughput OLED TV manufacturing to expand the market. OVJP is a mask-less, dry printing process for all OLED layers and depositing and patterning a Red-Green-Blue, side-by-side pixel layout for a full-color display.
• Be Open to Change and Adapting to New Environments — The tech industry is constantly changing, and adapting along with the industry is crucial. When I began at UDC, the OLED display ecosystem really did not exist. Our work starting out was proselytizing OLEDs and trying to develop and commercialize our first phosphorescent OLED materials. Our work led to strong partnerships with the giants of display in China and Korea, which are fueling OLED and form factor revolutions. The OLED ecosystem and conversations of today are enormously different from those early days. Phosphorescent OLEDs have proven themselves as a high-performance, energy-efficient technology with high demand from consumers. Now, our work and ideas focus on bringing the next generation of OLED materials and technology to the world. OLEDs have a long and wide runway for innovation and growth, creating new possibilities and supporting the expansion of the OLED industry in the years to come.
• Simplify the Complex — If you want others to understand the importance of what you are trying to convey, it must be simple, regardless of how complex the topic. Many years ago, I invented a new device concept and had to explain it to a consultant. I prepared and put together a presentation laying out the idea. I walked into the room, he looked up at me and said, “if you can’t explain the idea to me in simple words without a presentation, I’m not interested.” While specifics and nuance can be important, you must be able to convey the core of any concept in a way that’s easy to understand.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Surround yourself with good people and everything will work out for the best. The UDC team is truly exceptional. With the work of its team, UDC has experienced amazing success in navigating the complexities of the OLED industry. The talent at UDC has helped the company grow from its time in the 1990s as a small U.S. company to today where devices around the world incorporate our materials and technology. Now, our team supports the largest display panel makers in the world. Along the way our scientists, engineers and technicians devoted countless hours to tackle significant scientific challenges and develop novel solutions. I’m proud to be a part of this journey, and I believe there are many more discoveries and successes to come.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Readers can find Universal Display Corporation on LinkedIn, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) or, visit our website to keep up with the latest information.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.