The Kickstarter community isn’t just wild for funding movies: a rollerball pen featuring conductive ink is about to hit the half-million dollar funding mark, with over 9,000 backers and 21 days to go as of today. Breaking the boundaries of circuit boards, the pen allows you to write or doodle circuit paths on notebook paper and other surfaces. Do-it-yourself makers, engineering designers, and educators looking to create STEM curriculum will have a terrific tool on hand for quick prototyping with this product.

Although conductive ink products have been around before, this ink, developed by Professor Jennifer Lewis, formerly with the University of Illinois and now at Harvard University, and her graduate students Brett Walker and Analisa Russo, exhibits high conductivity and can be applied to a wide range of substrates, such as paper and plastic,  while holding its form tightly without smearing or dispersing as quickly as older products might. There are numerous examples on the Kickstarter page, as well as comparisons with other products.

Electroninks Inc. and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have entered into a license agreement under which Electroninks can commercially use the ink in their pen, and, potentially, in other products to come.

Electroninks’ first product, the Circuit Scribe, is a rollerball pen that is filled with the instantly drying, specially formulated conductive ink. This pen allows anyone to quickly draw circuits on everyday materials such as notebook paper. Electroninks has also developed electronic components to supplement the Circuit Scribe.

“We are excited to see the tremendous response through Kickstarter. The University’s startup resources allowed us a fast start out of the gate. We look forward to expanding the product lines and application areas for our inks”

The link to the Kickstarter campaign is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/electroninks/circuit-scribe-draw-circuits-instantly

“Circuit Scribe can revolutionize how electronics are taught in schools and bring a new immediacy to prototyping. Further applications of Electroninks technologies are broad, bringing printed electronics to materials previously not easily accessible,” Lisa Dhar, Associate Director of the Office of Technology Management of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ,said.

 

Circuit Scribe Gift card

The Kickestarter campaign is also offering kits and gift sets, as holiday incentive to join the campaign.

The Kickestarter campaign is also offering kits and gift sets, as holiday incentive to join the campaign.