Interview with Hubert Bieder, Tactotek
“IMSE enables seamless HMIs like hidden-until-lit controls”
As Senior Advisor at Tactotek, Bieder applies his expertise to the development and industrialization of Injection Molded Structural Electronics.
Hubert Bieder
Integrating light and electronics directly into structural components marks a shift in how car interiors are designed. In this interview, Hubert Bieder of Tactotek explains how IMSE (Injection Molded Structural Electronics) enables functional surfaces that merge lighting, sensing, and control.
With more than three decades of experience across major
automotive players – including Mercedes-Benz and Daimler – Hubert Bieder has helped shape the evolution of automotive
interior lighting from early research to large-scale production. A graduate of
the University of Stuttgart and former researcher at the Institute of
Microelectronics Stuttgart, he has worked in advanced engineering, reverse
engineering, rapid prototyping, and production quality – always focused on
bringing innovative ideas into reliable series applications.
Now serving as Senior Advisor at Tactotek, Bieder applies
this deep OEM and engineering expertise to the development and
industrialization of Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE) – a
technology that merges lighting, sensing, and electronics into thin, functional
surfaces for next-generation vehicle interiors.
At the 6th ISELED Conference in
Munich, he will take the stage to discuss how IMSE enables scalable,
production-ready solutions for seamless, intelligent interior lighting. In the
run-up to the event, we asked him three questions about trends, challenges, and
opportunities in the evolution of smart surfaces for automotive applications.
ADT: Tactotek’s IMSE technology transforms
traditional hardware into smart, interactive surfaces. From your perspective,
what are the biggest advantages of this approach for automotive OEMs seeking
both differentiation and sustainability?
Bieder: IMSE integrates light, graphics, and
electronics into one slim structure. That reduces parts, package, weight, and
assembly steps across applications — from controls to decorative panels to
emblems. Designers gain freedom for unique lighting and textures, while
engineers benefit from robust, validated processes on standard equipment. And
it’s more sustainable: less material use, lighter products, and fully
recyclable at end of life. So OEMs get cost efficiency, design differentiation,
and sustainability in one technology.
Your talk at the ISELED Conference highlights “IMSE for
Automotive OEMs: Functional, Scalable, Ready.” How do you ensure that such
innovative surface-integrated solutions can move reliably from prototypes into
mass production?
IMSE is production-ready because it runs on standard
processes — printing, SMT, forming, molding — nothing exotic. The materials are
automotive-rated, the design rules are fixed, and reliability is validated to
OEM standards. And we don’t do it alone: every step is backed by ecosystem
partners, from material suppliers to Tier-1 molders. That’s how prototypes move
reliably into mass production.
Lighting is becoming an essential part of HMI and user
experience inside vehicles. How can TactoTek’s smart surface technologies help
OEMs seamlessly combine ambient lighting, touch functionality, and decorative
design into compact and efficient solutions for future mobility?
IMSE integrates light, touch, and decoration into one
thin 3D surface, enabling seamless HMIs like hidden-until-lit controls and slim
ambient lighting while cutting space, weight, and assembly. It’s scalable
because the full ecosystem is in place — from material suppliers and equipment
providers to designers, functional film manufacturers, and Tier-1 molders. With
our licensing model, OEMs and the whole supply chain gets guided support from
concept to series production.
