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EPIC Mentors in Photonics
EPIC is the leading photonics industry association. The network is composed of more than 700 companies across 33 countries, and hundreds of experts and leaders who regularly engage and contribute their knowledge and experience through formal and informal interactions. Sharing experience is a mutually enriching experience. The EPIC Photonics Mentorship programme is not primarily aimed at young professionals, but also at industry veterans and proven leaders who are exploring unchartered territories and willing to understand new markets and applications. This service is part of your EPIC membership benefits.
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Adam
Piotrowski
President of the Board
VIGO Systems (Poland)
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Adam Piotrowski
President of the Board
VIGO Systems (Poland)
Adam Piotrowski (President) is a graduate of Warsaw University of Technology in 2002 with a master's degree in electronics engineering. A Ph.D. degree in technical sciences engineer at the Military University of Technology in 2008. He works at VIGO System S.A. since 2002. He was introducing novel semiconductor production technologies to the company and managing the production. Since January 2015 is a President of the Board of VIGO System S.A. and as a president of Employer Association Polish Technological Platform on Photonics. Since 2017 he is a member of Board of Stakeholders of Partnership Photonics21 taking active participation in providing the vision for european technological development. He is the author of many publications on methods of manufacture and applications of infrared detectors. He is responsible for application developments of novel sensor systems especially laser based, affordable gas detectors and analyzers. He was taking part in multiple national, european and pure industrial projects. He is an advisor to Polish Ministry of Economical Development and research institutes in the field of microelectronics and photonics.
André
Richter
General Manager
VPIphotonics (Germany)
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André Richter
General Manager
VPIphotonics (Germany)
André Richter (General Manager) is an expert with 20+ years of experience in the field of optical communications and photonics. He received a M.Sc. degree from Georgia Tech, USA and Ph.D. from TU Berlin, Germany. André co-authored 110+ publications and contributed to 15+ international R&D projects. Being with the VPIphotonics team for over two decades, André originated numerous novelties in industry research and education, commercialization and market development. He held management positions with responsibilities for technical services, product management, research & development before being appointed as General Manager in 2013.
Andreas
Weinert
Director Technology Management
LEONI Fiber Optics (Germany)
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Andreas Weinert
Director Technology Management
LEONI Fiber Optics (Germany)
Andreas Weinert (Managing Director) studied physics and received a diploma in physics from Technical University Dresden. He began his career in 1991 as a sales engineer at Siemens, in particular plastic fiber optic, and then joined Corning in 2000 as an application engineer. In 2001, he founded his own company, Fiber Optic Systems, which specializes in the development, manufacture and sale of fiber optic cables of all kinds and components thereof, in particular plastic fiber optic cables and consulting for fiber optic systems. Leoni acquired his company in 2005. The business was merged with the existing LEONI Fiber Optics activities. During the next years, he managed the acquisition of some other companies in the fiber optic area as Vice President Business Unit Fiber Optics at LEONI. Today, he is responsible for all Fiber Optics Locations at LEONI in Europe, Asia and America.
Andreas
Umbach
CEO
AUCCEPT Consulting (Germany)
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Andreas Umbach
CEO
AUCCEPT Consulting (Germany)
Andreas Umbach (CEO) holds a Dipl. Phys. degree from Technical University Berlin. In 1989 he joined the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut where he worked on the development of Indium-Phosphide based optoelectronic integrates circuits comprising High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) and high-speed waveguide-integrated photodiodes. In 1998 he and two colleagues founded the company u²t Photonics AG as a spin-off from HHI, which became a leading supplier for ultrafast devices for optical fiber communications. As CEO he lead multiple national and international acquisitions and in January 2014 he sold u²t Photonics AG to Finisar Corp. and served as a Vice President, General Manger and CTO of Finisar Germany GmbH until 2018. Andreas founded AUCCEPT Consulting GmbH to offer AUthentic Coaching and Consulting on Entrepreneurship and Photonics Technologies. He is pleased to coach entrepreneurs and give advice on strategic business decisions throughout the lifecycle of the company. Support of the management team and leadership training are offered by direct coaching mandates or in the form of board positions.
Andres
Cifuentes
CEo & Founder
ASE Optics (Spain)
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Andres Cifuentes
CEo & Founder
ASE Optics (Spain)
Andres Cifuentes (CEO), founder of ASE Optics Europe, a firm dedicated to high-end optical systems design and engineering and product development in optronics, addressing a worldwide market in security and defense, scientific industry or instrumentation for various industries. His experience is in business development. He has thrust the company into optical systems solutions for fusion environments, in low light optical systems, OCT optical metrology, thermal systems for security or optical systems for medical applications, while leading a team of innovative scientists and engineers. Previously, he has worked as a research technician, optical engineer, and optics manager on projects ranging from thermal imaging, visual optics, illumination systems, anamorphic imaging lens or optical metrology systems, applied to markets such as medical, defense and security, automotive or industrial metrology.
Antoine
Müller
CEO
Alpes Lasers (Switzerland)
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Antoine Müller
CEO
Alpes Lasers (Switzerland)
Antoine Müller (CEO) studied Solid State Physics at the University of Geneva and received a PhD in Physics in 1995 for his work in Quantum Cryptography with Professor N. Gisin. He held a post-doctoral position on the same subject at the University of Geneva and later at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. In 1998, he joined Professor Faist's group of mesoscopic physics at the University of Neuchâtel to work on electrical tuning in QCLs. In 1998, he co-founded Alpes Lasers SA and acts as CEO since the foundation.
Arnaud
Rigny
Business Development Director
Cailabs (France)
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Arnaud Rigny
Business Development Director
Cailabs (France)
Arnaud Rigny graduated from the Télécom ParisTech engineering school in 1993 and obatained a phD in optoelectronics from Télécom ParisTech in 1998. He has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of photonics and semiconductor. After a 10-year experience in research and development at Corning then in product line management at Alcatel Optronics, he joined Soitec as a manager of research and development projects before taking on commercial responsibilities in 2007. In 2018, he took the responsibility of the ioNext Business Line (integrated photonics on glass) of Teem Photonics. He is now Business development Director for new applications at Cailabs (Multi Place Light Conversion technology).
Arturo
Baldasano
CEO
New Infrared Technologies (Spain)
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Arturo Baldasano
CEO
New Infrared Technologies (Spain)
Arturo Baldasano (CEO) studied Business Administration at C.E.U (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain), and in 2000 an M.B.A by IE Business School. He has worked in different European banks and has been involved in the foundation of several companies. Since 2009 is NIT CEO and Co-founder, bringing a completely new technology to the market. NIT is specialized in uncooled MWIR infrared detectors, cameras, and solutions. Provides affordable infrared systems to different industries to increase productivity and quality in their manufacturing process.
Basil
Garabet
President & CEO
NKT Photonics (Denmark)
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Basil Garabet
President & CEO
NKT Photonics (Denmark)
Basil Garabet (NKT Photonics President and CEO) Basil holds an MSc in lasers and their applications and has 37 years of international management experience from leading positions in the photonics industry, with JK Lasers, EM4, Altitun, Melles Griot, Pirelli, and Lasertron.
Beate
Sauter
Vice President
Lumics (Germany)
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Beate Sauter
Vice President
Lumics (Germany)
Beate has >20 years of international senior management experience in the laser & photonics industry and has vast knowledge in implementing and managing global sales networks, in starting and ramping-up new branches & business fields, and in the development of OEMs and B2B integrators. Beate studied International Business at the Karlshochschule International University Karlsruhe, and her first work experience in photonics dates back to 1992 when she started working for a German based distributor of laser trimmers, furnaces, and optical inspection systems. Later she joined a manufacturer of medical devices for neurology, cardiography and polysomnography. Beate held senior management positions at a number of leading photonics companies, including Sales Director Europe for US diode-maker Intense, Key Account Manager South Europe for Edmund Optics (based in Italy), Branch Manager Italy for Laser2000, and Senior Director Sales & Marketing for Toptica Photonics whom she joined shortly after being founded and where she played a pivotal role in Toptica’s first eight years. She joined Lumics in 2013 and is instrumental in leaping the company forward to becoming one of the top leaders of diode laser solutions for medical, life-science and industrial applications.
Benno
Oderkerk
Founder and Former CEO
Avantes (Netherlands)
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Benno Oderkerk
Founder and Former CEO
Avantes (Netherlands)
Benno Oderkerk has a background in electronics and medical technology. He studied at the University of Twente, Netherlands and did his master’s thesis at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa in 1988. Since then, he worked for 5 years in a small sensor company in Munich and, in 1994, he started TOP Sensor Systems, which was renamed to Avantes in 2000. As a CEO, Benno was responsible for 100 employees worldwide as well as the strategic development of Avantes and its affiliated companies in China, USA and UK. Since September of 2020 Benno has resigned as CEO and acts as an Advisor to Avantes, Benno Oderkerk is President of the EPIC Board of Directors and fullfills several Board positions at Photonics companies.
Christian
Bosshard
Vice President and Head Photonics
CSEM (Switzerland)
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Christian Bosshard
Vice President and Head Photonics
CSEM (Switzerland)
Christian Bosshard (Vice-President / Head Photonics) is managing developments in the fields of MicroNano Optics & Photonics, Sensing & Security, Large Area & Flexible Systems and associated integration technologies for applications including lighting, space and aeronautics, pharma and bio, health and medical. Christian received his degree in Physics (1986) and his doctorate (1991, Silver medal award) from ETH. After a postdoctoral stay at the Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) in Orlando, Florida, he was Senior Scientist and Lecturer ('venia legendi’) at ETH before joining CSEM in 2001. Christian is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), managing director of the Swissphotonics technology network, board member of EPIC, and member of the Board of Stakeholders of Photonics21.
Christoph
Sieber
CEO
Sill Optics (Germany)
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Christoph Sieber
CEO
Sill Optics (Germany)
24 years experience in optics manufacturing, coating and mounting, especially in the field of laser optics.
Career at Sill Optics started in 2002. Became General Manager in 2011. Since 2019 he is managing director / CEO
Dahv
Kliner
Vice President Fiber Laser Technology
nLIGHT (USA)
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Dahv Kliner
Vice President Fiber Laser Technology
nLIGHT (USA)
Dahv is the Vice President of Fiber Laser Technology at nLIGHT and has been developing fiber laser technology and products for more than 20 years. He obtained a Ph.D. from Stanford University and performed postdoctoral research in ultrafast spectroscopy at the University of Minnesota and in atmospheric chemistry at Harvard University. Dahv initiated Sandia National Laboratories' fiber-laser program and then led high-power fiber laser product development at JDSU. Dahv joined nLIGHT in 2012 to start the Industrial Fiber Lasers business unit, whose high-power fiber lasers provide industry-leading performance, productivity, and reliability.
Dan
Negrea
Senior Vice President New Technologies
AEMtec (Germany)
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Dan Negrea
Senior Vice President New Technologies
AEMtec (Germany)
Dan Negrea (Senior VP for New Technologies) has an MScEE from the universities in Bucharest and Vienna, and MoT from IMD in Lausanne. Dan has led over the past 25 years multiple R&D teams in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. He joined AEMtec in 2008. Presently, he holds the position of VP for New Technologies with a clear focus on optical and space applications, thus enhancing the technology leader profile of AEMtec Berlin.
Didier
Sauvage
Consultant
SMT PARTNER (France)
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Didier Sauvage
Consultant
SMT PARTNER (France)
Didier Sauvage has been involved in photonics for more than 30 years. PhD and Engineer in Physics and electronics, he joined Alcatel in 1981, in charge of the evaluation of the reliability of optoelectronic components. Then , he has been nominated Director of Quality and Reliability of Alcatel Optronics, the subsidiary of Alcatel in charge of optical components for telecommunications (transmission lasers, pump lasers, optical interfaces, optical amplifiers, FBGs, AWG) Later, he became Vice President of Alcatel Optronics R&D , with teams in France, Scotland, Canada and USA. After the acquisition of Alcatel Optronics by Avanex, he was the General Manager of Avanex France. In 2007, he acquired this subsidiary of Avanex through a MBO, and created 3S Photonics . 3S Photonics was focusing in transmission laser diodes , pump lasers, fiber laser and FBGs. Within 3S Photonics, he held different positions as COO, CTO, Marketing Director, Director of Operations, and managed the acquisition strategy, including the acquisition of ITF (Canada) and Manlight. Since 2014, he acts as an advisor for Optical Companies in the fields of Marketing, Technology and Strategy through SMT Partner.
Eric
Lindner
CEO
FBGS (Germany)
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Eric Lindner
CEO
FBGS (Germany)
Eric Lindner (CEO) holds a PhD in Physics from the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. During his research in fiber optics, he was working on special types of FBGs for many different application fields. Since 2015, he is the CEO of FBGS, driving the development of the company. In 2015, FBGS became part of the governmental funded TOF initiative to further develop the fiber optic business in the local region of Jena (Germany). Since 2016, Dr. Lindner is the speaker of the consortium, representing the initiative consisting of 18 companies and 3 research institutes.
Erwin
De Baetselier
CEO
Luceda Photonics (Belgium)
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Erwin De Baetselier
CEO
Luceda Photonics (Belgium)
Erwin de Baetselier (CEO and Co-Founder) has worked in several management roles for the EDA and multi-physics industry in companies such as HP and Agilent. He holds a PhD in electronics from the University of Gent and a Master of Business and Technology degree from the University of New South Wales. In 2014 he co-founded Luceda Photonics.
Fokko
Wieringa
Principal Scientist
imec (Netherlands)
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Fokko Wieringa
Principal Scientist
imec (Netherlands)
Fokko Pieter Wieringa (PhD) is Principal Scientist within the Wearable Health Solutions Department of imec the Netherlands, and a part-time associate professor of medical technology at the University of Maastricht. He has 30+ years of experience in medical technology and is (co)inventor of 17 granted patents. In addition to general safety aspects of medical technology, he specialized in the interactions of electricity and light with the human body. Within this context he co-authored several international safety standards and the EU-Directive on Optical Radiation Safety. Dr. Wieringa is heavily interested in human factor engineering as well as interdisciplinary and translational research. Mandated by the Dutch Standards Institute (NEN) he represents the Netherlands within worldwide standardization of dialysis equipment (HD & PD), as well as for Photodynamic Therapy and Photodynamic Diagnosis (PDT/PDD) and ECG. He is a member of EPIC, Photonics 21 (WG3 Medical Photonics & WG5 Optical Sensing), the worldwide standardization organization IEC (TC62 Medical Devices) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).
Frank
Levinson
General Partner
Phoenix Venture Partners (USA)
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Frank Levinson
General Partner
Phoenix Venture Partners (USA)
Frank Levinson, Ph.D., is a technologist with experience in optic components, communication networks, sensing, and various parts of “clean tech”. He serves on a number of corporate boards and is an active venture investor. Frank was the inventor on more than 50 patents in the areas of networking, optical communications, optical components.
Gabriele
Jansen
Managing Partner
Vision Ventures (Germany & UK)
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Gabriele Jansen
Managing Partner
Vision Ventures (Germany & UK)
Gabriele Jansen is the founder and Managing Partner of Vision Ventures, leading experts in corporate transactions in automated imaging, machine vision, and computer vision. With almost 30 years of experience in vision tech, predominantly as an entrepreneur, Gabriele brings with her a unique combination of industry insights, technological expertise, and entrepreneurial vision. She is a co-founder and long-standing board member of the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA), an advisor to the European Commission, and an active member of a number of advisory boards and industry committees. Gabriele started her career as an engineer in optics and machine vision with a strong focus on software development. Stations of her career include R&D, sales, marketing, corporate development, corporate M&A and being the CEO and majority shareholder of a vision company for a decade. She holds an engineering degree from Technical University Cologne, a business degree from Pforzheim University and a law degree from University of Muenster.
Giuliano
Piccinno
CEO
Bright Solutions (Italy)
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Giuliano Piccinno
CEO
Bright Solutions (Italy)
Giuliano Piccinno (CEO) received his degree in electronic engineering from the University of Pavia in 1993 and collaborated with the Laser Source Laboratory at the same University from 1995 to 1997 coordinating several industrial R&D programs. In 1998 he co-founded Bright Solutions as an engineering company focussed on research and development of solid state lasers and systems. In 1998-2003 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Laservall SpA (presently Datalogic Automation). In 2005 he promoted the new deal of Bright Solutions as a leading industrial solid state laser manufacturer. In 2017 he co-founded four new start-up companies, all operating in the field of lasers and electronics. He is author of more than 20 scientific publications and as many as 10 patents on DPSS lasers.
Gordon
Harling
CEO
CMC Microsystems (Canada)
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Gordon Harling
CEO
CMC Microsystems (Canada)
Gordon Harling (President and CEO) received a bachelor’s degree in Applied Science from the University of Toronto and a master’s in Engineering Physics from Polytechnique Montréal. He has worked in Research and Development at large companies such as Mitel, NovAtel, and DALSA. He has been a founder and CEO of several start-up companies including Goal Semiconductor, Elliptic Technologies, and Innotime Technologies.
Gunther
Vollrath
CEO
Aifotec (Germany)
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Gunther Vollrath
CEO
Aifotec (Germany)
Gunther Vollrath (Founder & CEO) has received his Dipl-Ing degree from the University of Braunschweig in Optoelectronics, Semiconductor Physics and Semiconductor Technology in 1991. While working at the Research Centre of the German Telekom in Darmstadt, Germany, he received his PhD degree in 1996. After working as a consultant for the German Telecom, he was co-founding and serving as CTO/COO of AIFOTEC (sold to Finisar) and later performing an MBO, now serving as CEO of Aifotec AG.
Guy
Ear
President & CEO
OptoSigma Corporation USA & Europe (France)
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Guy Ear
President & CEO
OptoSigma Corporation USA & Europe (France)
Guy Ear (President & CEO) has 10 years of several sales and marketing management positions in airlines, tourism and luxury hospitalities in France, UK and the United-States prior to deciding in 2005 to take a new challenge in the Photonics industry by taking a Sales & Marketing Director for Asia Pacific at a UV light-source manufacturer for Lithography, Mask Aligner equipment in Japan. With his strong self-taught abilities and capability in speaking 5 languages in the Asian region, Guy has built up an extensive experience and a human network. He founded Etendue Mejiro KK (Japan) in 2006, a company specialized in design and manufacturing high performance scan lens for semi-conductor and digital displays industry, which was sold in 2009. Guy joined SIGMAKOKI Group as the Head of the International Sales Division to expand the international presence of the SIGMAKOKI Group in Asia and by establishing a new subsidiary OptoSigma Europe in 2014. In 2017, Guy has also been appointed as the President & CEO of the OptoSigma Corporation in the USA, located in Southern California.
Hans
van den Vlekkert
CEO
QuiX (Netherlands)
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Hans van den Vlekkert
CEO
QuiX (Netherlands)
Hans van den Vlekkert (CEO) has been active in the MST for over 30 years. He has carried out research, as well as development work, resulting in many products available on the market such as pH-ISFET systems and accelerometers. During his career, he has been responsible for marketing and sales (CSEM and TMP) as well as for production of Microsystems (Sentron, CSEM and TMP) as head of silicon foundries and subcontracting higher volumes to other foundries and assembly companies. He has also been responsible for the Mesa+ Nanolab. Hans was active in European programs as project leader for large projects such as Europractice and was also member of the board of Nexus and Eurimus. At present, amongst others, he is member of the board of IVAM and responsible for the Dutch roadmap photonics of HTSM. Hans has written over 50 papers and holds several patents in various fields. Furthermore he has initiated over 15 companies and is currently CEO of QuiX Bv, as well as of LioniX International.
Helene
Stievenard
Sales Director
Coractive High-Tech (Canada)
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Helene Stievenard
Sales Director
Coractive High-Tech (Canada)
Hélène Stievenard
-studied marketing and business in France and Europe
-Been in sales of Photonics and optics components for more than 13 years
-Developing business in Europe, North America and Asia
-Managing direct sales, distributors and sales team
-Supporting and expending military, industrial, telecom and sensing markets worldwide
Henrik Skov
Andersen
CEO
Ibsen Photonics (Denmark)
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Henrik Skov Andersen
CEO
Ibsen Photonics (Denmark)
Henrik Skov Andersen (CEO) joined Ibsen Photonics in February 2011, bringing international experience from senior management positions at Coloplast A/S, Scandinavian Mobility and Timken, and several years as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. At Ibsen, Henrik is responsible for securing strong and profitable growth through long term partnerships with industrial customers and has grown the business 30% per year since 2014. Henrik Skov Andersen holds a M.Sc. E.E. from the Technical University of Denmark and an MBA from INSEAD.
Hugues
Tariel
President
DIAFIR (France)
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Hugues Tariel
President
DIAFIR (France)
Hugues Tariel (CEO and Founder) was involved in M&A process during his 15-year career in multinational companies like Saint Gobain or Umicore before starting Diafir together with five associates in 2011. Diafir already raised capital twice for more than € 1 million and aiming to a third round soon with a target to maintain company long term independence and sustainability.
Ignazio
Piacentini
Principal - Photonics Testing
ficonTEC (Germany)
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Ignazio Piacentini
Principal - Photonics Testing
ficonTEC (Germany)
Ignazio Piacentini (Principal – Photonics Testing) has a B.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering (Milan, Italy, 1975) and a M.Sc. degree in Digital Systems and Instrumentation (Polytechnic of Central London, UK, 1987). Before joining the machine vision industry in the early ‘90’s, he had spent many years working for the European Commission within the Euratom Program, designing control and data acquisition systems for large-scale thermonuclear fusion experimental projects, including a long spell at the JET Joint Undertaking (Culham Labs, UK). He moved to Germany in 2013, heading the Photonic Device Assembly Business Unit at PI miCos GmbH (Physik Instrumente Group), and in August 2015 took up the position of Director of Business Development at ficonTEC GmbH, a manufacturing company that supplies customised equipment for photonics micro-assembly and testing to a worldwide network of major players. Prior to that he directed ImagingLab Srl, in Lodi, Italy, an engineering/consulting company specializing in machine vision and advanced robotics. He also held the position of Business Development Manager Europe for imaging and motion of National Instruments, Austin, TX/USA, from 1999 to 2003. During this period, he also served two 3-year mandates as a member of the Board of Directors of EMVA (European Machine Vision Association). From April 2020 Ignazio is leading the development of the Photonics Testing for VCSELs and PICs platforms at ficonTEC, and is additionally Co-founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Photonics 42, a European start-up based in Milan that focuses on the photonics technology edge.
Iñigo
Artundo
CEO
VLC Photonics (Spain)
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Iñigo Artundo
CEO
VLC Photonics (Spain)
Iñigo Artundo (CEO) obtained the M.Sc. in Telecom Engineering at the Universidad Publica de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain) in 2005, and received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Photonics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) in 2009. He has been involved in several national and European research projects and networks of excellence focused on reconfigurable optical interconnects, the design, fabrication and characterization of micro‐optic devices, and on flexible access and in‐building fiber network architectures. He has worked as a reviewer for several scientific journals and national funding agencies. He holds specializations in Business Financing, Commercial Management and Research, and Strategic Marketing. He is a member of IEEE, SPIE and COIT.
Isabelle
Okashi
Former General Manager
Ophir Photonics Israel (MKS Instruments) (Israel)
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Isabelle Okashi
Former General Manager
Ophir Photonics Israel (MKS Instruments) (Israel)
Over 20 years of experience in high-tech industries under managing positions, leading formulation and achievement of business strategies, dealing with high technology products and innovative systems from initial concepts, product research & development (R&D) to product sales. Over 16 years of experience at Israel Aerospace Industries in various managing positions (Military Robotics director, Engineering, Technologies and R&D director, R&D project manager) and former General Manager of Ophir Photonics Division (MKS Instruments) in Israel.
Director member at Board of Directors in several high-tech companies.
PhD in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (Tel Aviv University).
Iwan
Davies
Group Technology Director
IQE (United Kingdom)
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Iwan Davies
Group Technology Director
IQE (United Kingdom)
Iwan Davies (Group Technology Director) obtained a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from Imperial College, London and a Ph.D. on MOVPE Studies in Compound Semiconductors from the University of Manchester. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. With over 35 years’ experience in MOVPE epitaxial growth of III-V and II-VI semiconductors, he has co-authored over 100 publications covering a very broad range of optoelectronic devices and material systems. Following a period of research and development at Plessey Research (Caswell) Ltd., he has managed the growth and characterization of epi-wafers, plant operations and product engineering at IQE. He is currently IQE plc Group Technology Director, with responsibilities for European Research Project Co-ordination and Group-wide chemical, safety and environmental issues.
Jackson Johannes
Rothe
Managing Director
SINOLUMINA (China)
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Jackson Johannes Rothe
Managing Director
SINOLUMINA (China)
Jackson’s career has taken him from his native home of Germany to South Africa working for German carmaker BMW Group. A German delegation trip to South China has led to his first mission supporting the internationalization of a large Chinese enterprise in Guangzhou. Following, Jackson has enjoyed serving and negotiating large-scale contracts in Asia for almost 5 years with LUFTHANSA Group, before taking up a new challenge as Head of Account Management for a SWIRE Group subsidiary based in Hong Kong. Prior to the start of SINOLUMINA, Jackson worked as an independent consultant and researcher. He is no stranger to making decisions for new opportunities, having spent nine years abroad, eight years in China, and seven years of deal-making across borders. In addition to his Master degree in Management from TOP ranked Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Jackson holds a Bachelor Degree in Engineering from the Ernst-Abbe University Jena, Germany. His successful communication strategies are supported by Mandarin Chinese HSK3 from PEKING UNIVERSITY, world-class coaching training by Co-Active Training Institute (CTI), and public speaking engagements with Toastmasters International.
James
Pond
Principal Product Manager
Ansys (Canada)
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James Pond
Principal Product Manager
Ansys (Canada)
James Pond (CTO and co-founder) is a driving force behind the company’s core software technology, particularly its advanced electromagnetic modeling capabilities. He has research experience in a wide range of fields from magnetism to integrated optics and photonics and is the author of numerous papers, patents and conference presentations. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a DEA and Magistère in Physics from l’Unversité Paris-Sud (Orsay) and l'Ecole Normale Supérieure in France.
Jan
Melles
CEO
Photonics Investment (Netherlands)
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Jan Melles
CEO
Photonics Investment (Netherlands)
Jan Melles
-Founder, CEO and sole owner of Photonics Investments BV (PI)
-PI was founded in 1988 following the sale of Melles Griot Inc which was founded in 1969 by Dick Griot and myself.
-I am the CEO and sole owner of PI.
-Since 1988 PI founded/co founded numerous companies in the areas of optical and optomechanical components and systems, lasers and instrumentation located in the USA, Europe, Japan, China and Taiwan.
-PI is headquartered in The Netherlands and has an office in Dana Point, CA USA.
Jan
Meise
CEO
AMS Technologies (Germany)
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Jan Meise
CEO
AMS Technologies (Germany)
Jan Meise (CEO of AMS Technologies) studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Braunschweig and received his diploma in 1994. After working in various Semiconductor companies in Germany, Canada and the UK he moved to the USA in 2001 into Fiberoptics where he held various Sales and Marketing Management roles at Finisar, a leader in the Communications market. In 2010 he returned to Munich, Germany where he is now the CEO of AMS Technologies, focusing on augmenting the company’s distribution and consultancy competencies with engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
Jean
Schmitt
Managing Partner
JOLT CAPITAL (France)
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Jean Schmitt
Managing Partner
JOLT CAPITAL (France)
Jean Schmitt (Managing Partner) has driven Jolt’s vision and led its development since 2012. The impetus behind the founding of Jolt was Jean’s realization that the best risk-adjusted returns typically come from late stage & growth rounds in companies that no longer face technology risk. Prior to founding Jolt Capital, Jean was Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners, running the IT practice with a focus on telecom and wireless markets. Preceding his career as an investor, Jean was the CEO and founder of 4 companies with successful exits, including SLP InfoWare, which he sold to Gemplus (now Gemalto, XPAR:GTO) in 2000 for $60m and then became VP Telecom Solutions & Applications for the larger group. Jean graduated from Telecom ParisTech and has a post-graduate degree in Artificial Intelligence. He is senior lecturer at Telecom ParisTech and HEC Paris, a former Chairman of the International Venture Club and a Member of Henkel’s Henkel X mentorship program.
Jean-François
Morizur
President
Cailabs (France)
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Jean-François Morizur
President
Cailabs (France)
Jean‐Francois Morizur (CEO) is co‐founder and CEO of Cailabs. He invented the Multi‐Plane Light Conversion Technology at the core of Cailabs’ solutions. Before founding Cailabs, Jean‐Francois was Senior Associate at the Boston Consulting Group. Jean‐Francois holds a PhD in quantum optics from the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and the Australian National University. He received the Forbes’ 30 under 30 Science and Healthcare European award in 2016.
Jean-Louis
Gentner
CEO
Almae Technologies (France)
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Jean-Louis Gentner
CEO
Almae Technologies (France)
Jean-Louis Gentner (CEO and Founder) was previously Director and Administrator of III-V lab for Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) Bell Labs. In his career, he led research teams and many research projects in the field of Photonic Integration, being on InP or Silicon platform, and has taken active part in creating value with hardware innovation and transferring projects from R&D to production.
Jean-Michel
Pelaprat
CMSO/Co-founder
NUBURU (USA)
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Jean-Michel Pelaprat
CMSO/Co-founder
NUBURU (USA)
Jean-Michel Pelaprat is a co-founder of NUBURU Inc. and serves as Chief Marketing and Sales Officer. He has more than 30 years of industrial and entrepreneurial experience, during which he has held CEO, senior executives, founder, and board positions at private and large public companies. In 2013 he founded A2E Partnership Inc., a Silicon Valley and Boston based advisory, consulting, and M&A services firm for photonics and adjacent markets companies worldwide. From 2008 to 2013, Jean-Michel served as President and CEO of Vytran LLC a company focused on fiber splicing capital equipment for telecom, fiber lasers, medical devices, sensing, and aerospace applications. He turned around a distressed company and generated growth during the 2009-2010 recession. He also served during the same period on the board of NKT Photonics. From 2004 to 2008, he served as CEO and Chairman of Novalux, a company that pioneered RGB lasers for consumer electronics projection displays. He turned a struggling Novalux around by re-crafting the company strategy on laser-based projection display, establishing key partnerships, leading a successful round of financing, and ultimately completing the sale of the company. Novalux lasers have been the first-to-market light engines deployed into large venues and cinema projectors worldwide.
Jens
Biesenbach
General Manager
BWT Laser Europe (Germany)
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Jens Biesenbach
General Manager
BWT Laser Europe (Germany)
Jens Biesenbach (Technical Director) is responsible for leading the development and execution of DILAS’ technology portfolio. Before joining DILAS, Dr. Biesenbach was in charge of a research and development group for diode lasers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen, Germany, from 1994-1997, where he leads the team in the field of diode laser manufacturing, packaging, precision mounting, thermal management and optical beam shaping. Biesenbach holds a master’s degree in engineering from Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen, Germany and earned a Ph.D. in the field of precision packaging of high-power diode laser bars.
Jerome
Prieur
CEO
AUREA Technology (France)
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Jerome Prieur
CEO
AUREA Technology (France)
Jerome Prieur is President and CEO and co-founder of AUREA Technology. Jerome has more than 20 years of extensive international management experience from leading positions in the photonics industry. He has also extensive knowledge in technology, strategic product, and business development. Jerome holds an MSc in laser technologies from Heriot Watt/St Andrew Universities in UK and Master in Innovation from Toulouse Business School in France.
Jim
Somers
CEO
Eblana Photonics (Ireland)
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Jim Somers
CEO
Eblana Photonics (Ireland)
Jim Somers (CEO) obtained a B. Eng (Electronics) from University of Limerick (Ire) and M. Sc. (Industrial Eng) from the University of Tennessee. Before joining Eblana Photonics as CEO, he worked at Bourns Inc, a global manufacturer of automotive electronic components, circuit protection, magnetic and resistive products as a General Manager with responsibility for a $30M Worldwide Business Unit spanning multiple product lines in the electronic component industry. For fifteen years prior to Bourns, Inc he worked at Verbatim Corporation, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of Data Storage and computer related products headquartered in North Carolina, USA in a variety of roles including engineering, product development, marketing and sales management in various locations such as Ireland, Hong Kong, Japan and the US.
Johann
Weinhändler
CEO
ASM Amicra Microtechnologies (Germany)
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Johann Weinhändler
CEO
ASM Amicra Microtechnologies (Germany)
Johann Weinhändler (Managing Director) is responsible for Customer Operations, Sales, Marketing, Business Development and Quality Management at ASM AMICRA Microtechnologies GmbH. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering, an MBA from the Open University Business School (UK), and holds a doctoral degree in Marketing from Trinity College in Dublin. He has been working in the semiconductor industry for over 25 years. Previously, he worked on Lam Research, Datacon/BESI and Oerlikon Systems in different management roles. His main responsibilities are the development of international offices and the internationalization of AMICRA's facilities. Moreover, he has accomplished demonstrable success in attracting internationally renowned clients. He serves the role of the "visionary" and the "internationaliser".
Johannes
Koeth
CEO
nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies (Germany)
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Johannes Koeth
CEO
nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies (Germany)
Johannes Koeth (CEO) graduated 1996 in Physics at the University of Würzburg with studies on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and optical properties of GaN. During his Ph.D., he worked on MBE of lasers in the AlGaSb system in the wavelength range between 1.5 µm and 2.0 µm. One of the main topics of his thesis was the investigation of GaSb based emitters on GaAs substrates. He realized the first GaSb edge emitting laser diodes based on GaAs as well as optically pumped Ga(Al)Sb/AlSb VCSELs, both at 1.5 µm. In addition, he developed and characterized antimonide based DFB lasers in the 2 µm range. In 1998, he founded nanoplus Nanosystems and Technologies GmbH and has presided the company as CEO since then.
Jörg
Jetter
CEO
4JET Group (Germany)
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Jörg Jetter
CEO
4JET Group (Germany)
Jörg Jetter (CEO) founded 4JET Technologies GmbH in 2006 and several spin-offs since. Prior to his entrepreneurial career Mr. Jetter worked for the market launch of the SMART mobility concept as well as a freelance consultant in capital equipment marketing.
José
Capmany
CZOO
iPronics Programmable Photonics (Spain)
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José Capmany
CZOO
iPronics Programmable Photonics (Spain)
José Capmany is a Full Professor in Photonics and leader of the Photonics Research Labs (www.prl.upv.es) at the institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (www.iteam.upv.es), Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Spain. He has published over 600 papers in international refereed journals and conferences and has been a member of the Technical Program Committees of the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC), the Optical Fiber Conference (OFC). He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has acted as a reviewer for over 25 SCI journals in the field of photonics and telecommunications. He is co-founder of the spin-off companies VLC Photonics (www.vlcphotonics.com) dedicated to the design of photonic integrated circuits and ipronics (www.ipronics.com) dedicated to programmable photonics.
Professor Capmany is the 2012 King James I Prize Laureate on novel technologies, the highest scientific distinction in Spain, for his outstanding contributions to the field of microwave photonics. He is an ERC Advance Grant and Proof of Concept Grant Holder and was a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Photonics Society for the 2013-14 term, an associate Editor of IEEE Photonics Technology Letters (2010-2016) and the IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology (2016-2018). He currently serves as Editor in Chief of the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.
Juergen
Zosel
Managing Director
Orafol Fresnel Optics (Germany)
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Juergen Zosel
Managing Director
Orafol Fresnel Optics (Germany)
Juergen Zosel (Managing Director) graduated as a degreed engineer with focus in electrochemistry from the University of Ilmenau in 1988. He started his career atFresnel Optics GmbH in 1991 as a technician and moved into the roles of Technical Manager and Operations Manager. During the last 10 years he was mainly involved to develop new manufacturing strategies and processes to support the Concentrated Photovoltage (CPV) Industry with SOG Optics. Since February 2016 he is the Managing Director of the Apolda division.
Jyrki
Huttunen
CEO
Oplatek (Finland)
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Jyrki Huttunen
CEO
Oplatek (Finland)
Jyrki Huttunen (CEO) has a Master of Science (Tech) degree from Technical University of Helsinki (1986) and an eMBA degree from University of Kuopio (2002). He has worked in various managing positions for SME’s mainly in Finland, and briefly in the USA. He has also co-founded two companies. Since 2008, he has been co-owner and CEO of Oplatek Group Oy.
Kobi
Lasri
General Manager
Ophir Optics, MKS Instruments (Israel)
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Kobi Lasri
General Manager
Ophir Optics, MKS Instruments (Israel)
Kobi (Jacob) Lasri (General Manager) brings over 25 years of experience in optoelectronic industries, including laser technologies, optics, and fiber-optic communications. He joined Ophir Optics, MKS Instruments in April 2019 as General Manager. Prior to joining Ophir, he served as General Manager of V-Gen, MKS Spectra-Physics since 2016 and as VP R&D from 2011.
Prior to joining V-Gen, Kobi held a number of senior management roles in various electro-optic companies, including Optisiv Ltd., Elbit Systems Electro-optics, and Precision Photonics Corp. He holds a Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Lars
Rymell
CEO
Eclipse Optics (Sweden)
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Lars Rymell
CEO
Eclipse Optics (Sweden)
Lars Rymell (CEO) is an entrepreneur and business developer with a passion for optics and the possibilities it offers for product development. With 20 years of experience from technical consultancy and R&D he has established a unique network within Scandinavian industry and academia. Lars founded Eclipse in 2014 together with 4 colleagues. Lars holds a PhD in Physics from Lund University.
Lars
Penning
CEO
Next Scan Technology (Belgium/Netherlands)
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Lars Penning
CEO
Next Scan Technology (Belgium/Netherlands)
Lars Penning (Managing Director) Mechanical engineer by education with a career in high end factory automation. Co-founded Next Scan Technology in 2010 after identifying the need for scan speed in ultrafast laser based processing.
Linda
Smith
President
Ceres (USA)
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Linda Smith
President
Ceres (USA)
Linda Smith (President) provides M&A advisory services to photonics companies. She held founding and leadership roles at venture capital financed companies commercializing photonics technologies, as well as marketing and sales management positions at Thermo Electron/Spectra Physics and LINOS Photonics/Qioptiq. She is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in business valuation, SPIE Fellow and EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman. Linda holds a B.S. in Optics and Mathematics from the University of Rochester and M.B.A. from Babson College.
Lukas
Krainer
CEO
Prospective Instruments (Austria)
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Lukas Krainer
CEO
Prospective Instruments (Austria)
Lukas Krainer (Founder and CEO) is the founder and CEO of Prospective Instruments since January 1, 2019. From 2017 to 2018, he was Project Manager post-merger & acquisition at NKT Photonics. From 2005 to 2017, Lukas was the CEO of Onefive & A.L.S GmbH (sold to NKT).
Marcel
Poulain
President
Le Verre Fluoré (France)
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Marcel Poulain
President
Le Verre Fluoré (France)
Marcel Poulain is emeritus Professor at Rennes University. Author of 500 scientific papers, he has supervised 50 doctorate thesis. After the discovery of the first Heavy Halide Glasses in 1974, he cofounded the company “Le Verre Fluoré” in 1977. He is now the president of this company that is the world leader of this technology. He has a deep, and probably unique, knowledge of the vitreous state, including glass transition, devitrification and physical properties.
Mark
Zediker
Chairman
NUBURU (USA)
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Mark Zediker
Chairman
NUBURU (USA)
Dr. Mark Zediker is founder and Chairman of NUBURU Inc. NUBURU is Dr. Zediker’s third company that is focused on laser technology and 3d printing. Prior to Chairman, Dr. Zediker was CEO of NUBURU from 2015 to 2020. During this period NUBURU Inc. achieved many great firsts, including being the first to the market with a high power blue laser system Since the start of the company, NUBURU has developed automated manufacturing technology, developed three revolutionary products and shipped products world wide to a number of companies. Dr. Zediker co-founded Foro Energy and was the CTO from 2009 to 2015. Foro Energy was started to use high power fiber lasers to drill geothermal and oil wells. Foro Energy demonstrated the ability to drill through ultra-hard crystalline rock and pre-salt at speeds well in excess of a conventional drill bit. In addition, since the drill bit was now drilling a laser-softened formation, the lifetime of the PDC bit was greatly enhanced. Foro Energy also successfully demonstrated the ability to transmit > 20 kW through 12 km of optical fiber, assembled an entire laser drilling rig and demonstrated the complete operation in the field of the system. Foro Energy also developed may other firsts, a laser-based blow out protector, a laser-based perforation tool and a laser based decommissioning tool. The latter of which is currently deployed removing oil wells worldwide.
Markus
Rossi
VP, Head of Innovation Office
ams (Switzerland)
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Markus Rossi
VP, Head of Innovation Office
ams (Switzerland)
Markus Rossi (VP Innovations) studied physics at EHT Zurich and holds a PhD in micro-optics from the University of Neufchâtel in Switzerland. He was one of the founders of Heptagon and was CTO until the acquisition by ams. Markus is now VP for Innovations in 3D at ams.
Markus
Nicht
CEO
Photonics Systems Group, InnoLas Solutions (Germany)
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Markus Nicht
CEO
Photonics Systems Group, InnoLas Solutions (Germany)
Markus Nicht (Managing Director) holds a Master Degree in Automotive Engineering from HTW Dresden and has entered the laser industry in 2008. During the past 8 years he has been responsible for the design, development and manufacturing of InnoLas ThinFilm, cSi, and glass processing tools. When InnoLas Solutions was demerged in 2013 he took over as Managing Director and counts responsible for the successful growth of the company in multiple laser micromachining markets.
Martin
Forrer
Senior VP Business Development
FISBA (Switzerland)
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Martin Forrer
Senior VP Business Development
FISBA (Switzerland)
With a Masters degree as Physicist from ETH Zurich and a PhD at the Institute of Applied Physics, University of Berne, and a Post-Doc as Researcher in Medical Laser Applications at EPF Lausanne, Martin Forrer has started his contributions to industry 1997 at FISBA on European projects targeting to increase business and technology for high power diode lasers in the infrared. Since then he has realized various successful product and technology developments up to the industrial scalability in micro-optics, endoscopic micro-camera vision and diode laser integration. He took business related lessons in the 2005 class “Master of a technology enterprise” at the IMD business school in Lausanne and in 2006 he was appointed to take the R&D responsibility in the FISBA management team. In 2019 he was given a new challenge as Senior VP Business Development. As service to the SWISS Federal Agency Innosuisse Martin Forrer is elected since 2017 as expert for the evaluation and recommendation on Innosuisse project funding applications.
Martin
Schell
CEO
Fraunhoffer HHI (Germany)
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Martin Schell
CEO
Fraunhoffer HHI (Germany)
Martin Schell is professor for Optic and Optoelectronic Integration at Technical University Berlin and director of the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI, Berlin. Martin Schell joined HHI in 2005. From 2000 to 2005, he was first product line manager, then head of production at Infineon Fiber Optics. From 1996 to 2000 he was management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. Before that, he spent one year as a visiting researcher at The Tokyo University, Japan. He received the Dipl.-Phys. degree from the RWTH Aachen in 1989 and the Dr. rer. nat. degree from the Technical University Berlin in 1993. Martin Schell is a board member of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), speaker of the board of OptecBB (Competence Network Optical Technologies Berlin/Brandenburg), and member of the Photonics21 Board of Stakeholders.
Mary
Hibbs-Brenner
CEO
Vixar (USA)
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Mary Hibbs-Brenner
CEO
Vixar (USA)
Dr. Mary Hibbs-Brenner is currently the CEO of Vixar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Osram Opto Semiconductors. Along with Dr. Klein Johnson, Mary co-founded Vixar in 2005 and oversaw its sale to Osram in 2018. Previously Mary held business development, technical management and research positions at Honeywell. She was responsible for initiating Honeywell’s VCSEL activity and directed R&D within that business, until it was sold to Finisar. Dr. Hibbs-Brenner has an MBA from the University of Minnesota, a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Stanford University and a B.A. from Carleton College. She spent two years doing post-doctoral research at the University of Linköping in Sweden.
Matthias
Trinker
Managing Director
ficonTEC (Germany)
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Matthias Trinker
Managing Director
ficonTEC (Germany)
While Matthias orginally hoped to become a professional skier, several injuries in his younger years eventually forced him to realize that he had to look for a new challenge. He started with an apprenticeship in retail sales for a sports equipment supplier, but as a qualified ski instructor, Matthias was also able to work as an instructor in parallel to this, as well as to his scholastic and university education.
From there, he progressed on to, and finally graduated from the Bundeshandelksakademie für Berufstätige – a form of further education Business School for those already employed – and then cemented his initial financial education with a Degree in Business Economics through joint studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, and at the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences in Göttingen, Germany.
Between completing his degree in 1997 and before co-founding ficonTEC Service GmbH together with Torsten in 2001, Matthias worked as a financial controller for Siemens Thailand, being based in Bangkok.
Matthias is Chief Financial Officer at ficonTEC and actively involved in the on-going financial growth and organizational expansion of the company.
Maurizio
Gattiglio
Executive Vice President
Convergent Photonics (Italy)
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Maurizio Gattiglio
Executive Vice President
Convergent Photonics (Italy)
Maurizio Gattiglio (Chairman) Executive Vice-President of Prima Electro S.p.A., parent company of Prima Industrie S.p.A. a leading engineering corporation operating worldwide in the field of industrial lasers, sheet metal machinery and electronics. He is also Board Director and Past-Chairman of EFFRA European Factories of the Future Research Association, Board Director of EPIC European Photonics Industry Consortium and Chairman of MANUFUTURE European Technology Platform High Level Group. He has worked within the Prima Group since 1986 where he has occupied a number of different positions in R&D&I, customer support, manufacturing and management. He holds a number of patents of invention in the area of high power laser technology. Maurizio Gattiglio obtained a degree in mechanical engineering in 1984 from the Polytechnic of Turin.
Michael
Geiselmann
Managing Director
LIGENTEC (Switzerland)
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Michael Geiselmann
Managing Director
LIGENTEC (Switzerland)
Michael Geiselmann (Managing Director) studied physics and engineering at University Stuttgart and Ecole Centrale Paris. After his PhD at ICFO in Barcelona in 2014 he joined the laboratory of Prof. Kippenberg at EPFL in Lausanne, where he advanced frequency comb generation on integrated silicon nitride chips towards applications and was involved in several international research projects. In 2016, he co-founded LIGENTEC. At LIGENTEC, Michael is advancing the technology development of silicon nitride based integrated circuits and is looking for new business opportunities and is also overviewing technical sales and marketing.
Michael
Lebby
CEO
Lightwave Logic (USA)
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Michael Lebby
CEO
Lightwave Logic (USA)
Michael Lebby (Board Director) is driving new frontiers in the integrated photonics field in combined roles as: Director, Corporate Relations, USC; Independent Board Director, Lightwave Logic Inc.; part-time CEO, OneChip Photonics, and part-time Chair of optoelectronics at Glyndwr University in Wales, UK. In 2015, Michael has been focusing on InP based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), polymer modulators, and optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs) for the datacenter segment and has been involved in assembling California’s proposal (via USC) to the Federal Government for an integrated photonics manufacturing institute. Michael helped achieve >$400M in matching funding and also synthesized the proposal’s datacenter and integrated photonics roadmaps for the next decade. With over 450 issued international patents in the photonics field over the past 30years, Michael has dedicated his career to moving photonics into mainstream opportunities.
Mikhail
Maiorov
CEO
Akela Laser (USA)
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Mikhail Maiorov
CEO
Akela Laser (USA)
Mikhail Maiorov (CEO) is the CEO of Akela Laser Corporation since 2014. Before joining Akela in 2006 as the COO of the company, he held research, product design, and engineering management positions at Ford Motor Research Labs, Sensors Unlimited, Sarnoff Corporation, and Princeton Lightwave, focusing on development of high-power lasers, and design of systems on their base. He holds Ph.D. in physical electronics from St. Petersburg State Technical University, Russia (1997) and M.S. in technology management from the University of Pennsylvania, USA (2005).
Moty
Gelbman
General Manager
Ophir Optronics Solutions (Israel)
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Moty Gelbman
General Manager
Ophir Optronics Solutions (Israel)
Moty (Mordechai) Gelbman brings over 40 years of professional experience in various Hi-Tec managerial positions in the Optoelectronics, Medical Device and Image and Voice Processing industries.
He joined "Ophir Optronics" in 2004 as General manager of the Photonics Group and was appointed in 2015 as "MKS Instruments" VP and General Manager of "Ophir Optronics Solutions" Ltd which includes the Optics and the Photonics Groups.
Prior to joining "Ophir" he served as the President and CEO of "Persay", President and CEO of "Versamed", VP of Operation of "HP- Indigo Graphic Systems" and VP of operations of "NICE Systems".
Niek
Rijnveld
CEO
Optics11 (Netherlands)
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Niek Rijnveld
CEO
Optics11 (Netherlands)
Niek Rijnveld (CEO) has earned his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands in 2007. Following his degree, he worked as a mechatronic engineer and later as a system engineer at TNO in Delft, designing and realizing opto-mechatronic instruments for space and semiconductor applications. In 2012, he joined Optics11 to design and realize instruments for life science applications based on optical fiber measurement technology. He designed the Piuma and Chiaro Nanoindenter systems, suitable for measuring micro-mechanical properties of biological tissues and cells. While Optics11 was growing from a start-up to a scale-up, he started taking on more and more general management tasks until he became the CEO in 2016.
Paul
van Dijk
Vice President Strategy and Innovation
LioniX International (Netherlands)
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Paul van Dijk
Vice President Strategy and Innovation
LioniX International (Netherlands)
Paul van Dijk (Vice President Strategy and Innovation) co-founded SATRAX in 2010 and served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with responsibilities for supply chain management, business development and marketing of the integrated microwave photonics products. He worked 11 years at ASML, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, where he was responsible for new business development and product marketing at the Special Applications and 300mm Business Units. He holds an engineering degree and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Technical University Eindhoven (1997) and a Master of Business Marketing (MBM) from TIAS Nimbas School (2002). Dr. van Dijk is co-author of more than 36 scientific and peer-reviewed articles and holder of 6 patents.
Per
Karlsson
CEO
Northlab Photonics (Sweden)
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Per Karlsson
CEO
Northlab Photonics (Sweden)
Per Karlsson (CEO) graduated from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 1994 with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He started his career by joining Toshiba in Japan where he worked with design of manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor industry. Prior to co-founding Northlab Photonics in 2008, he served as a Business Development Manager, Product Manager, and Vice President for Sales and Marketing with Ericsson from 1998 to 2005. His expertise was then tapped by Accture Technologies in 2005 where he acted as president until 2008 when he co-founded Northlab Photonics, a fast-growing company focused on products and services for the photonics and fiber optics industry. Per is also chairman of the board of NorthLab Networks (a daughter company to NorthLab Photonic) and a member of the board for Noria Fiber Technologies.
Peter
Cheng
CEO
Endofotonics (Singapore)
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Peter Cheng
CEO
Endofotonics (Singapore)
Peter Cheng (CEO) currently serving as Snr Adviser of Biobot Surgical & CEO for Endofotonics Pte Ltd, Peter has more than 30 years of experience
in the building teams & technology management in R&D field spanning across industries such as:
Computer & Printer & Computer peripherals
Medical Devices
Magnetic & Optical Storage & Multimedia Solutions
Consumer Lifestyle & Domestic Appliances
Renewable Energy
Desalination & Waste Water Treatment
Peter had served in the management, technology R&D and operation space for companies like Vestas, Hyflux, Unisys & Philips.
Petteri
Uusimaa
Founder & CTO
Modulight (Finland)
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Petteri Uusimaa
Founder & CTO
Modulight (Finland)
Petteri Uusimaa (Founder and CTO) holds a PhD in semiconductor physics from Tampere University of Technology. Prior to joining Modulight, he held numerous manager positions in international research projects in which he managed relations to international funding companies as well as was the principal scientist in the programs. Since 1997, Dr. Uusimaa has been managing semiconductor sales to multinational companies and acted as a President & CEO of Modulight until 2019 when he took the position of Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Uusimaa has been a member of Modulight board since incorporating the company in 2000.
Pim
Kat
CTO
Technobis (Netherlands)
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Pim Kat
CTO
Technobis (Netherlands)
Pim Kat (CTO) started his career at Sun Electric systems in 1982, developing automotive testing equipment. In 1987, he moved to Hoogovens Research where he worked as researcher for 9 years. In 1996, he co-founded the company BIHCA Systems as part of the HIT group. In 2003, this company became Technobis and eventually Technobis group in 2006. After developing the state-of-the-art Fibre Bragg Grating interrogator on a free space optics basis, Technobis joined the Jeppix-Paradigm program and started to experiment with ASPIC designs for FBG sensing solutions. This resulted in diverse ASPICS for various fields of use mostly based on InP but also making use of SOI and TriPlex technology. At this moment, developments on ASPICS are executed in the field of nano-strain sensing, impact detection, damage detection in composites, shape reconstruction, Eigen mode monitoring. As packagers for industrial series of ASPICS are hard to find, Technobis started to develop and produce their own packaging solutions for the ASPICS and is setting up a packaging facility.
Rajan
Rajgopal
CEO
Denselight Semiconductors (Singapore)
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Rajan Rajgopal
CEO
Denselight Semiconductors (Singapore)
Rajan Rajgopal (President and General Manager) is the current President and General Manager of Denselight Semiconductors. A seasoned semiconductor professional with over 25 years of global corporate experience spanning Asia, Europe and US, in P&L management, quality, customer management, new product introduction and high volume manufacturing excellence, Rajan has lived in Singapore since 1995 and been part of the growth of the local semiconductor ecosystem. His 4 major employers have been TI (US), Chartered/GlobalFoundries (1995-2013 Singapore), Micron (2013-2015 Singapore), and DenseLight (2017-present Singapore). Rajan holds a B. SEE from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.SEE from the University of Maine. He has also been awarded 4 patents and authored over 20 papers.
Reinhard
Voelkel
CEO
SUSS MicroOptics (Switzerland)
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Reinhard Voelkel
CEO
SUSS MicroOptics (Switzerland)
Reinhard Voelkel (CEO) received his Diploma in Physics in 1989 and his PhD in 1994 from the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany, where he worked at the Applied Optics Institute (Prof. Adolf W. Lohmann, Prof. Johannes Schwider) on holographic optical elements for optical interconnects and backplanes. After his PhD, he joined the Institute of Microtechnology (Prof. René Dandliker, Prof. Hans Peter Herzig) at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, working on micro-optics for biosensors, optical interconnects, photolithography systems, miniaturized imaging and camera systems. Reinhard Voelkel is co-founder and CEO of SUSS MicroOptics SA, a leading supplier of micro-optical components and systems located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He is a member of the German Optical Society (DGaO), the Swiss Optical Society (SSOM), the European Optical Society (EOS), the Optical Society of America (OSA) and SPIE Fellow.
René
Heideman
CTO
LioniX International (Netherlands)
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René Heideman
CTO
LioniX International (Netherlands)
René Heideman (CTO) received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from the University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands) in August 1988 and January 1993, respectively. He is an expert in the field of MST, based more than 30 years of experience. He specializes in Integrated Optics (IO), covering both (bio-) chemical sensing and telecom applications. He is the inventor of the TriPleXTM technology, (co)author of more than 250 papers and holds more than 25 patents in the IO-field, on more than 10 different subjects. Since 2001, he is co-founder and director (CTO) of LioniX BV. Since 2008, he is director (CTO) of Panthera, a group a high-tech innovative companies focusing on creating new business based on micro/nano-technology. Since 2011 he is active as Board member of MinacNed (Dutch association for micro-systems and nanotechnology). Since 2012, he is visiting professor Nanotechnology of Saxion University of Applied Sciences. Since 2014, he is BOS-member within Photonics 21.
Richard
Visser
Manager Holland Semiconductors
High Tech NL (Netherlands)
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Richard Visser
Manager Holland Semiconductors
High Tech NL (Netherlands)
Richard Visser has a background in electronics and business and started his career in 1981 in the Royal Dutch Navy. After leaving the Navy he worked as a service engineer on medical equipment (CT scanners, X-Ray and ultrasound) for General Electric and Toshiba. In 1991, he switched from a technical position into a technical-commercial position as a technical advisor for Industrial Inkjet printers and entered in 1997 the semiconductor industry as an Key account manager working for both Silicon Valley Group as well as for ASML. In 2007, he moved to Philips Research and was involved in the start of MiPlaza, an R&D service provider. In 2012 Richard founded SMART Photonics, the first Pure Play InP Foundry offering production-services for discrete- as well as Integrated photonic components on Indium Phosphide. SMART Photonics is a fast-growing enterprise. In January 2019 Richard handed over his CEO position to a successor and left SMART on October 1st, 2019.After leaving SMART he started to support High Tech start-ups sharing his experience and expertise. Next to helping start-ups he was also asked by High Tech NL to help, on a timely basis, to support, promote and represent the Dutch Semiconductor industry.
Robert
Harrison
Joint Managing Partner
Sonnenberg Harrison Partnership (Germany & France)
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Robert Harrison
Joint Managing Partner
Sonnenberg Harrison Partnership (Germany & France)
Robert Harrison (Joint Managing Partner) is a founding partner of SONNENBERG HARRISON. Robert Harrison has been working in the field of intellectual property since 1990. He is a registered German, French and European patent and trademark attorney. His work focuses on the fields of semiconductors, chemical engineering, computer science, photonics, telecommunications, microtechnology and biophysics. Robert Harrison is a founding partner of SONNENBERG HARRISON. Robert Harrison has been working in the field of intellectual property since 1990. He is a registered German, French and European patent and trademark attorney. His work focuses on the fields of semiconductors, chemical engineering, computer science, photonics, telecommunications, microtechnology and biophysics. is work includes the development, licensing and marketing of IP portfolios for companies. He works with startups and small and medium sized companies to integrate their business strategy with their innovations.
Roger
Artigas
President & CTO
Sensofar Tech (Spain)
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Roger Artigas
President & CTO
Sensofar Tech (Spain)
Roger Artigas (President & CTO) was born in Terrassa in 1973. He won the title of Physics Science from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1997 and a Ph.D. in Physics, specialty of optical engineering, from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in 2001. He has been working since 1997 to the present at the Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD6) as optical engineer researcher. In 2001 he founded the company Sensofar Tech SL. From 2005 to the present, he is part of the TG WG16 committee of the ISO25178 standard which is applied in the field of equipment developed in Sensofar. Currently, he holds the position of President at Sensofar Tech SL.
Ronny
Timmreck
CEO
Senorics (Germany)
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Ronny Timmreck
CEO
Senorics (Germany)
Ronny Timmreck (CEO) received his diploma degree in physics from the University of Technology Dresden, Germany and his PhD for a work on organic solar cells in the group of Prof. Karl Leo renowned for the organic electronics start-ups Novaled and Heliatek. Ronny founded his first start-up at the age of 23 and developed this company to a leader in its branch. In 2016, he took the lead in the start-up project SENORICS. He has been CEO of SENORICS since the company’s foundation in 2017.
Rudolf
Fryček
CEO
AMIRES (Switzerland)
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Rudolf Fryček
CEO
AMIRES (Switzerland)
Rudolf Fryček (CEO) has more than 15 years’ experience in the European project management and consultancy. He was a consultant to several SMEs in the field of production, innovation and company development, including preparation of project for governmental incentive and for several business-oriented bank loans. In 2006, he was nominated as a Seconded National Expert to the European Commission, Directorate General for Industrial Technologies, Unit Nanosciences and nanotechnologies. He has been active in the policy structuring for exploitation and commercialization of EU framework projects and he contributed to analyze the overall nanotechnology unit project portfolio in terms of generated IPR. He was a programme advisor at several EU wide events like EuroNanoForum, Industrial Technologies, Reindustrialization of European Union etc. Since 2011, he is an accredited coach of Swiss Innovation Platform – PLATINN, which provides hands-on coaching to SMEs. Rudolf is a cooperation coach - helping companies to increase their innovation capacity by new partnerships. Rudolf is a founder and CEO of AMIRES company.
Ruth
Houbertz
President & Founder
Multiphoton Optics (Germany)
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Ruth Houbertz
President & Founder
Multiphoton Optics (Germany)
Ruth Houbertz (CEO and Managing Director) is a physicist, President & Founder of Multiphoton Optics GmbH since 8-2020, CEO & Managing Director of Multiphoton Optics GmbH from 2014 – 8/2020, CTO of Multiphoton Optics from 2013 - 2014. From 6/2000-9/2014, she worked at Fraunhofer ISC in different technical and management positions in Technology Development with emphasis on Materials and 2D-2.5D-3D processing. Latest position at Fraunhofer ISC was Senior Manager Photonics. Worked at Sandia Nat.’l Labs in Livermore (USA) in 5/1999-6/2000. Staff Scientist R&D at the University of Saarland from 11/1993 – 3/1999, establishing a team for Scanning Probe Microscopy in different environments, Analytics, and E-Beam Lithography. She received her PhD at the University of Ulm in the field Silicon Processing/ Electrochemistry in 1993. Ruth Houbertz had studied Physics (Solid State Physics and Surface Physics) at the University of Saarland with subsidiary subjects Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, and Biophysics. She founded several companies (Multiphoton Optics GmbH, ThinkMade Engineering & Consulting i.Gr., NanoView Oberflächenanalytik & Consulting GmbH). Solid technology, analytics, and materials background in hardware and software products, startups, business development, technology transfer, IP, and strategy. Invented more than 120 patents, is evaluator, monitor, and referee for national and international ministries, EU projects, peer-reviewed journals, editor. More than 19 Awards and Nominations, amongst which are Best of Industry Award Winner 2018, the Cowin Award of Entrepreneurship Winner 2014, the SPIE Green Photonics Award Winner 2013, and Joseph von Fraunhofer Award Winner in 2007. Prism Award Finalist 2015 and 2017, Finalist of the PIC Award in 2017. Organization Committees for SPIE Photonics West and SPIE Advanced Lithography. Contributed and invited talks, keynotes. Active network member (e.g. EPIC, SPIE, OSA, Photonics Hub), SPIE Fellow. Elected Member of the SPIE Board of Directors starting on 1/2021. Since 7/2018 Senator of Economy Europe.
Sami
Musa
CTO
VA-Photonics (Netherlands)
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Sami Musa
CTO
VA-Photonics (Netherlands)
Sami Musa (CTO) obtained a PhD in integrated optics from Twente University in the Netherlands in 2003. Following his graduation, he took several research positions in academic and industrial institutions including Technical Universities of Delft and Eindhoven in the Netherland, University of Limerick in Ireland and ASML. In 2011, he Joined Vision and Actions as a CTO. In 2017 he co-founded V&A-Photonics, a company active in photonic business development between Europe and China. Currently, he serves as CTO of V&A-Photonics. Dr. Musa has 18 US and International patents and co-authored more than 30 scientific papers.
Samuel
Bucourt
CEO
Imagine Optic (France)
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Samuel Bucourt
CEO
Imagine Optic (France)
Samuel Bucourt (CEO) graduated from Institut d’Optique Graduate School and from HEC. He founded Imagine Optic in 1996 and Imagine Eyes in 2003. Both companies are offering instrumentation based on wavefront sensing and adaptive optics for academic, industrial and medical purposes. He is the co-author of a few patents and scientific articles. He is an expert in metrology as he started his career by developing a 3D probe based on conoscopi holography (Le Conoscope). Samuel is also the VP of Photonics France and member of the board of Directors of EPIC.
Scott
Jordan
Head of Photonics
PI (Physik Instrumente) (USA)
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Scott Jordan
Head of Photonics
PI (Physik Instrumente) (USA)
Scott Jordan is Head of Photonics for PI and a PI Fellow. A physicist, with an MBA in Finance/New Ventures, he has multiple contributions to positioning and optimization technologies.
Sebastian
Haag
CEO & Founder
AIXEMTEC (Germany)
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Sebastian Haag
CEO & Founder
AIXEMTEC (Germany)
Sebastian Haag is CEO and co-founder of AIXEMTEC – an innovative supplier of automated testing and packaging equipment and services for electro-optical systems. The company is located in the area of Aachen, Germany, close to RWTH Aachen University – one of the most excellent engineering universities in Germany where Sebastian studied Electrical Engineering. Afterwards, he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT and focussed on the automated assembly of electro-optical systems such as laser collimation, fiber-coupling, structured light projection and many more. Sebastian’s team developed a highly-flexible machine platform which can easily be adapted to multiple applications which is now commercialized by AIXEMTEC.
Simon
Schwinger
Business Development
Jabil Optics (Germany)
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Simon Schwinger
Business Development
Jabil Optics (Germany)
Simon Schwinger (Sr. Manager Business Development) joined Jabil Optics end of 2019 and focuses on technical business development, supporting Jabil internal business units as well as external customers. Simon provides in-depth know-how along the entire photonic chain. Having started his career in Digital Imaging (digital camera modules and systems for scientific, industrial and consumer applications), he extended his professional background in optics (classical, polymer optics, hybrid systems) and later provided professional Illumination as well as Power Electronic solutions to the market.
He graduated from the University of Applied Sciences in Jena and holds a degree (MBE®) from Steinbeis University Berlin. Prior to his current role, he filled several cross-company management positions, e.g. at JENOPTIK AG. He actively shapes and drives the prosperous future of Photonics by contributing to the community as a board member at SPECTARIS® - the German Industry Association for Optics, Photonics, Analytical and Medical Technologies.
Soma
Sankaran
Vice President
Denselight Semiconductors (Singapore)
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Soma Sankaran
Vice President
Denselight Semiconductors (Singapore)
Soma has +30 years of field experience in Opto-electronics, Datacom & Telecom. He held numerous sales as well as product and field engineering roles at Avago, Agilent and Hewlett Packard. Most recently, Soma led the sales activity in the South Asia Pacific region for CREE® , a leading global innovator of LED lighting, where he successfully identified and penetrated multiple new countries and implemented sustainable long-term growth strategies. Soma has a B.Tech (Hons) degree in Electronics & Electrical Communication from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and an MBA from the University of South Australia.
Stefano
Prandoni
Sales Director Europe
Bandwidth10 (Germany)
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Stefano Prandoni
Sales Director Europe
Bandwidth10 (Germany)
Stefano Prandoni joined Bandwidth10 in 2019 as Sales Director Europe. He is currently based in Leipzig, Germany, and is responsible for the sales and marketing strategy, business development and expansion of customer and project basis in Europe for all the products of Bandwidth10. Stefano is an Optoelectronic Engineer with 20 years experience in Sales and Account Management as well as Product and Project Management in international, leading High-Tech Companies in the branches of optics, optoelectronics, laser and semiconductor for different applications including telecommunications, industry, medical and photovoltaics.
Before joining Bandwidth10, he worked with Oclaro, Meyer Burger, Trumpf, Corning.
Stefano was always fascinated by light and laser technology, he earned his university degree in Electronic Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano in 1999 with a thesis on the “Study of charge generation and emission properties in polymers and olygomers by femtosecond laser spectroscopy”.
Stéphane
Bussa
Chief Sales Officer
PI (Physik Instrumente) (France)
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Stéphane Bussa
Chief Sales Officer
PI (Physik Instrumente) (France)
Stéphane Bussa graduated with a Master's degree in Optronics from the Polytec Paris-Sud School of Engineering and after that held a high-level executive and sales positions at Keithley/Tektronix, Alcatel Optronics and in the Thales Group before beginning his career at PI. Mr. Bussa has been working for PI for more than 13 years. He joined PI France SAS in Paris as Managing Director in 2007 and took over the position of President in 2012. In September 2016, Mr Bussa has been appointed as Vice President, Sales & Marketing of PI global and in January 2020 as Chief Sales Officer, in charge of the global Sales & Marketing strategy and governance of the PI Group.
Stéphane
Fournier
Vice President, EMEA Sales
Coherent (France)
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Stéphane Fournier
Vice President, EMEA Sales
Coherent (France)
Stéphane Fournier graduated with two Master's degrees in Engineering and Physics from the Institute of Optics Graduate School (Palaiseau, France) and a Ph.D. in Physics from the École Polytechnique (Palaiseau, France). He was the Sales and Marketing Manager of Thales Laser when he joined Coherent in 2001 as Sales Channel Partner Manager. Through his 19-year tenure with Coherent, Stéphane Fournier has held various position involving sales management, strategic account management, sales development, and sales operations. He took over the pan-European Sales of Coherent in July 2019.
Steven
Goetstouwers
CEO
Admesy (Netherlands)
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Steven Goetstouwers
CEO
Admesy (Netherlands)
Steven Goetstouwers (CEO) worked at NV Industriebank LIOF, a regional venture capital investor, before joining Admesy in late 2012. At LIOF, he was responsible for investments in high-tech early stage start-up companies. During these 7 years, he was involved in more than 50 start-up ideas and companies. After graduation, Steven started working at the University Maastricht Business School where he helped starting entrepreneurs developing a solid business plan. Steven has a bachelor’s degree in Business Engineering from the Hasselt University and a master’s degree in International Business from the Maastricht University.
Sven
Otte
CEO
Sicoya (Germany)
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Sven Otte
CEO
Sicoya (Germany)
Sven Otte (CEO and Co-Founder) holds a Ph.D. in optical communications from the University of Kiel and authored several articles about electronic dispersion compensation for high speed optical transmission systems and Silicon Photonics technologies. Prior to Sicoya Sven served as the Global Business Director of Optoelectronics at FCI. Before joining FCI he was Global Vice President of Engineering at MergeOptics, Senior IC Design Engineer at Multilink Technologies and Senior System Architect at Santel Networks in Fremont, USA.
Sven
Schreiber
Head of Sales
LASER COMPONENTS (Germany)
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Sven Schreiber
Head of Sales
LASER COMPONENTS (Germany)
Sven Schreiber (Head of Sales) is the face of the company to key customers, suppliers, and distributors alike. Networking for the Laser Components Group, Sven seeks out new possibilities for cooperation with counterparts in academia and the industry be it as a supplier, customer, distributor, service provider, or research partner. Sven studied at the Universities of Leipzig and Binghamton, NY, and holds master’s degrees in business administration and economics.
Sven
Kiontke
Founder & CEO
asphericon (Germany)
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Sven Kiontke
Founder & CEO
asphericon (Germany)
Sven R. Kiontke (Founder and Managing Director) has revolutionized the manufacturing of aspheric components by developing a new technology to control CNC machinery. His professional experience includes more than 15 years of entrepreneurial, technical and management know-how. He is one of the leaders in developing technical standards related to aspheric and free-form surfaces through DIN and ISO and holds an MA in Computer Sciences from Friedrich-Schiller University Jena.
Thierry
Georges
CEO
Oxxius (France)
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Thierry Georges
CEO
Oxxius (France)
Thierry Georges (Founder and CEO) has more than 25 years of world-class scientific activity in the field of lasers and optical transmission, together with a successful track record as an entrepreneur. He was formerly the CEO of Algety Telecom, a start-up he co-founded in 1999 and which was later sold to Corvis Corp. From 2000 to 2002, he was also Senior VP Technology of Corvis. He regularly advises new ventures and is a board member of several high-tech companies. He received his Ph.D. from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST, Paris) and holds Engineering degrees from Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and ENST.
Thomas
Renner
Member Of The Management Board/Vorstand (CSO)
TOPTICA Photonics (Germany)
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Thomas Renner
Member Of The Management Board/Vorstand (CSO)
TOPTICA Photonics (Germany)
Thomas is CSO at TOPTICA Photonics AG, a leading manufacturer of diode lasers and ultrafast femtosecond lasers for quantum technology, biophotonics and materials inspection/metrology (350 employees, 75 M€ turnover). He joined TOPTICA in 2005, initially as VP sales and marketing. From 1995 until 2005 he was director Innovation and Marketing at Rofin/Baasel Lasertech for laser micro material processing.
He has a PhD in Ultrafast Spectroscopy from the LMU Munich. Thomas was always fascinated about laser technology and has a specific interest in new applications and international business development. He also is an advocate of medium sized high tech companies and a special leadership culture.
Thomas
Collins
Senior Director
Huawei Technologies (Belgium)
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Thomas Collins
Senior Director
Huawei Technologies (Belgium)
Thomas Collins, after graduating from Trinity College Cambridge in 1979 in Natural Sciences, Tom Collins worked in the semiconductor industry for 17 years and held a number of positions in process development and Operations including Wafer Fabrication Manager at ITT and Alcatel-Mietec. In 1996 he moved into Optoelectronics joining IOC, a Lithium Niobate start-up as Director of Operations. He was part of the management team who succeeded in rapidly growing the business leading to its sale to SDL in 1999. In 2002 he joined T-Networks as VP of Operations. More recently, prior to joining Caliopa, he was responsible for Operations and Development at Fibercore, Cisco’s speciality optical fiber subsidiary. Following the acquisition of Caliopa by Huawei he currently serves as Senior Director of Huawei Technologies R&D N.V.
Thor
Ersted Ansbæk
CEO
OCTLIGHT (Denmark)
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Thor Ersted Ansbæk
CEO
OCTLIGHT (Denmark)
Thor Ansbæk (CEO) has a Masters in Engineering from The Technical University of Denmark. He also holds a Ph.d. in semiconductor lasers (VCSELs) for medical diagnosis. Attracted public funding for commercialization of the technology and pre‐seed financing to spin‐out the company OCTLIGHT. Has built a team of eight employees, leading consultants, a professional board of directors and an advisory board.
Tobias
Müller
CTO
AIXEMTEC (Germany)
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Tobias Müller
CTO
AIXEMTEC (Germany)
Tobias Müller (CTO) is the technical director of AIXEMTEC – an innovative supplier of automated testing and packaging equipment and services for electro-optical systems. Tobias is an expert pro precision assembly and testing machines and processes. Especially, the precision adhesive bonding with UV-curing adhesives and shrinkage optimized processes are his background. Tobias Müller has been working in the assembly of optical systems since 2008 starting at Fraunhofer ILT. Since 2012, Mr. Müller has been working on the automation of assembly processes at Fraunhofer IPT. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Müller headed first the research group Precision Assembly and Automation at the Fraunhofer IPT. From 2018 to 2020 Tobias headed Fraunhofer IPTs Business Unit Optics. Tobias is one of the co-founders of Aixemtec a company founded in 2016 a provider of industrial optics assembly machines.
Torsten
Vahrenkamp
CEO
ficonTEC Service (Germany)
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Torsten Vahrenkamp
CEO
ficonTEC Service (Germany)
Torsten Vahrenkamp (CEO) is one of the founders of the company ficonTEC which is located in Germany, close to Bremen. When founding the company in 2001, the goal was to provide automatic and semi-automatic assembly and test solutions for the photonics industry. Torsten holds a diploma for applied Laser Technologies which he got in 1998 at the University of Applied Sciences in Emden, Germany. During his further work at the Institute of Laser Technology in Emden he built a fully automatic laser lithography system for rapid generation of micro structures in submicron dimensions. This technology was used to generate the world’s first in-glass diffractive optics using ion exchange processes in gradient refractive index glass.
Valery
Tolstikhin
President & CEO
INTENGENT (Canada)
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Valery Tolstikhin
President & CEO
INTENGENT (Canada)
Valery Tolstikhin is a scientist, research engineer, and serial entrepreneur with 40 years of experience in academia and industry. In 2005, Dr. Tolstikhin founded OneChip Photonics, where he served as CTO and was instrumental to development of the company’s flagship PIC technology. Uniquely, this technology was developed to fulfill Dr. Tolstikhin’s vision for a fabless PIC model in InP, not other way around. OneChip pioneered such a model on a commercial scale and was the first to develop an integrated optical diplexer for the PON market, as well as demonstrate a series of 100 Gbps transmitter and receiver PICs in InP for then emerging optical interconnect market. In 2013 Dr. Tolstikhin co-founded another fabless InP PIC company, ArtIC Photonics, where he served as a President and CEO leading the start-up through strategic investment round and company build-up. In 2015 he co-founded ElectroPhotonic-IC (ELPHiC) and served as CTO of this company, working on extension of the fabless model in InP to electro-photonic integrated circuits. In 2016 Dr. Tolstikhin founded Intengent, an independent consultancy, custom design, and fabless development service provider in the area of III-V photonics, which he has been with ever since in a capacity of President and CEO. Based on the regrowth-free taper-assisted vertical integration (TAVI) platform, originated by Dr. Tolstikhin, and in a partnership with the key industry players, the company was the first to offer fabless development into manufacturing services for customized PICs in InP. While working for the industry, Dr. Tolstikhin continued his academic activities, by publishing research papers, giving numerous invited conference talks, serving on and chairing technical program committees of many IEEE and OSA conferences, and collaborating with universities. Also, he has served as an adjunct professor at Universities of Waterloo and Ottawa in Canada and Zhejiang University in China.
Viacheslav
Artyushenko
Founder & President
art photonics (Germany)
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Viacheslav Artyushenko
Founder & President
art photonics (Germany)
Slava Artyushenko (President & CEO) was born in Russia. His PhD in physics was done at General Physics Institute, Moscow in 1981 - focused on his pioneering development of polycrystalline fibers for Mid IR-range: 3-18µm. His multiple publications and patents were devoted to fiber optic technologies and applications in laser medicine, process-spectroscopy, optical sensing and diagnostic. In 1998, he founded art photonics GmbH in Berlin – one of worldwide leaders now in the production of specialty fiber products for a broad spectra 0.2-16µm. Dr. V. Artyushenko and art photonics are members of EPIC, CPACT, IBioIC, SPIE, OSA, SAS, SPECTARIS, Optec-BB, Photonics-BB, GDCh-DECHEMA & CLIRSPEC.
Vladimir
Shidlovski
Head of Sales, Marketing & Customer Support
Superlum (Ireland)
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Vladimir Shidlovski
Head of Sales, Marketing & Customer Support
Superlum (Ireland)
Vladimir Shidlovski, Founding Shareholder and Chief of Strategic Development of Superlum Diodes, Ltd., was graduated from Moscow State University in 1981 and received his Ph.D. from P.N.Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow, in 1991. Since 1980 he works on research, development and manufacturing of laser diodes and laser diode based products. Since 1990 his main fields of scientific, technical and business interests are superluminescent diodes and their applications, including optical sensing and fiber optic sensing, low-coherence optical interferometry, Optical Coherence Tomography, speckle-free illumination.
Volker
Sinhoff
CEO
AIXaTECH (Germany)
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Volker Sinhoff
CEO
AIXaTECH (Germany)
Volker Sinhoff (CEO) holds a degree in mechanical engineering of RWTH Aachen. After finishing his PhD thesis, he worked as general manager of the Fraunhofer-Institute of Production Technology IPT before starting in 2001 his own business in the field of refractive micro-optics and diode laser systems. He sold his shares of INGENERIC GmbH successfully in 2013 to the TRUMPF Group. Since then, he acts as strategic advisor and business angel for young high-tech companies. In 2015, Volker joined AIXaTECH GmbH as CEO. The company is an equipment supplier for the growth of wide band gap semiconductors. With its disruptive Low Temperature Epitaxy, AIXaTECH enables customers to reduce manufacturing costs, process complexity and environmental footprint and to exploit functional advantages.
William
Yang
President & CEO, Cofounder
BaySpec (USA)
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William Yang
President & CEO, Cofounder
BaySpec (USA)
William Yang (Co-founder and CEO of BaySpec Inc.) holds 3 degrees in laser physics, electro-optics, and laser spectroscopy. Before founding BaySpec, William worked in a range of high-tech optics and laser businesses in the United States and Canada, including companies in photonics, semiconductor metrology and biomedical diagnostics. William holds more than 36 issued U.S. patents and is a creator of more than 9 product lines based on photonics technologies. A self-made technical entrepreneur who learned management, financial, and business skills through Silicon Valley’s ‘real-world’ working practices.
Xiaojun
Li
General Manager
Shanghai FEIBO Laser (China)
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Xiaojun Li
General Manager
Shanghai FEIBO Laser (China)
Xiaojun Li (General Manager) received his B.Sc. from Peking University in 1996 and Ph.D. from Boston University in 2005. Between 2000 and 2003, he worked for Lasersharp Corporation as laser scientist, founded by Hong Po., in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He joined nLIGHT in 2006 and led industrial laser program in Shanghai branch for seven years before starting FEIBO Laser in 2012. He is an active member in both academic and commercial laser society in China, a distinguished research fellow at SIOM of China Academy of Science and guest professor at Nanjing University.
Yeeloy
Lam
Chief Tehnology Officer
DenseLight Semiconductors (Singapore)
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Yeeloy Lam
Chief Tehnology Officer
DenseLight Semiconductors (Singapore)
Dr. Lam received his B.Eng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (First Class Honors) and his MSc in Industrial Engineering from the National University of Singapore., and his MSE and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, USA. In 1985, he began his career with the Singapore unit of a UK-based multinational company in developing building automation products and subsequently establishing its manufacturing operations. From year 1990 to 2000, he was a professor in the School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. Notable appointments in the University included Head of Microelectronics Division, Principal Staff Officer to the University’s President, and member of the NTU Council (University’s Board of Governors). In Year 2000, he led the founding of DenseLight Semiconductors and raised a US$31.2 million VC Round from 3i-PLC (to establish a InP Optoelectronics Wafer Fab), and subsequently in 2003-2004 (despite negative market sentiment post 2002 photonics-crash) he raised US$8.6M to realize self-sustaining business operations by 2005 with revenue from products and services for its photonics sensing and test customers. He continued to serve as DenseLight CTO after the company was acquired by POET Technologies in May 2016 and subsequent buy-out by private equity in Nov 2019 to again become an independent device manufacturer. Dr. Lam’s area of technical expertise is in optoelectronics, fiber-optics sensors, and photonics systems applications, and has contributed to some 300 publications and 60 patents. Furthermore, he has significantly contributed to a number of key initiatives to promote the growth of photonics-related research and industrial development in Singapore.
Yves
Lemaitre
President
RIO Lasers (USA)
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Yves Lemaitre
President
RIO Lasers (USA)
Yves Lemaitre joined OptaSense in 2019 as President of RIO. He is currently based in Santa Clara, California and oversees the RIO laser business, design and manufacturing activities. For the last 25 years, Yves has served as a Senior Executive in the photonics, optical and communications industry in a variety of sales, marketing and general management position. Most recently, Yves was Chief Strategy Officer at Lumentum, following the acquisition of Oclaro where he served as President of Optical Connectivity Business. Yves earned a master's degree in mathematics and computer science from Nantes University in France. He also holds an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications (ENST) in Paris.