EU Project Sessions: Introduction

Werner Steinhögl (European Commission, Belgium)

Topic: Perspectives for Photonics in the frame of the PPP and the Chips Act

Roberta Ramponi (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)

Roberta Ramponi is a professor of physics at Politecnico di Milano and has been director of CNR Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (2013-2022). She has been president of EOS (2006-2008), and of ICO (2017-2021), where she is now serving as past-president. She is vice-president of Photonics21 since December 2023 and has been part of the Executive and then of the Extended Executive Board since 2010.

Her research has covered a wide range of activities in the fields of optics, photonics, and fs-laser micromachining. At present she is working on the design and realization by fs-laser direct-writing of integrated optical chips for quantum information and sensing. In 2020 she received the OSA Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award. She is a Fellow of OPTICA and of EOS.

Topic: Photonics21

Photonics21 is a democratic, industry-driven, stakeholder organization following a people-parliament-government principle, representing over 4,000 personal members from all over Europe.

Photonics21’s main objectives are:

• Empower open strategic autonomy and a resilient, green, digital economy for Europe – creating roadmaps for European photonics and its value chains.
• Strategic collaboration with other initiatives – photonics enabling the technologies in all key parts of current and future supply chains.
• Empower regional, national and European public investment in photonics.
• Improve financing opportunities for photonics start-ups and SMEs.
• Engage the community and promote photonics as a key enabling technology for Europe.

Susan Brindley (Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Brussels Photonics, Belgium)

Susan is a member of the PhotonHub Europe Coordination Team, which is led by Professor Hugo Thienpont, Director of Brussels Photonics. PhotonHub Europe is a full-service digital innovation hub that provides photonics and non-photonics companies with open access and guided orientation to a broad range of photonics innovation services and capabilities. This EU-funded initiative supports first-time users and early adopters in achieving the wider and faster uptake, integration, and deployment of photonic technologies in innovative products across diverse industry sectors. Based in Ireland, Susan has over 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering programmes to support organisations in their commercial development, ranging from technology start-ups to design and craft businesses. Susan holds a BA (Hons) degree in Economics from University College Cork.

Topic: One-Stop-Shop Open Access to Photonics Innovation Support for a Digital Europe

PhotonHub Europe has been established to accelerate the uptake, integration, and deployment of photonic technologies in innovative products across a range of industry sectors for scaled-up business growth and production in Europe. The aim is to lower the innovation barriers for European industry by offering a one-stop-shop solution for exploiting the power of photonics in new “photonics-enabled” products and production methods. PhotonHub has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Grant Agreement n°101016665, in Public Private Partnership with Photonics21.

Lydia Sanmartí-Vila (ICFO, Spain)

Lydia is ICFO’s Outreach Coordinator. She obtained her PhD from the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Germany in 1999 after completing her biochemistry degree at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1994. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY and spent after that several years working in consulting, first at Euro RSCG Life NRP, a communications firm specialized in healthcare, and then at the healthcare practice of Deloitte. In 2006 she moved back to Barcelona, working first as head of operation in a biopharmaceutical company to join the outreach team at ICFO where she has been since 2013. Lydia specializes in international programs, coordinating EU projects such as CARLA or the newly started 360 CARLA, and is part of the CSA of the European Quantum Flagship. She creates programs that promote diversity and inclusion and leads ICFO’s art and science programs.

Topic: The CARLA programs: mind openers for photonics careers

The field of photonics needs more well-prepared professionals to support its growth and innovation potential. Addressing this pressing necessity requires engaging all stakeholders to increase the visibility of the outstanding professional opportunities available in photonics in academia, industry, and beyond, and provide the future workforce with tools to boost their employability. In this session, we want to talk about how the EU projects Carla and its follow-up project 360 CARLA are approaching this through innovative inclusive career development events and round-up programs general to photonics or focused on photonics applications verticals.