The end of a year is an excellent moment to reflect on the past and prepare the future. Looking for inspiration on photonics ? On its "Photon Terrace" educational website, Hamamatsu shines some light on Prof. Thienpont’s energetic activities in photonics travelling back 35 years in time.

Join us in the celebration of 90 years FWO at Kennismakers event on 14 December ! FWO (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) is welcoming over 100 national and international speakers sparking innovative ideas during the one-day scientific congress Kennismakers (Knowledge Makers). We have the pleasure to invite you to our booth during the day, where visitors can discover the power of light technology through various demos. On display: our national icon Manneke Pis explains internal light reflection for high-speed communication, photonics for food safety and authentication and for Clean Sky project.

The Open-Innovation Photonics pilot for North West Europe (OIP4NWE) aims to drastically reduce high R&D costs and time for SMEs in the field of photonics. A significant decrease of the defect rate in pilot production and a shorter throughput time can help establish a thousand integrated firms within a decade. For this €13.9m project, B-PHOT will install a state-of-the-art femtosecond laser writing system which enables the fabrication of mechanical features, optical components as well as microfluidic components in glass with a sub-micrometer resolution.

Trends business magazine covers how the work of Hugo Thienpont in photonics can impact the economy. How Actphast facilitates the integration of light technology in R&D for companies throughout Europe. What inspired him to pursue photonics as domain of research and innovation? And more importantly, why should any organisation consider the science of light to keep up with the pace of digitalization?