Best Student Paper Award for B-PHOT PhD Researcher Arié Nacar at SPIE Photonics Europe 2026
Arié Nacar, PhD researcher at VUB B-PHOT, has been awarded the Best Student Paper Award at SPIE Photonics Europe 2026 for his outstanding presentation on the design and fabrication of ultra-compact 3D photonic lanterns.
The conference committee of the "Optical and Photonic Microsystems" conference at SPIE Photonics Europe 2026 voted Arié Nacar's presentation as the best student contribution in his session. His work, entitled "Design and fabrication of ultra-compact 3D photonic lanterns using two-photon polymerisation-based direct laser writing", showcases the potential of two-photon polymerisation (2PP)-based direct laser writing (DLW) as a fabrication platform for next-generation photonic components. As the Best Paper Award winner, Arié received a certificate, SPIE Student Membership, a cash prize and SPIE Digital Library downloads.
About the research
Arié Nacar is a PhD student at B-PHOT with Prof. Dr. Ir. Jürgen Van Erps and Prof. Dr. Tigran Baghdasaryan as his promoters and Dr. Koen Vanmol as his supervisor. His research focuses on two-photon polymerisation-based 3D nanoprinting combined with liquid crystal technologies for tunable photonics applications. In his award-winning presentation, he demonstrated how ultra-compact 3D photonic lanterns — components that bridge single-mode and multimode optical fibers — can be realised with remarkable precision using DLW, opening new avenues for optical communications, astrophotonics and sensing systems. A journal article about this research was recently published in the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.
Arié shared his enthusiasm about the recognition: "I was thrilled when I got the news and still feel very grateful to be awarded this prize for my first presentation at an international conference. It was an amazing week in Strasbourg with the B-PHOT team, full of learning, meeting great people and also having fun. Receiving the award topped it all wonderfully!"
The recognition from the SPIE conference committee underlines the quality and novelty of the research carried out at B-PHOT. Committee chair Hans Zappe personally noted his enthusiasm for the work, stating that the presentation inspired at least one of his own PhD students in her research. The award was handed over to Arié on Thursday 16 April by Hans Zappe and Niels Quack from the Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart, Germany.
This award is yet another testament to the strong and growing impact of B-PHOT's photonics research on the international stage. It follows in the footsteps of two Best Student Paper Awards won by B-PHOT researchers at SPIE Photonics Europe 2024, continuing a proud tradition of excellence at this prestigious conference.
Congratulations, Arié, on this well-deserved recognition!
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