Discover the technology of light: B-PHOT opens its doors during FTI Festival 2026

On Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, VUB B-PHOT Brussels Photonics invites the public to step behind the scenes of the VUB Photonics Campus and the VUB STEAM academie in Oetingen (Pajottegem).

What do self-driving cars, fibre-optic internet and early disease detection have in common? None of them would exist without photonics, the science and technology of light. This October, everyone has the chance to see first-hand how light is shaping the world of tomorrow.

As part of FTI Festival 2026 (Flanders Technology and Innovation), the largest technology festival in Flanders and Brussels, B-PHOT is opening its campus to the public for two days of guided tours. Admission is free, but registration is required.

During a 1.5-hour guided tour, our researchers will take visitors through the laboratories of the Photonics Innovation Center. Here, you'll see how high-tech equipment such as lasers, sensors, chips and lenses is designed, built and brought to life.

This year, STEM is woven throughout the entire experience. After exploring the Photonics Innovation Center, visitors continue to the VUB STEAM academie, where hands-on experiments and demonstrations bring science to life in a playful way. It's also a chance to learn more about the academie's plans for the future. A single registration covers the full tour.

Light is all around us, yet most of it goes unnoticed. Alongside sunlight and everyday lighting, there are forms of light we can't see at all, such as ultraviolet and infrared. Photonics studies and harnesses all of these to develop new technologies.

Some applications are familiar: the screen and camera on your smartphone, or the fibre-optic connection that brings internet into your home. Others are less visible. Optical sensors check our food for contaminants, LiDAR enables self-driving cars, and similar techniques can detect damage in aircraft before it becomes visible to the eye. Light-based technologies also play a key role in the fight against cancer and diabetes, as well as in space exploration, healthcare, manufacturing and energy.