SPEAKERS ACADEMIA Prof. Dr. Ir. Hugo Thienpont Director of VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugothienpont/ Talks: Photonics trends and innovation opportunities in the European ecosystem
Prof. Dr Ir. Hugo Thienpont is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is director of Brussels Photonics B-PHOT, the photonics research group at VUB, which he built over the years and which today counts more than 70 photonics researchers, engineers, technical experts and administrative staff. Hugo graduated as an Electrotechnical Engineer with majors in Applied Physics in 1984 and obtained his PhD in Applied Sciences in 1990, both at the VUB. Since 2012 Hugo is also Vice-Rector for Innovation and Industrial policy at VUB.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Heidi Ottevaere VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-ottevaere-2a8b762/ Talks: How & where to get your training in Photonics?
Prof. Dr Ir. Heidi Ottevaere is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) since October 2009. Since 2019 Heidi chairs the Applied Physics and Photonics Department (TONA) of the Faculty of Engineering that is responsible for the Photonics Education Curriculum at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is responsible for the Instrumentation and Metrology platform at the Photonics Innovation Center and for the research unit ‘biophotonics’ of the Brussels Photonics Team B-PHOT chaired by Prof. Hugo Thienpont. She is coordinating and working on multiple research and industrial projects focusing on the design, fabrication and characterization of different types of photonic components and systems in the field of biophotonics, interferometry, holography and imaging. She graduated from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1997 as an electrotechnical engineer with majors in Photonics and received her PhD degree in Applied Sciences in 2003 from the same university.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Jürgen Van Erps VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurgenvanerps/ Talks: Photonics Innovation Process: From the lab to the business. Visit of the Photonics Innovation Center
Jürgen Van Erps is a professor of photonics and optical communications at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. He graduated as an Electrotechnical Engineer with majors in Photonics in 2003 and obtained his PhD in Engineering in 2008, both at the VUB. His research interests include freeform optics manufacturing, laser micromachining and 3D nanoprinting for photonics applications. He is also corelab manager of B-PHOT within Flanders Make, the strategic research center for the Flemish Manufacturing Industry.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Nathalie Vermeulen VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathalie-vermeulen-3680684/ Talks: Academia Panel: Research in Photonics: pushing the boundaries
Nathalie Vermeulen is a tenure track professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She leads the Nonlinear Optics research team within the Brussels Photonics B-PHOT group. Nathalie received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering with majors in photonics in 2004 and obtained her PhD in 2008, both from VUB. In 2013 she acquired a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Nathalie also coordinated a EU-funded Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) ‘Young Explorers’ project and now serves as a principal investigator in a Belgian Excellence of Science (EOS) project. Her current research activities are focused on graphene-based nonlinear optics and on-chip light sources.
Dr. Ir. Ignace Gatare University of Rwanda https://www.linkedin.com/in/ignace-gatare-55351ab7/ Talks: Academia Panel
Dr. Ignace GATARE, currently serves as the Principal of the College of Science and Technology of the University of Rwanda. Prior to his appointment as Principal, Dr. GATARE served as the Director General of the Rwanda National Commission of Science and Technology (NSTC), a public institution serving as think-tank and advisory board to the Rwanda Government on issues pertaining to the development of science, technology, research and innovation. In 2008, He obtained a PhD degree in Engineering Sciences with specialization in Photonics from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where he also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow. His research interests include optical switching, optical injection-locking and synchronization of semiconductor lasers. Dr. GATARE coordinated and supervised various national telecommunications and ICT infrastructure projects including the construction of the 2.600-km National fiber-optic backbone network and the deployment of the National Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Television Platform.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Małgorzata Kujawińska Warsaw University of Technology https://www.linkedin.com/in/malgorzatakujawinska/ Talks: Academia Panel
Prof. Dr. Ir. Malgorzata Kujawinska is a professor at the Faculty of Mechatronics of the Politechnika Warszawska (WUT) where she is the mentor of Photonics Engineering Division and Virtual Reality Technologies Division which today counts more than 40 scientists, engineers, and administrative and technical staff. For more than 30 years Malgorzata and her teams have contributed to a variety of fundamental, applied and industrial photonics research and innovation challenges in support of growth and wealth of the European society and industry. Prof. Kujawinska is also the member WUT Senate and Executive Board the Institute of Applied Research which plays the role of WUT Technology Transfer Office. Malgorzata had been also the founder and the vice-president of Photonics21, Europe’s Photonics Public Private Partnership (2005-2018) as well as the leader of international photonics societies: SPIE- the International society for optical engineering and ICO- the International Commission for Optics.
Prof. Dr. Ir.Wendy Meulebroeck VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-meulebroeck/ Talks: Photonics for food and water quality
Prof. Dr. Ir. Wendy Meulebroeck is professor and post-doc researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She is one of the responsible members of the research unit ‘optical spectroscopy’ of the Brussels Photonics Team B-PHOT chaired by Prof. Hugo Thienpont. She is coordinating and working on multiple projects focusing on the spectroscopic characterization of different types of materials in 3 main research fields: (1) food safety, (2) archaeometry and (3) biophotonics for better health care and for the replacement of animal models. She graduated as an Electrotechnical Engineer with majors in Photonics in 1998 and received her PhD in Applied Sciences in January 2004, both at the VUB.
Dr. Ir. Lien Smeesters VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/liensmeesters/ Talks: Photonics for food and water quality
Dr. Ir. Lien Smeesters is a post-doctoral researcher at the B-PHOT Brussels Photonics team, at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). She obtained her PhD in Engineering Sciences in 2016, with a thesis entitled: ‘Improving food safety with optical screening’. This doctoral degree was granted with greatest distinction and unanimous congratulations of the jury. To date, her post-doctoral research focuses on multidisciplinary and applied-oriented research in the field of optical spectroscopy and optical design. She investigates different spectroscopic sensing techniques for the detection of toxins in food, while studying their integration in industrial applications, including food sorting machines, drones sensing and food package inspection. Additionally, she focuses on the development of imaging and illumination systems, starting from the optical design to the tolerancing, characterization and proof-of-concept demonstration, including the design of refocusing imaging systems and freeform lenses for laser cutting and marking applications. Lien is actively involved in several applied-oriented research projects in collaboration with industry, via nationally funded VLAIO projects, bilateral collaborations and within the European Commission funded ACTPHAST consortium. Lien is inventor of 2 European patents, author of 7 peer-reviewed journal publications and 8 conference proceedings. Her research has been recognized with 6 awards, including the Photonics21 ‘European Photonics Student Innovation Award’ and the BiR&D award for Science & Technology. Next to her research activities, she is involved in educational tasks in the faculty of Engineering Sciences and several outreach/STEM activities.
PhD student Natalia 1. Gutierrez A. VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-gutierrez-412b299b/ Talks: Photonics for food and water quality
Natalia Andrea Gutierrez Andrade is a PhD researcher of the Brussels Photonics B-PHOT at VUB. Her main research topic is the implementation of a microplastic detection device based on the SPR phenomena, which is part of the MONPLAS project, under the supervision of Prof. Heidi Ottevaere, Prof. Wendy Meulebroeck and PhD Tatevik Chalyan. Natalia graduated as a Physicist Engineer and achieved her master degree in Applied physics from EAFIT University in Colombia.
PhD student Mehrdad Lotfi Choobbari VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehrdad-lotfi-choobbari-780b77136/ Talks: Photonics for food and water quality
Mehrdad Lotfi Choobbari started his PhD on September 1 st 2020 at B-PHOT. He pursues his PhD as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher in the MONPLAS program entitled “The training of early-stage researchers for the development of technologies to MONitor concentrations of micro and nanoPLAStics in water for their presence, uptake and threat to animal and human life”. His research focuses on the development of an optofluidic-based system to measure the concentration of various types of microplastics in water for which a combination of diffuse reflection spectroscopy and scattering will be used, in combination with Raman spectroscopy to identify the types of plastic. He will work under the supervision of Prof. Heidi Ottevaere, Prof. Wendy Meulebroeck and Dr. Tatev Chalyan. Mehrdad received his MSc degree in Micro and Nano Electronic Devices from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnique) in September 2018 and was working for his MSc thesis on micro paper-based analytical devices. Prof. Dr. Ir. Thomas Geernaert VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgeernaert/ Talks: Photonics for sensing and communication
Thomas Geernaert graduated as an electrotechnical engineer with majors in photonics in 2006 and received the Ph.D. degree in engineering in 2011, both from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. He is professor within the Brussels Photonics team B-PHOT at VUB and his research is focused on theoretical and experimental work for sensing applications based on photonic crystal fibers, fiber Bragg gratings and distributed interrogation methods. In 2012 he received the European Photonics21 Innovation Award in recognition of “his groundbreaking individual research contributions in the field of optics and photonics.” Prof. Geernaert has (co-)authored 46 SCI-indexed journal papers and 84 publications in international conference proceedings. He gave 10 invited talks at international meetings. He co-authored 3 book chapters and is co-inventor on 3 patent applications. He is also a member of SPIE and OSA, and is member of the Conference Program Committee of the Optical Sensing Conference at SPIE Photonics Europe.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Michael Vervaeke VUB Brussels Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelvervaeke/ Talks: The Einstein Telescope: combining photonics fundamentals and technologies.
Prof. Dr Ir. Ing. Michael Vervaeke (02-04-1975) is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He graduated as an Electrotechnical Engineer with majors in Photonics in 2000 and received his PhD in Engineering Science in 2007, both at the VUB. Currently he is responsible for optics fabrication at VUB’s Photonics Campus. Michael Vervaeke is involved in a number of industrial and academic-oriented projects wherein optics and photonics play a major role such as LiDAR systems for autonomous driving but also extreme precision optics for gravitational wave detection.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Alexander Sevrin VUB Physics Department Talks: The Einstein Telescope: combining photonics fundamentals and technologies.
In 1985, Alexander Sevrin obtained a master degree in physics from the University of Ghent followed in 1988 by a PhD from the University of Leuven. Subsequently he performed postdoctoral research at the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics (Stony Brook, NY), the Physics Department at UC Berkeley, the Theoretical Physics Group of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (both at Berkeley, CA) and the Theory Division at CERN (Geneva). At the end of 1994 he joined the faculty in the Physics Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. There he founded the Theoretical High Energy Physics Group which focusses on research in theoretical high energy physics. In 2018 the physics of gravitational waves was added to this, with particular emphasis on the detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO/Virgo/Kagra collaboration (of which he is member) and the development of the Einstein Telescope and its R&D facility ETpathfinder. He is the deputy director of the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry and he sits on the board of several organizations such as the Francqui Foundation and the “Vlaamse Wetenschappelijke Stichting” (which he presides). In 2011 he became a guest professor at both the Universities of Leuven and Antwerp. He is an elected member of the Royal Belgian Academy for Science and the Arts of Belgium and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
ENTREPRENEURS Dr. Ir. Filip Delport CTO FOx Biosystems https://www.linkedin.com/in/filip-delport-a1715728/ https://www.foxbiosystems.com/ Talks: Entrepreneur panel: Optics in a fiber optic SPR biosensing instrument Dr. Filip Delport is CTO of FOx Biosystems, a spin-off of the KU Leuven that aims to revolutionize the life sciences industry and research market using its real-time, label-free analysis technology. Dr. Filip Delport graduated in Bioscience Engineering at the KU Leuven in 2006 and obtained a PhD in bionanotechnology in the group of Prof. Lammertyn in 2011. During his PhD he also successfully concluded a post graduate in Corporate Finance. In that period he was, together with some colleagues, awarded the first Prize in the Battle of talents business contest, where he first challenged the idea of bringing fiber optic biosensing to a broader public. In 2014 he received an IWT (VLAIO) Innovation Mandate which allowed him to conceptualize the spin off FOx Diagnostics. In 2016 FOX Diagnostics was effectively founded together with Prof. Lammertyn to bring the fiber optic SPR technology to the market. In 2019 seed capital was provided by Heran Partners, LRM and Gemma frisius and they appointed Dr. Delport as CEO.
Dr. Ir. Iñigo Artundo CEO VLC Photonics https://www.linkedin.com/in/iartundo/ http://www.vlcphotonics.com/ Talks: Entrepreneur panel: Creating your own opportunities and surfing the wave. Dr. Ir. Iñigo Artundo 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 optical telecom and interconnects, micro-optics and photonic integration. He has worked as a reviewer for several scientific journals, national and international funding agencies. He holds specializations in Business Financing, Commercial Management and Research, and Strategic Marketing. He is a member of IEEE, SPIE and COIT.
Elisa Veronesi and Ruben Eevers Owners of EVERON LIGHTING TECHNOLOGIES https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-veronesi/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruben-eevers-72a66964/ https://www.everon-lighting.eu/ Talks: Entrepreneur panel: LED’s achieve more gender balance in photonics (and everywhere else). Elisa Veronesi obtained a master degree in International Law (VUB) and Ruben Eevers has a degree in chemistry as a laboratory technician. Almost by accident, they both ended up in the wonderful world of photonics.
INDUSTRY Ingrid Van de Voorde Director Bell Labs Belgium at Nokia https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-van-de-voorde4a92067/ https://www.bell-labs.com/ Talks: Industry Panel Ingrid Van de Voorde received a master degree in electrical engineering from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium) in 1990. That same year, she joined the Alcatel Corporate Research Center in Antwerp (Belgium). From 2003, she led the research activities related to fixed access. With an international team, she transferred several innovations towards the business group. In 2008, she joined Bell Labs in the new merged company Alcatel-Lucent, to lead the BL Research Domain Fixed Access & Multimedia, which comprised next to fixed access, home networking, and multi-media technology. Since 2014, she took up the role of Location Leader of Bell Labs Antwerp, fostering internal and external collaborations and representing ALU at the board of the 5G Infrastructure Association. Since the merger with Nokia in 2016, Ingrid continues to lead the Nokia Bell Labs Location Belgium and acts as a coordinator of the Nokia Bell Labs location leaders worldwide.
Christ’l Joris President ETAP Lighting International https://www.linkedin.com/in/christ-l-joris-70320a3/ https://www.etaplighting.com/en/ Talks: Industry Panel
Christ’l Joris is a Belgian businesswoman. She is the President of the Board of ETAP Lighting, President of Agoria Flanders and of Flanders Investment and Trade. Christ’l Joris is a daughter of Norbert Joris, founder of the ETAP group of companies. She started her career in Academia and the non-profit sector in mental healthcare. She also worked for the King Baudouin Foundation on programs for environmental care and economics. In 1994, she joined ETAP Lighting, and in 2005 she became president of Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT). She is also President of Rode Kruis-Vlaanderen.
Paul Berghmans Serial entrepreneur and founder / CEO of OPTIMUM SORTING https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-berghmans/ https://www.optimum-sorting.com/en/ Talks: Industry Panel: Optics in food sorting Paul Berghmans is interested in building companies together with entrepreneurs that have passion about their business and their people.
OTHER SPEAKERS Peter Van Rompaey Senior advisor at Marcom VUB https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-van-rompaey-3507917/ Talks: Presenting online: speaking in front of the camera.
Peter Van Rompaey is senior advisor of corporate communications (Vrije Universiteit Brussel - MarCom). He’s an expert, coach and trainer in public speaking and presentation skills, and author of several articles on the subject in specialist publications. He is a former television and newspaper journalist (1990-2008)
Dr Laurence Theunis Co-founder & Managing Director (Benelux Office of Adoc Talent Management) https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurencetheunis/ Talks: Job search strategy: Some tips to develop an efficient job search for young researchers in Photonics.
After having carried out a study on ant biodiversity for her PhD in co-supervision between the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (IRSnB) and the Free University of Brussels (ULB), she continued her career in raising awareness of scientific studies and in the valorization of the research. She has acquired, as a project manager for 10 years, an expertise in assisting researchers in their career development. Convinced of the added value of the doctoral experience and skills for many positions within companies that have been involved in technological, health or social innovations, she develops, as a consultant, the recruitment, the training and the studies activities of Adoc Talent Management in Belgium.
Dr Darren Martindill Director, New Ventures at Hamamatsu https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-martindill-530a011/ Talks: Why scientists and engineers make good entrepreneurs?
Darren Martindill started his career in photonics at a small startup 30 years ago before joining Hamamatsu Photonics where he has held management positions in sales, marketing and business development before helping form Hamamatsu’s New Venture Group to invest in the companies and people that are driving the next generation of Photonics technology.
Patryk Urban Business Developer Wavejobs https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrykurban/ Talks: Meet Patryk during the networking session
Patryk Urban is responsible for WJ business development and sales targeting companies representing the international photonics industry and industry organizations. Long-time active member of IEEE Photonics, including member of IEEE Photonics Industry Engagement Committee, where he represents Central and eastern Europe. He has 16 years of experience (including 14 outside Poland) in the area of photonics for fibre optic telecommunications applications as a reasearcher, expert in standardization bodies (e.g. International Telecommunication Union at the UN), specialist in business development and commercialization of innovations. He holds a PhD and habilitation degree in fiber optic access networks; currently he is also university professor at the West Pomeranian University of Technology.