The Industrialization of Photonics

Marco Zamarin, PhD Student, Coding and Visual Communications: This workshop was my first experience with people from both the academia and the industry worlds presenting and discussing together their research activities and future research directions. It has been very interesting both because of the contents themselves – especially on the first day with topics like photonics devices for networking and optical-wireless convergence – and because it gave me the chance to understand the importance and the relevance of scientific research from an industrial and economic point of view. The poster sessions were interesting and fruitful as well, providing the chance to better understand the topics I was interested in and, at the same time, tell more about my activities. I am sure that other research topics related to photonics technologies covered in our department – like video and data transmission and network infrastructures development – can benefit from this workshop in the next editions.

Anna Zakrzewska, PhD Student, Network and service platforms: The first day of the workshop covered a wide range of topics, from optical-wireless convergence, through cognitive and energy efficient sensor networks to optical network resilience. Particularly interesting was a panel discussion with business representatives trying to find the direction of development for future networking solutions. The workshop was also a great possibility to establish academia-industry partnership that will hopefully benefit DTU Fotonik in the near future.

Antonio Caballero, PhD Student, Metro-access:  It was a great opportunity for me to attend again the workshop. There was a big improvement from last year in term of more pronounced participation from Denmark including researchers in bio-photonics and again it showed that Danish universities should be proud of their research, as it is at the same high level as those in USA. After the workshop, we went to visit several companies in Silicon Valley like Apple, Intel, Oracle, Huawei, Docomo, which provided a fresh and different perspective on research in particular on the commercialization side.

Roberto Rodes, PhD student, Metro-access: I am very happy I attended both editions of the workshop. I think the high level of the speakers and friendly atmosphere, unlike the large crowd in the big conferences, make this even really attractive for PhD students. It was very interesting to see both points of view, from the industry and academia. The visits to the selected companies in Silicon Valley after the workshop were also very valuable and a great experience in itself.

Valeria Arlunno, PhD Student, Metro-access and visual communication: This was my first time at the workshop. I’ve been impressed by the synergy between companies and universities to create a unique event, where DTU has again demonstrated the excellence of its research. It was a great personal and professional experience. Visiting and discussion research trends and open challenges with the companies at Silicon Valley has given me a different prospective at the research I do at DTU Fotonik and the potential for possible cooperation with industry.