Partners include imec, LioniX International, Smart Photonics, Phix Photonics Assembly, Ephiphan and Bright Photonics and engineering community platform Werolver.
Engineers are invited to use photonics ICs in designs to tackle challenges in, for example, healthcare, AI, agriculture and autonomous vehicles. PhotonDelta has set up a €60m stimulation fund for startups and “innovative applications in the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) industry”. It is also used for loans to pre-seed companies.
The competition is open to startups as well as established companies, engineers, researchers, students and academic organisations working on photonics chip applications. The first prize in the Global Photonics Engineering Contest is €50,000 in services from the photonics ecosystem to realise the design. There is also the opportunity for the winner to received up to €2m as a favourable loan from PhotonDelta to start a business based on the winning idea.
Eelko Brinkhof, CEO at PhotonDelta, said: “One of the most exciting and compelling aspects of PIC technology is the sheer breadth of applications it can be used for and its capacity to tackle some of the most pressing problems we face as a society. We want to encourage people to come forward with their most innovative ideas. We will provide the winner with significant support to get their ideas off the drawing board and into production.”
Submissions will be judged on the level of innovation, technical and commercial feasibility and how effectively the design addresses challenges faced by the industry today. Entries are invited now and will close 3 March 2025. The winner and runners up will be announced early April 2025.
