Sara Ducci, Professor, Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Université Paris Cité
Sara Ducci is a professor at Université Paris Cité and a member of the Research Unit Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques (UPCIté/CNRS). She obtained her PhD in physics from the University of Florence (Italy) in 2000, with a thesis on the formation of spatial structures in a nonlinear optical system. After a postdoctoral fellowship in quantum optics at the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel and a temporary teaching and research position at the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, she joined the Université Paris Diderot (now Université Paris Cité) in 2002. She is in charge of a research team working on miniaturized semiconductor sources of quantum light states, ranging from device development and fundamental quantum optics research to applications in the field of quantum information.
She is also President of the Scientific Council of the Physics Department, Associated Editor for the Journal Optica and co-director of a Graduate School focused on Quantum Technologies. She was awarded the Prix Louis Ancel by the French Physical Society in 2016, and is an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France
Jussi Rautiainen (Ph.D), CTO, Senop Oy, Jyväskylä, Finland
Photonics Company of the Year
Topic “Imaging Systems for Defence Industry”
Jussi Rautiainen obtained his PhD at Optoelectronics Research Center at Tampere University, where he did research on semiconductor lasers. Since then, he has worked in the University of Sheffield and Murata, where he was responsible for the quality verification of MEMS sensors with acoustic microscope and machine vision systems. Since 2014, he has been working at Millog Oy and Senop Oy, first as a project manager focusing on different night vision technologies such as thermal imaging. Additionally, he was responsible for the development of the Fabry-Pérot interferometer based hyperspectral cameras. Currently, Jussi works as the Chief Technology Officer, leading the Research and Development team at Senop Oy. In the R&D department, the team is developing new optoelectronics devices such as target acquisition systems, night vision goggles, thermal cameras, and smart sights.
Senop´s mission is to enable reliable situational awareness and increase operational firepower and accuracy. By providing customers with high quality military optronics, fire control center integration projects and communication equipment, Senop ensures operability in all conditions. Senop´s stable ownership base in the Patria Group is a solid foundation on which the organization builds sustainable and scalable growth.
Jean-Luc Beylat, Head of Ecosystem, Nokia Corporation, Head of Strategy & Technology (including Nokia Bell Labs activities, France
Jean-Luc first joined Alcatel in 1984, working on semiconductor lasers for seven years at Alcatel’s research Centre in Marcoussis (France). In 1992 he launched various projects concerning WDM transmission which led to an increase in Internet speed by a factor 100, and in 1996 he was appointed Director of the Department of Systems and Optical Networking Research Center, responsible globally for research in terrestrial and submarine transmission. In 2000, he rejoined Alcatel Optic as Program Director then as Vice President for Network Solutions, before finally in 2003 being named as VP in Charge of Partnership Programs at the Alcatel corporate CTO office. Since 2008 is part of the Bell labs management team, involved in R&D partnership, developing ecosystems and academic partnerships, leading Bell labs activities in France. He is the Nokia representative inside the 3-5 labs board.
Jean-Luc holds a doctorate in physics onsemi-conductor lasers and their applications, awarded by the University of Pierre Marie Curie (France), now named Sorbonne University. He is a member of the Board of IRT SystemX, the board of the PPP Photonic 21. Finally, he co-founded and chaired the organizing committee of Prix Jean Jerphagnon. He co-chaired, with Pierre Tambourin, the report “L‘innovation, un enjeu majeur pour la France” delivered to the French government in April 2013 and 2 other reports for the French government delivered in 2017, one about IP done by public research and the other one about proposals for the Revision of the Allègre law (proposals were introduced in the PACTE law in 2019).
Victor Torres-Company, Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Victor Torres-Company is Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, where he proudly leads the ultrafast photonics group. His research focuses on areas such as silicon photonics, chip-scale frequency combs, and coherent optical communications. Victor has been honored with an ERC Consolidator grant, acknowledging his team’s pioneering contributions to the development of chip-scale and efficient microcombs for high-performance optical communication systems. Their groundbreaking work on microcombs led to record-breaking transmission speeds exceeding one petabit per second.
In addition to his academic achievements, Victor is a co-founder of the startup iloomina AB, dedicated to commercializing ultralow-loss silicon nitride technology. He remains actively involved in the entrepreneurial sphere while continuing to advance research in his role as the director of the excellence center Metapix at Chalmers, that focuses on frontier research in silicon photonics.
