The Netherlands And Orlando: Hotbeds Of Photonics Growth
By John Oncea, Editor
The photonics market is predicted to experience explosive growth over the next several years. The Netherlands and Orlando are offered here as examples of a country and a city capitalizing on said growth.
We took a look at the who, what, and where contributing to the growth of the photonics market in part one of this series. Now, let’s take a look at The Netherlands and Orlando, both of which are banking on those predictions being true.
The Netherlands: More Than Tulips, Windmills, And Canals
Among the exhibitors at Photonics West this year was The Netherlands (#ILoveDutchPhotonics). Several Dutch companies under the PhotonicsNL umbrella made the trip to San Francisco to showcase the contributions The Netherlands is making to the photonics industry.
“The Netherlands is known worldwide for its highly dynamic environment for high-tech innovation, evident in the presence of large leading-edge innovative companies such as Philips,” writes Photonics NL. “The high-tech landscape spans large companies to startups across many domains, also in the semiconductor field (ASML, NXP). With a proven track record in our high-tech and semiconductor industries, as well as our leading global R&D in waveguide technologies, the Dutch (integrated) photonics sector has been building in prominence over the last few decades.”
PhotonicsNL is the national association for Photonics and Optics in the Netherlands. Its mission is to stimulate photonics and optics innovation and economic activity by enabling collaborations and cross-fertilization in the photonics value chain, propagating the importance of photonics for our economy and at all levels of education, and promoting the national photonics community in the Netherlands and abroad.
Another Dutch organization that is moving the needle on photonics there is Holland High Tech, the executive office for the High Tech Systems and Materials Top Sector (HTSM). HTSM’s mission is to develop and produce high-quality end products, semi-manufactured goods, components, and materials in all sectors, including photonics.
PhotonicsNL and Holland High Tech aren’t the only organizations whose mission is to advance photonics in their home country, but they are two examples of how it should be done.
Beautiful Orlando, Home Of … Photonics? *
“You might be surprised to learn that Orlando is one of the world’s leading epicenters for optics and photonics research, innovation, and industry,” writes The Business Journals. “It’s one of the many reasons opportunity in Orlando is ‘Unbelievably Real’ for the region’s growing cluster of photonics-based companies.” **
Beginning in 1957 when The Martin Company built its Orlando plant, the city has seen more and more photonics-related businesses and institutions call the city home. This includes “the University of Central Florida (Go Knights!), formerly known as Florida Technological University, which was founded in 1963 and opened in 1968 with the mission of producing a workforce to support the growing U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.”
Other companies that have set up shop in Orlando include Luminar, an autonomous vehicle and lidar technology company, and optical sensor manufacturer and applied insights company Ocean Insight. Luminar settled there because the largest Department of Defense laser programs (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and L3 Communications) are all based in Orlando while Ocean Insight expanded its operations in Central Florida Research Park due to the strong optics and photonics presence there.
“Orlando is one of only four major optics and photonics clusters in the U.S. It’s like Silicon Valley here in Orlando, focused on optics and photonics technology,” says Steve Buckley, Ph.D. general manager of Ocean Insight. Luminar Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jason Eichenholz adds, “Not only do we benefit from our proximity to UCF, but Orlando also has a world-class mix of companies, research institutions, and talent with decades of experience developing, manufacturing, and selling photonic products.”
* Bet you thought I was going to say Walt Disney World, right?
** Full disclosure: the article linked to is sponsored content by the Orlando Economic Partnership. As such, they’re certainly not going to say Orlando isn’t a leader in the field of photonics. But facts are facts so, despite it being sponsored content it can be trusted. And hey, if you think your city is a leader in the field of photonics let me know and we’ll write it up, too.
Laser Focused On Photonics
Florida Photonics Cluster (FPC), headquartered in … wait for it … Orlando, is dedicated to enhancing the photonics industry through collaboration by bringing together the knowledge, expertise, and service that each company or organization has to offer.
FPC, as well as the Orlando Economic Partnership, are just two of many Orlando-based organizations dedicated to supporting and growing the photonics industry in the city. Combine these support systems with the photonics companies, universities, and research institutions and it’s easy to see why, from innovation and initial concepts to manufacturing the final product, Orlando’s ecosystem of talent and attractive cost of doing business supports a thriving cluster of companies developing semiconductors, microelectronics, and optics and photonics technology.