INTERVIEW
Do you make actions at a global scale? Yes, global engagement is another focus area, particularly in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. We are organizing more international events, strengthening our relationships with key markets such as China, Korea, Japan, India, Singapore and broader Asia. While we already have strong ties with the US and Canada— partly due to language and established leading events— our outreach to Asia is about ensuring that European photonics companies understand these markets, their competitive landscape, and potential collaboration opportunities.
Why is it important for EPIC to connect with Asia? Our engagement with Asia is not about expanding EPIC’ s membership— it’ s about supporting European companies that want to operate in those markets. EPIC never dictates what companies should do. Instead, we provide strategic support by building a network of trusted partners to help companies navigate new markets, understand technology trends, and explore partnerships. Whether a company chooses to engage with Asia is up to them, but if they don’ t, they risk missing revenue opportunities and losing awareness of the competitive landscape. Our role is to ensure they have the necessary connections and insights to make informed decisions.
Would EPIC aim at becoming a global association? There is sometimes confusion about EPIC’ s global strategy. Let me be clear: EPIC will always remain a Europeanoriented organization. Unlike some associations that claim to be global but remain centered in one region, EPIC’ s primary mission is to serve European industry. In fact, 90 % of our members are headquartered in Europe, with only 5 % being global corporations and another 5 % being non-European entities carefully selected for their added value to our network.
How is EPIC’ s relationship with academia? Although EPIC is primarily an industry association, we also count research organizations and universities among our members. It is essential for academia to engage with industry to ensure that research aligns with real-world needs and industrial applications. Collaboration helps research institutions stay connected to market demands rather than working in isolation.
What message would you like to convey to public authorities? Public authorities must recognize photonics as a key enabling technology and accurately assess its competitive landscape, future opportunities, and challenges. Policymakers often decide which industries to prioritize, but waiting until a sector is struggling before providing support is a mistake in my view. Many industries receive massive funding with questionable impact, while a modest investment in photonics— say, 1 billion euros— could have a transformative effect on Europe’ s competitiveness. It is personally frustrating to see decision-makers act too late. Photonics is already strong so my message is“ support us now, not when the industry is being challenged”. Once a strategic industry is lost, reviving it is much harder, if not impossible. Governments need to act proactively to maintain Europe’ s leadership in photonics and high-tech manufacturing.
How does EPIC manage to stay so dynamic and innovative? EPIC has always been inspired by the photonics industry itself, which is highly innovative and entrepreneurial.
By spending so much time with the industry, listening to advice and guidance, we ' re motivated to constantly try new things and come up with new ideas. We ' ve been fortunate to have the support of our members when we try these new ideas. For instance, during COVID, we launched the Photonics + online platform when in-person meetings were impossible. While the platform didn’ t succeed, our members were supportive, and I think they appreciate that we’ re willing to try and sometimes fail. Some of our initiatives have been extremely successful, and others not as much, but that’ s part of the journey.
What would be EPIC’ s greatest achievements over the last 13 years? One of the biggest achievements of EPIC is that it has become a sustainable organization. When EPIC was founded in 2003 by Tom Pearsall, it was a very small organization, with only two employees. When I joined 13 years ago, we had 80 members, and we were still not financially stable. Now, EPIC has grown to over 800 members and has a stable team of technology managers and support staff. I’ m proud that we’ ve reached a point where the organization doesn’ t rely on one individual anymore. If I were to leave, the COO and the 12 member team we have now could keep everything running. We’ ve achieved financial stability, and we’ re guided by an experienced board of directors. It’ s been amazing to see the evolution of EPIC from a small startup to a stable organization with a long-term vision. I’ m confident that EPIC will continue to thrive for the next 20 years.
When EPIC was founded in 2003 by Tom Pearsall, it was a very small organization, with only two employees. When I joined 13 years ago, we had 80 members, and we were still not financially stable. Now, EPIC has grown to over 800 members and has a stable team of technology managers and support staff. I’ m proud that we’ ve reached a point where the organization doesn’ t rely on one individual anymore.
20 www. photoniques. com I Photoniques 131