PhotonHub Factory for Next-Generation Photonics Innovation Support: Boosting European Industrial Competitiveness and securing Technological Sovereignty (PHACTORY)

project official website: www.photonhub.eu

grant agreement No.: 101189537

granting authority: the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) under the powers delegated by the European Commission

project team: Anna Pakuła Ph.D., Michał Ziemczonok Ph.D., Adam Styk Ph.D., Wojciech Krauze Ph.D., Arkadiusz Kuś Ph.D., Piotr Zdańkowski Ph.D., Maria Baczewska Ph.D., Piotr Lesiak Ph.D. (Faculty of Physics WUT), Professor Ryszard Piramidowicz, (Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology)

At WUT the project is implemented by the optical and photonics groups from the Faculty of Mechatronics (the Institute of Micromechanics and Photonics), the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology (the Institute of Microelectronics and Optoelectronics) and the Faculty of Physics that have been collaborating for many years with leading scientific centers in Europe and around the world to promote photonic solutions and their commercialization.

partners:

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, Project Coordinator

33 Partners from such countries as Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden

project description:

PHACTORY is a unique pan-European consortium operating as a one-stop-shop virtual factory for photonics innovation support of European industry. PHACTORY brings together over 30 partners representing Europe’s top competence centers in photonics. Together the PHACTORY partners offer open streamlined access to the full spectrum of photonics technologies, expertise and supply chain activities from TRL2-7 including pilot lines and PIC foundries, combined with specialist partners in business, investment, intellectual property, and EU manufacturing support services to maximize the commercial impact from the project. PHACTORY’s ambitious work plan builds on the proven track record of over 20 years of successful collaboration between the consortium partners in previous similar EU projects and aims to go well beyond the current state-of-the-art in terms of its impact. PHACTORY will reach out broadly to European industry, especially SMEs, start-ups, and scaling companies, predominantly as first users and early adopters, to generate a critical mass of 125 carefully selected support cases with the highest potential for commercial impact. PHACTORY will work closely with the selected support cases, providing deep technology support interventions for TRL acceleration through intensive cross-border collaborative innovation projects, combined with tailored business supports to accelerate the investment readiness levels (IRL) of the supported companies. As a result, PHACTORY expects to achieve a quantified impact of at least 1250 new EU jobs, 937M€ in new company revenues, and 190M€ in new venture capital on aggregate within the supported companies directly related to the delivered PHACTORY innovation supports. The PHACTORY project will simultaneously strengthen the European photonics innovation ecosystem with more complete and mature value chains linked to EU manufacturing which are integrated into the PhotonHub Association for sustainability of the innovation support services.

The Team from WUT is involved in the implementation of training and technology support of projects for Platforms: Free Space Optics, Speciality Fibers and Photonics Integrated Circuits.