At the last PLG meeting it was agreed to add Vice-Chair and Treasurer officers to the Photonics Leadership Group, to be appointed by member vote alongside the PLG Chair-person at the next PLG meeting on 27 February 2019.
…Latest government statistics on photovoltaic installations shows PV capacity in the UK exceeded 13GW in November 2018 from over 972,000 installations. November also saw the highest number of new installations in the month since September 2016. UK PV power generation capacity now exceeds that available from coal fired power stations in the UK and is…
Gov.UK has announced “Photonics supplier Qioptiq has secured a contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) worth £82 million – its largest ever” Highlighting the scale and capability of Photonics throughout the UK Qioptiq have invested over £3.7m in their North Wales facility as a result and will be delivering major cost benefits to the…
In a report released recently by the European Technology Platform Photonics 21, the UK received the second highest funding from the European Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program in projects related to photonics. 494 organisations received 240M€ to carry out market focused research and innovation. At least 50% of participants of photonics related projects under…
If you are interested in improving your recruitment pipeline consider hosting a Physics student for a workplace placement in 2019. The South East Physics Network are now seeking placement projects for Summer2019 for both undergraduate and PhD physicist. Any organisation interested in recruiting physics graduates can submit and register a project. With student demand normally…
Light and laser based solutions for situational awareness were significant winners in the MOD and Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) Innovation Challenge announced by Defence Minister Stuart Andrew at the Institute of Engineering and Technology on 12 November 2018. QinetiQ’s Software Defined Multifunction LIDAR (laser radar) system will provide a range of capabilities including 3D imaging,…
The Photonics21 Prototype Your Idea contest is back, bigger and better! This is a great opportunity to get photonic product ideas off the drawing board and into reality. Especially useful for PhD/postdocs etc, but open to innovators in the private sector too. Details on the Photonics21 web site: https://www.photonics21.org/2018/participate-in-the-%23next_photonics.-prototype-your-idea-contest-2019%21
The Photonics Leadership Group congratulates Derek Peden Innovation Manager at Design LED Products Ltd, in Livingston and Kent Rochford SPIE CEO on being elected to the Photonics21 Board of Stakeholders. A full 39 members of the 100 strong Board of Stakeholders were elected by 240 voters in the recent election with 7 representatives now from…
UK LiFi photonics technology pioneered by Edinburgh based PureLiFi was centre stage at the China International Import Expo on 5 November 2018. Using light for wireless communications with 1000X more bandwidth than conventional WiF, Chinese President Xi was shown the revolutionary British technology on the UK’s innovation pavilion by His Royal Highness The Duke of…
Whilst the 2018 UK budget may not include any specific or direct support for photonics, there were significant announcements for industries heavily dependent on photonics including: £121m for Made Smarter supporting digital manufacturing £315m for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support greater energy efficiency in manufacturing Both ‘made smarter’ and ‘energy transformation’ should open new pathways…