European Commissioner Viviane Reding to Present Opening Address at Photonics Europe 2006; Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda for Photonics will be Delivered to the European Commission.

CARDIFF, United Kingdom -- SPIE Europe today announced that Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, will be the keynote speaker at Photonics Europe, in Strasbourg, France on 4 April, 2006. The presentation by Commissioner Reding, titled "Europe at Light Speed," is part of the Photonics Europe symposium organized by SPIE Europe.

At the same event, the Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda which sets out priorities for photonics R&D in Europe will be handed-over to Commissioner Reding by Mr. Alexander von Witzleben, CEO of Jenoptik AG, Germany and President of Photonics21.

Business, research and government leaders will meet for technical conferences, networking events, a high tech exhibition and workshops to continue the Photonics21 process at Photonics Europe. For example, a workshop organized by the Photonics 21 technology platform on 7 April in Strasbourg, will bring together top industry executives and stakeholders from areas including Information and Communication, Lighting and Displays, Manufacturing, Life Science, and Security, as well as in Education and Training.

"The future of photonics research and development is being charted with Photonics21. This is a very important initiative for business people and researchers from across Europe and we are very pleased to be able to host this at Photonics Europe," said Hugo Thienpont, Symposium chair of Photonics Europe 2006, SPIE Board Member and Professor at Vrije Univ. Brussel, Belgium. "We invite the optics and photonics community to join us, where the Tuesday plenary talk by Commissioner Reding is open to the public, followed by a comprehensive technical programme with 17 technical conferences spanning optics, photonics, imaging, optoelectronics, nanotechnology, solar energy and sensing, plus industry programmes focused on better performance at lower cost. The strong technical programme and exhibition make Photonics Europe an essential meeting in 2006 for professionals in the optics and photonics field."

The European Technology Platform Photonics21 was set up by representatives from across the European photonics industry. They produced a vision document called "Photonics for the 21st Century," which was well received by Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, and the Directorate for Research. Photonics21 aims to establish Europe as a leader in the development and deployment of Photonics in key industrial areas (Information and Communication, Lighting and Displays, Manufacturing, Life Science, and Security), as well as in Education and Training.

The Photonics21 leadership, chaired by Alexander Von Witzleben, Jenoptik AG, will use this forum to formally hand over their new Technical Strategy document to the European Commission, represented by Commissioner Reding.

"SPIE Europe is delighted to help facilitate the information sharing and peer-to-peer networking aspects so important to Photonics21," adds Karin Burger, Manager, SPIE Europe. "Photonics Europe presents over 1,000 technical presentations covering the latest technical research and industry programmes -- plus nearly 150 exhibitors -- which makes it the best place for the European photonics community to understand what is possible today and see what is coming next."

The Photonics Europe 2006 technical programme includes over 1,000 presentations covering the latest scientific breakthroughs and technical achievements. Topics include solid-state and semiconductor lasers, biophotonics, nanophotonics, optoelectronics, optical sensing, metrology, MEMS and MOEMS, photonics in multimedia, microwave and terahertz photonics, photonic integrated circuits, photovoltaics and concentrators for solar energy, photonics for the automobile, optical coatings and many other topics.

Furthermore, the event will feature a European Photonics Innovation Village showcase under the auspices of the European Commission presenting research teams from universities, nonprofit institutions and research centres working on new applications or product development. Four European Networks and Integrated Projects that have come out of the European Commission Framework 6 programme in 2004 will also be present to update the audience on their ongoing projects: NEMO (Network of Excellence in Micro Optics), PHOREMOST (NanoPhotonics to realize Molecular-Scale Technologies); OLLA (Organic LEDs for ICT and Lighting Applications); EPIXNET (European Network of Excellence on Photonic Integrated Components and Circuits). They are joined by OPERA, the "Optics & Photonics in the European Research Area" project supporting the foundation of Photonics21 technology platform.

Photonics Europe includes an industry applications programme with experts in business development, commercialization of technology and best-practices for industry. Elements of the industry track include a forum on optical coatings, a conference on photonics in the automobile and a keynote address on Photovoltaic Solar Electricity: Status and Future by W. Hoffmann, SCHOTT Solar GmbH (Belgium); European Photovoltaic Industry Association Vice President.

A special session on national nanotechnology initiatives includes high-level leaders from Europe, USA and Japan -- the zones with the highest concentration of nanotechnology research and investment. For example, the European perspective will be reviewed in a plenary talk titled, "Nanophotonics: a research agenda from the perspective of the NoE PHOREMOST," by Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres, Univ. College Cork, Tyndall National Institute, Ireland, who has been leading The Network of Excellence for Nanophotonics to realise MOlecular-Scale Technologies (PHOREMOST). A presentation on the Current Nanotechnology Policy in Japan and Photonic Materials Research at National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan, is planned by Kenji Kitamura, Director, Opto-Single Crystal Materials Research, NIMS, Japan. From the United States, Sandip Tiwari, Cornell Univ., Director of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), will describe nanotechnology priorities and projects, detailing implications in photonics research and development.

Other highlights of Photonics Europe 2006 include:

--Latest research on solid-state lighting using OLEDs

A keynote on the next generation solid-state lighting sources, achieving very high efficiency white light emission at high brightness and low cost, will be presented by Stephen Forrest, Univ. of Michigan, USA and co-founder or founding participant in several companies, including Sensors Unlimited, Epitaxx, Inc., Global Photonic Energy Corp., Universal Display Corp. (NASDAQ:PANL) and Apogee Photonics, Inc. The talk titled, "Competing with incandescence: methods for achieving efficient solid state lighting using organic light-emitting devices," takes place 3 April at Photonics Europe 2006.

--Silcon-on-insulator microphotonic and nanophotontic devices and circuits

The thin crystalline silicon film which is separated from the silicon substrate by a buried oxide layer constitutes a high quality optical waveguide at telecommunication wavelengths where silicon is transparent. Recent results concerning nanoscale periodic surface structuring of congruent LN will be presented by Laurent Vivien, Univ. Paris Sud CNRS, France, on 4 April at Photonics Europe 2006.

--Photonics Research: What's Hot in Europe?

Perspectives for funding opportunities in the next Framework Programme (2007-2013) will be discussed by Ronan Burgess, a Scientific Officer at the European Commission in the area of Photonics in the IST programme (Information Society Technologies) with Henri Rajbenbach, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society and Media, Belgium. This is key information for business and research leaders across major market sectors such as telecommunication, life science and health care, manufacturing, security, displays and lighting. This presentation occurs on 5 April at Photonics Europe 2006.

--Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Electricity: Status and Future

W. Hoffmann, European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) Vice President, chairman of SCHOTT Solar (Belgium) will review the four main applications of solar, three of which are competitive today. For example, the rapid growth of grid connected PV systems in relation to the total market has grown to more than three-quarters of the total systems today. The conditions will be reviewed under which such systems will be competitive without support programmes (feed-in tariff, subsidies, etc.) Mr. Hoffman will also present the EPIA-Roadmap, which anticipates productivity increase and ongoing improvements for existing technologies as well as development of new photovoltaic concepts. This presentation occurs on 6 April at Photonics Europe 2006.

--A comprehensive review of photonics innovation from industry and research institutes

Photonics Europe offers a comprehensive programme of over 1000 presentations by technology leaders from research institutions and corporations including Intel, ZYGO, Thales Research and Technology, Bookham, Finisar, STEAG microParts GmbH, Fujitsu Labs. of America, BAE Systems, Nuonics, LightTrans, Dantec Dynmaics GmbH, Nokia Research, Jenoptik, Osram Opto Semiconductors and others. Topics range from optical interconnects to industrial process analysis to medical sensors to tunable fiber lasers to spaceborne lasers for Earth observation and measurement.

Additional presentations and demonstrations will occur in the Photonics Europe exhibition area, where approximately 150 organizations will showcase optics, photonics and imaging products.

Photonics Europe 2006 will be held at The Palais de la Musique et des Congres, in Strasbourg, France. Conferences, courses and workshops take place 3-7 April, 2006. The Photonics Europe Exhibition runs 4-6 April, 2006. Approximately 2,200 people are expected to attend from across Europe and around the world.

More information about Photonics Europe, an SPIE Europe event, is available at www.spie.org/events/europe

About SPIE Europe

SPIE Europe is a European subsidiary of SPIE -- The International Society for Optical Engineering, a not-for-profit professional society that has become the largest international force for the exchange, collection and dissemination of knowledge in optics, photonics and imaging. Founded in 1955, SPIE organizes technical conferences around the world and publishes journals, books and proceedings, with technical papers available for download via the SPIE Digital Library. See spie.org for more details. SPIE Europe is headquartered in Cardiff, UK.