Michael Mertin re-elected President of Photonics21

Photonics21 President Michael Mertin (above, presenting at the 2013 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation; his company, Jenoptik, is Founding Partner for the SPIE Startup Challenge).

In a unanimous vote, Jenoptik AG CEO Michael Mertin was re-elected president of the Photonics21 Board of Stakeholders at a meeting in November.

Mertin has been president of Photonics21 since November 2012. He provided perspectives on the European photonics industry in a talk recorded at SPIE Photonics West 2014.

Several SPIE members were among the 25 candidates elected to the Photonics21 Board of Stakeholders, including SPIE Fellow Magnus Breidne (Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences); Roel Baets (Ghent University);  Manuel Costa (Portuguese Society for Optics and Photonics, SPOF); Stefan Kaierle (Laserzentrum Hannover e.V.); Norbert Lichtenstein (II-VI Laser Enterprise GmbH ); and Santiago Royo (UPC-BarcelonaTech, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya).

According to a European Commission study, 20-30 percent of the European economy and 10 percent of the European workforce depends on photonics. Established in 2005, Photonics21 encourages private investment in photonics research and innovations.

Last year, Photonics21 contracted a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the European Commission and Horizon 2020, to promote innovation in Europe and strengthen cooperation between private and public institutions.

SPIE Europe Ltd. is a member of the Photonics21 PPP, and CEO Eugene Arthurs serves on the Board of Stakeholders of Photonics21.

Also serving on the Photonics21 board are SPIE Fellows Reinhart Poprawe (Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology), Andreas Tünnermann (Fraunhofer IOF), Jürgen Popp (Leibniz-Institut für Photonische Technologien e.V.), Chris Dainty (National University of Ireland, Galway), Ari Tapio Friberg (University of Eastern Finland), Hugo Thienpont (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, IR-TONA), and Past President Malgorzata Kujawinska (Warsaw University of Technology); Senior Member Lutz Aschke (LIMO); and Members Andreas Nitze (Berliner Glas), Andrew Robertson (Gooch & Housego), Pakka Savolainen (Tampere Univ. of Technology, Optoelectronics Research Centre), and Bart Snijders (TNO).