Laserlab and Industry - Success Stories
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The SourceLAB team presenting their company together with |
Technological inventions, whether originating from the academic world or created in industry’s research labs, are an essential ingredient for our modern economy. Close collaboration between science and industry increases the odds that such findings will eventually benefit society. In these collaborations, knowledge can flow in two directions.
On the one hand, to be able to answer a specific scientific question, scientists often create methods and machines that could also be used for applications outside their field. Generally, these scientific devices are difficult to use for others than those who built them. The step towards a user-friendly marketable product can either be made by creating a spinoff company with heavy involvement of the scientists themselves, or by contacting an established company with a relevant background. On the other hand, scientific progress is greatly enhanced by dedicated companies supplying components and even fully functioning systems (e.g., frequency combs and other laser systems) to the scientific world. Close ties to relevant research groups, which can provide feedback about those products and can come up with new ideas and inventions, are essential for these high-tech companies.
In this ‘Industry Focus’ we present a short overview of some high-tech companies, both recent spin-offs and independent businesses, associated with several Laserlab-Europe partners. In addition, two new ERC Proof of Concept projects – from LaserLaB Amsterdam and ICFO – are presented, illustrating how the European Research Council stimulates development of scientific results into profitable products.
Ultrafast Innovations – MPQ >>