The industry’s most innovative people 2024 Daniel Black


Organisation: PA Consulting Role: Innovation expert


Daniel Black, an Innovation Expert at PA Consulting, received a Guinness World Record for the “Most Powerful Handheld Laser (prototype)” in early 2023. The tiny but powerful laser he created can cut through plastic, fabrics, and wood. “Seeing the level of public engagement with that has felt truly rewarding,” Black


David Domenech


Organisation: VLC Photonics Role: Chief Technical Officer


David Domenech is currently immersed in cutting-edge research focused on high- power lasers and photonic integrated circuits (PICs) designed for neuromorphic applications. His work centres on automating electro-optical testing at the wafer level and achieving reductions in power consumption through massive parallelisation. One key revelation from Domenech's


recent research is the substantial room for enhancement in automated wafer- level testing, particularly in polarisation- dependent measurements. Looking ahead, his primary research priority for the coming year is the hybrid integration of silicon, silicon nitride, LNOI, and III-V materials. Highlighting an influential technology


from the past year, Domenech emphasises the integration of thin film lithium-niobate with SOI or silicon nitride technologies, addressing the modulation bandwidth bottleneck faced by standard approaches.


Based in: Valencia, Spain


Education: PhD, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)


However, he acknowledges the challenges


facing the photonics industry, with limited high-volume markets, primarily encompassing telecommunication, data communication, lidar, and sensing, posing a hurdle. Companies striving to diversify may struggle to attain the necessary volumes, particularly with prominent players such as TSMC entering the photonics arena only if volumes meet their expectations. In relation to Spain's semiconductor industry in particular, he says it faces unique challenges, relying heavily on external suppliers despite government initiatives to bolster it through EU recovery funds. Domenech identifies the AI and computing revolution as a bright spot for growth in the photonics sector. You can catch him at events such as the Photonics in Switching and Computing conference in Italy, the National Industry Conference in Spain, and the Hitachi European R&D Forum in the UK, as well as OFC, ECIO, and ECOC.


David Ventola


Organisation: Optometrics Role: Director of Engineering


David Ventola is Optometrics’ go- to resource for OEM spectroscopy instrumentation developers across the life sciences, industrial, and semiconductor markets, and has led advancements in mechanical grating, ruling engine design and tunable light source developments. He is a patent holder for filtered gratings, and cited by many researchers. He is also a mentor. “Whether you are his employee or customer, like a tenured college professor, Dave takes the time to walk you through (from first principles) how and why


Based in: Littleton, MA, US Education: Northeastern University, US


something works, and he does it in simple terms,” one says. One colleague told us: “When Sales or Marketing brings Dave a new product opportunity, his eyes light up like a kid in a candy store. And then he can walk across his office to the meticulously-kept filing records and pull out an example he likely started more than 20 years ago!.” After more than 40 years of working in instrument design and diffraction grating design, testing, and fabrication, that testimonial is something to be celebrated.


Based in: Cambridge, UK Education: Chartered Engineer (CEng)


says. “It’s been great to be able to point to something that STEM students understand and see how it can inspire others.” Black is working on several laser-related


problems at the moment – from wireless energy transfer to novel cleaning methods. His priority for the coming year, however, is on the viability of using lasers to replace


industrial processes, to reduce resources and harmful waste products and emissions. “The goal is always to find new ‘outside


the box’ ways to solve difficult real-world problems and unlock new and exciting ways for PA’s clients to overcome challenges and to create a safer, more sustainable world,” Black says.


20 Photonics100 2024


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