Tyndall National Institute played a key role at PIXEurope Connect – Industry Ecosystem Building Day, held on 21 May 2026 in Barcelona, which brought together Europe’s photonics community to accelerate the journey from research to industrial deployment.
The event gathered around 300 participants from across the photonics and semiconductor ecosystem to discuss industry needs, strengthen collaboration, and showcase how the €400 million PIXEurope Pilot Line, an initiative under the EU Chips Act, is supporting the transition of photonic chip technologies from lab to fab.
PIXEurope connects 20 institutions across 11 countries in a distributed infrastructure spanning design, fabrication, integration, packaging and testing. Through its open-access model, companies can access prototyping, collaborative R&D, advanced facilities, training and consultancy, helping to reduce the time and risk required to bring innovations to market.
Tyndall, a key partner in PIXEurope, contributes expertise in photonic-electronic packaging, integration and reliability which are critical capabilities for ensuring technologies are manufacturable and industry-ready. A major focus of the pilot line is developing scalable packaging and system integration approaches, including wafer-level packaging, chiplet integration and automated testing.
Tyndall’s Dr Padraic Morrissey, who moderated the materials and equipment suppliers panel, commented:
Scaling photonic technologies requires early alignment across materials, equipment and manufacturing. Without that coordination, industrialisation becomes significantly harder.
Tyndall’s Professor Peter O’Brien contributed to the Open Access session, outlining how companies can engage with the Pilot Line, commented:
PIXEurope is about making it easier for companies to access the expertise, infrastructure and support needed to bring photonic technologies from concept to reality.
Discussions across the event reinforced the need for stronger coordination, standardisation and accessible pathways to translate photonic innovation into industrial-scale technologies.
PIXEurope Connect marked an important step in building momentum across Europe’s photonics ecosystem, highlighting the role of key partners such as Tyndall in advancing sustainable, next-generation chip technologies from research to market, with further industry access and training programmes to follow.
