We are pleased to welcome speakers from across the industry to present at TOP Conference. Read on to find out more about the speakers you will hear from in 2023.
Mariia Bastamova, Aston Institute of Photonics Technologies, Aston University
Mariia Bastamova is a PhD student at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, UK. She received her BSc and MSc degree in Laser technologies in 2019 and 2021. Currently she is working on Broadband Fibre Optical Parametric Amplifiers for advanced fibre optic communication systems in Professor Andrew Ellis research team.
Alejandra Beghelli, University College London
Dr. Alejandra Beghelli is a Lecturer in Optical Communications and Networks at the Electronic & Electrical Engineering Department at UCL. She is one of the principal investigators at the Optical Networks Group and part of the UCL team in the UKRI project Quantum Data Centre of the Future. Her research focuses on resource allocation techniques in optical and quantum networks.
Geoff Bennett, Director of Solutions & Technology, Infinera
Geoff Bennett is the Director of Solutions & Technology for Infinera, a leading manufacturer of Intelligent Transport Network solutions. He has over 35 years of experience in the data communications industry, including IP routing with Proteon and Wellfleet; ATM and MPLS experience with FORE Systems; and optical transmission and switching experience with Marconi, where he held the position of Distinguished Engineer in the CTO Office. Geoff is a frequent conference speaker, and is the author of “Designing TCP/IP Internetworks”, published by VNR.
Nicola Calabretta, Eindhoven University of Technology
Dr. Nicola Calabretta received the M.Sc. degree in telecommunications engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, in 1999. In 2004 he received the Ph.D. degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. From 2004 to 2007 he was with Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna University, Pisa, Italy where he was involved in the EU project IST-NOBEL I and IST-NOBEL II. In 2007 he worked as PostDoc at the Technical University of Denmark, Denmark. He is currently working as Associate Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology and member of the Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute at TUE. He has participated to several EU projects, and currently involved in EU ALLEGRO, ADOPTION, B5G-OPEN, WIDE5GNET, TWILIGHT, WON, 5G-MOBIX, 5G METRO-HAUL, QAMELEON, PASSION, OLYMPICS projects focusing on the development of a high-performance photonic switched networks for 5G and beyond and cloud computing. He co-authored over 480 journal papers and conference proceedings and holds 5 international patents. His fields of interest are smart optical Datacom and telecom network, 5G/6G, cloud computing, optical interconnects, high performance optical networks for telecom and mmW distribution, and photonic integrated optical switching circuits. He is a member of the TPC of several conferences such as ECOC, OFC, Photonics in Switching and Computing, IEEE CSNDSP, IEEE ICC, IEEE COMNETSAT, and others.
Nelson Castro, Aston University
Nelson Castro is a Ph.D. student at Aston University in the UK. His research aims to develop ML-aided schemes for the compensation of nonlinear impairments in fibre optic communication systems. He received his BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Honduras in 2016. In 2018 he was awarded an EMJMD scholarship to study in the SMARTNET master’s degree program at Télécom SudParis and Aston University. His fields of interest include machine learning, optical networks, and digital signal processing.
Manjari Chandra-Ramesh, Amadeus
Manjari joined Amadeus in 2021 and focuses on investments in the areas of machine learning, AI, robotics and quantum technologies. Manjari has more than a decade of experience in the tough to commercialise University IP sector . Prior to Amadeus, Manjari worked at IP Group plc, where she managed technology investments from deal origination to exit, and was responsible for the trade sale of TheySay Ltd (emotional AI acquired by Aptean), secondary share sale exit in Concirrus Ltd (insurance tech), and sourcing and working with the founding team to build Quantum Motion Ltd (Quantum Computing in Silicon). Manjari created and led IP Group’s Quantum Technologies investment strategy and set-up an initial £12m accelerator fund that was run in exclusive partnership with Innovate UK. Previously, Manjari was a Technology Transfer Manager at Oxford University Innovation Ltd responsible for commercialising university intellectual property. Prior to that she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. As part of her PhD, she also completed an Internship at Google (now Alphabet). Manjari holds a PhD from the University of Oxford in Machine Learning and Autonomous Vehicles which she did on a Rhodes Scholarship and a bachelors in Electronics, Instrumentation and Computer Science Engineering from the University of Madras. She is fluent in English, Tamil, Hindi and beginners Japanese.
Marcus Clark, University of Bristol
Marcus Clark is a PhD candidate within the UK Quantum Communications Hub based at the University of Bristol. His PhD is focused towards developing Entanglement Distribution Quantum Networks towards interconnecting Quantum Technology and preforming Secure Communication. As part of the Quantum Engineering CDT he has learned about the breadth of the Quantum Landscape and has focused into his passion of Quantum Communications.
Ultan Daly, University of Glasgow
Ultan Daly is a Ph.D student in the Structured Photonics Research Group at the University of Glasgow. He graduated with a MPhys from the University of Bath in 2019. His research project focuses on developing free-space optical communication technologies for turbulent environments. This project is supported by BT through the CDT in Applied Photonics.
Zoe Davidson, BT
Dr Zoe Davidson works for BT as a Researcher of Optical Networks in the Applied Research and Strategy Team where she focuses on Photonic Integrated Circuits for use in both classical and quantum networks. Zoe is from NZ where she completed my undergraduate degree in Optoelectronics at the University of Auckland and then worked at Vodafone NZ as a design engineer in Optical Network. Zoe then moved to Bristol to complete my PhD in Photonics (with a focus on semiconductor compounds for energy efficient emission in the O- and C-bands), which she successfully defended in November 2022.
Aleksandr Donodin, Aston University
Dr Aleksandr Donodin is a Research Associate at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies. Since 2019 he has been working as Early-Stage Researcher in European Training Network WON “Wideband Optical Networks” at Aston University with a project “Bismuth-doped fibre amplifiers for multi-band optical networks”. He finished his PhD in 2022 and currently continues his research on wideband application of bismuth-doped fibre amplifiers in the frame of the EPSRC TRANSNET project “Transforming networks - building an intelligent optical infrastructure”.
Alessandro Fedrizzi, Professor of Physics and Heriot-Watt University
Alessandro Fedrizzi is a professor of physics at Heriot-Watt University. He has been involved in quantum technology research for nearly twenty years, focusing on the development of pioneering quantum light sources and their application in quantum communication, sensing, and computing. Alessandro is a member of the UK Quantum Communications Hub, where he currently leads the quantum networking work-package and the UK-QEYSat collaboration.
Daniel Gilks, BT Group Plc
Daniel is a BT senior research manager leading BT’s efforts to accelerate and develop prototyping capability in physical network hardware. This includes a current focus on Quantum Radio systems.
Braulio Gomez Saavedra, VPIphotonics GmbH
Braulio Gomez Saavedra is a senior application engineer at VPIphotonics GmbH. He has long-term experience in modelling, design and fabrication of electro-optic and integrated photonics devices for communications and sensing applications.
Vladimir Gordienko, Aston University
Dr Vladimir Gordienko is a Research Fellow at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies. Vladimir is leading research on nonlinear fibre optic devices for optical communications such as fibre optic parametric amplifiers, wavelength converters and optical phase conjugators. He has authored and co-authored around 40 papers and provided breakthroughs and novel concepts in areas of ultra-wide, Raman-assisted, polarisation insensitive, and phase-sensitive operation of fibre optical parametric amplifiers.
Harald Haas, University of Strathclyde
Professor Harald Haas received the Ph.D. degree from The University of Edinburgh in 2001. He is a Distinguished Professor of Mobile Communications at The University of Strathclyde/Glasgow, Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh and the Director of the LiFi Research and Development Centre. Prof Haas set up and co-founded pureLiFi. He currently is their Chief Scientific Officer. His research interests are in cellular communications, spatial modulation and optical wireless communications. He has co-authored more than 600 conference and journal papers and holds more than 40 patents. He has been listed as highly cited researcher by Clarivate/Web of Science since 2017. In 2016, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Solid State Lighting Alliance. In 2019 he was recipient of IEEE Vehicular Society James Evans Avant Garde Award. In 2017 he received a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. In 2021, he received the Enginuity The Connect Places Innovation Award. In 2022 he received a Humboldt Research Award for his research achievements to date. Haas is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Wenxiu Hu, University of Warwick
Wenxiu Hu received the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electronic engineering from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China, in 2014 and 2018, respectively. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of Engineering, University of Warwick. Her research interests cover signal processing, channel coding, optical wireless communication, physical layer security, and optical fibre communication.
Sander Jansen, VP and General Manager for the Infrastructure Monitoring Business Unit, ADVA
Sander Jansen is VP and general manager for the Infrastructure Monitoring business unit at ADVA Optical in Munich. With over 20 years of experience in the telecommunication industry, he has a proven track record with service providers worldwide in bringing new technologies to the market. Sander received his Ph.D. degree with highest honours in electronic engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology.
Cenqin Jin, University of Warwick
Cenqin Jin received the B.E. degree and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunication, Nanjing, China, in 2015 and from Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 2018, respectively. She is currently studying toward the Ph.D. degree at University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. Her research interests are in the area of nonlinear optical fiber communication systems.
Vasileios Karavias, University of Cambridge
Vasileios Karavias is a PhD student in Quantum Network Security at the University of Cambridge. He graduated with a BA and MSci in Physics from the University of Cambridge in 2020. His main fields of interest are quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum network design and optimisation methods. His PhD focusses on the optimisation of quantum networks and investigating the benefits of switching in quantum networks. This work is done in collaboration with BT.
Raza Khan, Semtech Corporation
Raza Khan is Semtech’s senior market manager for Wireless Products in Semtech’s Signal Integrity Products Group with over 15 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. In his current role, he oversees the strategy, product line development and market development for integrated circuit (IC) solutions for optical transport needs within the wireless market. This includes the Tri-Edge™ 50G PAM4 product portfolio and ClearEdge® 25G product portfolio for the emerging 5G wireless market as well as the FiberEdge™ 10G product portfolio for the 4G wireless market. Mr. Khan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Western University and a double major Masters of Business Administration in Strategic Marketing and Management of Innovation and Technology (MINT) from McMaster University.
Tim Koene, EFFECT Photonics
Biography coming soon
Maxim Kuschnerov, Huawei
Maxim Kuschnerov joined Huawei in 2016 and is now leading the optical research laboratories in Munich and Jena, Germany focusing on the topics of optical access, data center networks, coherent optical transceivers, optical switching, quantum security as well as optical design for automotive subsystems incl. augmented reality head up displays and intelligent headlights. He has more than 15 years of experience in optical research, development and product management, having started his career at Siemens and then working for Nokia Siemens Networks and Coriant before joining Huawei.
Carlos Lee, EPIC Association
Carlos Lee is Director General at EPIC, the European Photonics Industry Consortium, the largest photonics industry association in the world representing almost 800 members across 33 countries. As part of the EPIC mission, Carlos works closely with industrial photonic companies to ensure a vibrant and competitive ecosystem by maintaining a strong international network and acting as a catalyst and facilitator for technological and commercial advancement. He brings with him a strong background in microelectronics which was acquired through several management positions held at the international association SEMI. He has been responsible in Europe for the SEMI International Standards program, managed technical and executive programs, and together with the advisory board advocated for a more competitive semiconductor and photovoltaic manufacturing industry. Carlos has a BBA in Finance and an MBA in Leadership & Change Management from United Business Institutes. He lives with his spouse and three children in Belgium.
Yiming Li, Aston University
Dr Yiming Li has been working as a Marie S.-Curie Research Fellow (PI, grant No. 713694) at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies (AiPT), leading the development of the new FSO communication lab. The project was focusing on the successive interference cancellation decoder for MIMO FSO systems. He also works as a research associate in an EPSRC-funded project (EP/T009047/1-PON-HD), which is focusing on wireless passive optical networks and corresponding optical amplifiers. The research outcomes have been published in Optics Letters (top-downloaded paper), European Conference on Optical Communication (Top-scored paper), and Journal of Lightwave Technology. Earlier as a joint PhD student, Dr Yiming Li received the PhD research project funding from the Chinese Ministry of Education and the University of Warwick. He was also awarded the Chinese National Prize from the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Tang, Lixin Prize for his excellent PhD performance.
John Lincoln, Chief Executive, UK Photonics Leadership Group
Dr John Lincoln is Chief Executive of the UK Photonics Leadership Group, representing the £14.5bn UK Photonics indsutry, European Strategic Relationship Advisor for SPIE, industrial liaison for the Future Photonics Hub Southampton and Sheffield Universities and member of multiple advisory boards. Through business development consultancy, Harlin Ltd, John supports SMEs, Universities, VCs and government agencies to identify growth opportunities and the impact of photonics.
Betsy Lindsey, CFO, Aircision
Betsy is a financial professional and investor with a great passion for innovation and deep-tech. In the United States and Hong Kong, she worked in banking with technology startups and scaleups at Silicon Valley Bank and Wells Fargo Bank. She holds a Technology MBA from University of Washington, Seattle, WA, U.S.A. In total, she brings over 20 years of international high-tech finance management and investment experience to the table. After settling in the Netherlands, Betsy was the Managing Director of Investor Relations at HighTechXL, a deep tech venture builder based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, where she guided over 50 teams through the fundraising process and growth phase of their development. In 2019, she founded Aircision, serving in the role of Chief Financial Officer and carrying the mission to “Connect the Unconnected.”
Zhixin Liu, UCL
Zhixin Liu received his PhD degree in Information Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and joined the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton in 2013. In 2016, he joined the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at UCL as a lecturer and was promoted to associate professor in 2021. His research interests include optical signal processing and its applications in communication systems and scientific instruments. He has pioneered frequency comb assisted data conversion and low-latency data communications that have led to several world’s first demonstrations. As PI Dr Liu has co-authored more than 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences, including several high-profile papers in Nat. Electron, Nat. Comm and invited papers in top IEEE/OSA journals. He holds four patents, with two licenced for data centres and optical access systems. Dr Liu has been PI on over 10 grants from Industry and Research Councils. He is Co-I on the £6.1m EPSRC Programme grant TRANSNET.
Ian McClean, Product Manager, Coherent
Ian McClean is Product Manager for Coherent in Paignton, UK, where he specialises in the development of fibre optic products for optical networks. With over 25 years of experience in optical amplifier design for Nortel Networks, Bookham Technology, Oclaro and II-VI Photonics Dr. McClean is a respected leader in the field and has written multiple patents and papers on various technology aspects for optical components. He is a Chartered Engineer with the IET and serves as a PI for the IEC’s standards working groups on optical amplifiers and dynamic modules. Dr. McClean is a member of the ECOC Technical Sub-Committee on Fibre, Fibre and Free Space Devices, and Fibre Amplifiers. He has served as an External Industrial Adviser for the WON Industrial Advisory Board at Aston University. He obtained B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from the University of Bradford and holds a Ph.D. in Engineering focussing on II-VI thin-film semiconductor device development.
Wyn Meredith, Compound Semiconductor Centre
Wyn Meredith received a MA (Physics) from Cambridge University and PhD from Heriot Watt University in blue semiconductor laser development. He has 25+ years of industrial experience gained at Ferranti, British Telecom Research Labs, Detica (now BAE), Sharp Research labs, IQE plc and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Ltd (now Sivers Semiconductors). Wyn is the founding Director of the Compound Semiconductor Centre, a Joint Venture between IQE Plc and Cardiff University, focussed on technology translation of R+D in compound semiconductor materials and devices. He is a Non-Executive Director of The Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult, and Chair of ‘CSconnected’: a £43M project focussed on expanding the South Wales Compound Semiconductor Cluster to 2025. He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and was awarded an Honorary Distinguished Professorship by Cardiff University in 2021 in recognition of working with the School of Physics and Astronomy, providing expert advice on commercialisation of research and interaction with industry.
Carol Monaghan, MP, chair of APPG Photonics
Carol was first elected as the Scottish National Party MP for Glasgow North West in 2015, and has served as a MP continuously since then. Prior to her Parliamentary career, Carol gained an undergraduate degree in Laser Physics and Optoelectronics at Strathclyde University, latterly entering the teaching profession and becoming Head of Physics and Head of Science at Hyndland Secondary School in Glasgow. Carol also spent two years as a lecturer at Glasgow University, as well as being an SQA consultant responsible for developing physics qualifications at a national level. Carol sits on the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, and she serves as Chair of the APPG on Photonics and Quantum. She is currently the SNP’s Westminster Spokesperson for Education.
Francesco Morichetti, Politecnico di Milano
Francesco Morichetti is Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and Head of the Photonic Devices Lab of Politecnico di Milano. His research activity focuses on optical devices and photonic integrated circuits for applications in the field of fiber optics and free-space optical communications, optical interconnects, computing and sensing. Current research topics include the electromagnetic and circuit-level design of programmable photonic integrated circuits, advanced measurement techniques for the characterization of integrated optical components, automated control, calibration and testing techniques for photonics devices. He is the author of 3 book chapters, more than 300 publications in international journals and conference proceedings and he holds 8 international patents.
Richard Murray, ORCA Computing
Biography coming soon
Long H Nguyen, Aston University
Long H. Nguyen is a PhD student at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, UK. He obtained his BEng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam in 2017. He then attended the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) in Photonic Integrated Circuits, Sensors and Networks (PIXNET) at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy and Aston University, UK in 2018-2020. He is currently working as an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) in the European Training Network project "POST-DIGITAL” where his research focuses on signal processing techniques using machine learning for channel equalization in advanced fibre-optic communication systems
Shabnam Noor, Aston University
SHABNAM NOOR [S’16, M’19] received the B.Sc. degree in electronics and communication engineering from BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in2011, and the M.Eng. degree in telecommunications from American International University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013. She also received her Ph.D. in 2019 from School of Engineering, University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K., before working there as a research associate. She is currently a research associate for the All-Raman optical amplification for next Generation ultra-wideband Optical Networks (ARGON) project at Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, Birmingham, U.K. Her research interests include Ultra-Wideband (UWB) systems and amplification technologies, signal processing for communications and multiplexing techniques for 5G (and beyond) mobile fronthaul.
Guy Nurse, Passcomm
Guy Nurse is Account Manager of Photonics Products for Passcomm Ltd, a member of Amadys. With over 25 years experience of the UK optics and photonics market, Guy has worked for several UK based manufacturing and distribution organisations. He joined Passcomm Ltd in 2020 as they became the UK and Ireland Partner for Diamond, the Swiss manufacturer of high performance fibre optic connectors and assemblies. He obtained his B.Sc in Physics from the University of Manchester and has published papers from a period of research at Hull University. Warrington based Passcomm are an established provider of telecoms solutions across a broad range of industries including utilities, transportation and FTTH.
Michael O'Farrell, Senko
Michael O’Farrell joined Senko Advanced Components in 2020 and is now a Senior Associate Technologist focusing on fibre-to-chip coupling and VSFF connectivity. He has more than 25 years' experience designing, developing, manufacturing and testing fibre optic connectivity, predominantly in the harsh environment, mil/aero and oil & gas markets, and has now moved his focus to the telecom industry since joining Senko. Historically an active member and contributor to various aerospace fibre optic standards committees (ARINC AEEC FOS and CSS, BSI ACE/006, SAE AS-3) and currently Senko project leader for a number of EU funded projects under the Horizon Europe programme which is working on technological advances on PIC coupling and quantum PIC packaging.
Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Nu Quantum
Company co-founder and CEO, Carmen carried out her physics training and research at the University of Cambridge (St John’s College) and Imperial College London. Author of multiple high-impact academic papers and inventor of the technology which resulted in the foundation of Nu Quantum, for which she was awarded the 2018 Institute of Physics National Medal. Carmen is a founding member of UKQuantum, the voice of the UK’s quantum industry. Featured in Forbes magazine as a ‘Rising Star 2021’, WIRED, BBC, and others. Founder and leader of multiple LGBTQ+ and equity initiatives inside and outside academia throughout her career.
Nick Parsons, HUBER+SUHNER
Nick Parsons is Vice President Technology at HUBER+SUHNER, responsible for advancing development of fibre optics and communications technologies. Previously, he served as CTO and VP Engineering at Polatis, where he brought their leading-edge all-optical switch technology to market. Prior to Polatis he held senior technical roles in avionics divisions of BAE Systems and GEC-Marconi, including pioneering developments in wideband integrated optical modulators and microwave photonics. A graduate of Southampton University, he has authored or co-authored over 50 papers and 20 patents in the field of photonics systems and devices. Nick is a member of IET and Optica and has served as chair and TPC member for several conferences, including APC NETWORKS and ECOC.
Joseph Pearse, University of York
Joseph Pearse is a PhD student at the University of York in the UK, but based in Adastral Park in Ipswich to work closely with BT research. He received his MSci degree in Physics from the University of Birmingham. He was part of the team that deployed the UKQNtel QKD network between Adastral Park and the University of Cambridge. Currently his area of study is in the simulation of QKD networks.
Richard Pitwon, Resolute Photonics
Dr. Richard Pitwon is the founder and CEO of Resolute Photonics and a director, engineer and scientist in the photonics industry with particular focus on optical, photonic and quantum system interconnect, integration and architectures for hyperscale data centre, HPC, 5G and IoT data-communications applications. He holds 55 patents in diverse fields, has authored over 65 peer-reviewed publications including 5 international standards and has given over 100 public talks. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Fellow of the IET (FIET) and Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP). He is the current chair of both the IEC international standards subcommittee (IEC/SC86B) and BSI subcommitee (BSI GEL86/2) on optical connectors and passive components and principal UK expert on IEC committees for optical circuit boards (TC86/JWG9), photonic integrated circuits (SC86C/WG4), embedded electronic assembly (TC91/WG6) and quantum technologies (SEG14). He is also the chair of IEEE UK and Ireland Photonics Chapter and the IEEE UK and Ireland Quantum Group.
Lakshmi Rajagopal, BT Group
I am a Marie Curie fellowship based Early-Stage Researcher, pursuing my PhD with BT and University of Birmingham on the “Application of highly precise optical clocks in a telecom network”. Telecom networks need high level of accuracy and synchronization to work effectively. Currently, this is achieved with the help of satellite-based technologies. The next generation of telecom network require precision and stability than ever before, and this is easily achieved in the lab with an optical atomic clock. The challenge is on how to bring this technology out of the lab and utilize it in our telecom infrastructure. . Another dimension of my research work involves investigating wide range of use cases and applications that can be benefitted from these highly precise clocks.
David Richardson, Southampton University
David Richardson is currently Deputy Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at Southampton University with responsibility for optical fibre and laser related research. His current research interests include hollow-core optical fibres, high power fibre lasers and optical fibre communications. He is currently Principal Investigator on the £6M EPSRC funded Airguide Photonics Programme Grant.
Andrew Robertson, Bay Photonics
Andrew Robertson. has a PhD in Laser Physics & Nonlinear Optics and a BSc in Laser Physics & Optoelectronics, both from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Andrew has over 25 years of experience in successful commercial technology development & exploitation within photonics. In 2002, he was one of the founders of SIFAM Fibre Optics which was acquired by Gooch & Housego (G&H) in 2007 after 5 years of growth. Andrew held key senior engineering management roles within G&H and was a member of the Senior Management Team, becoming Senior Vice President and latterly focussing on Strategic Mergers and Acquisitions. Since 2020, Andrew has been with Bay Photonics and as CTO, has led the development of photonics based semiconductor packaging critical for enabling photonic driven Quantum Technology. Bay Photonics are currently supplying packaged SPADs and packaged quantum photonic integrated circuits (Q-PICs) for quantum computing, secure quantum communications, and quantum LIDAR imaging systems.
Egor Sedov, Aston University
Egor Sedov is a PhD student at the Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, researching new techniques for optical telecommunications signals analysis and manipulation using Machine Learning and Nonlinear Fourier Transform. He holds an engineering degree from Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and a Master's degree from Novosibirsk State University. Egor is focused on improving signal restoration in long-haul optical telecom lines and exploring the use of machine learning techniques for data modulation.
Yingjie Shao, Centre for Applied Photonics, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd
Yingjie Shao is currently a researcher at the Centre for Applied Photonics, Fraunhofer UK, and a visiting researcher at the University of Strathclyde. She received a B.Eng. degree from Shandong University, China, in 2017, and a PhD degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in 2021. Her research interests include digital signal processing for optical communication and free-space optical communications.
Qiushuo Sun, BT Group Plc
Biography coming soon
Hamid Tebyanian, University of York
Biography coming soon
Shuangyi Yan, University of Bristol
Dr Shuangyi Yan is a Senior Lecturer in the High Performance Networks group, Smart Internet Lab at the University of Bristol. He received a B.E degree from Tianjin University, Tianjin, China in 2004. In 2009, he got a PhD degree in optical engineering from the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, CAS, China. From 2011 to 2013, he worked at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, as a postdoctoral researcher. In July 2013, he joined the High Performance Networks Group at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on machine-learning-enabled future networks (eg., dynamic optical networks and 5G Beyond networks), multidimensional optical networks, and data centre networks. He is the author or co-author of over 80 refereed publications, which consist of several post-deadline papers and invited talks at top-level conferences. He also served as a Technical Program Committee member and Co-Chair in several conferences, such as EuCNC, ONDM, OECC, and ACP.