Pilot line for photonic chips launched

March 10, 2026 - Construction of a new pilot production line for photonic chips began at the High Tech Campus on Monday. The test factory is part of the PIXEurope pilot line, a project in which TU/e is closely involved. The goal of the project is to bring photonic chips into industry. The European Union hopes this will help it remain at the forefront of photonics.

Among those present at the project’s launch were EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen and Minister of Economic Affairs Heleen Herbert. Minister of Defense Dilan Yeşilgöz also attended; the Ministry of Defense is contributing 20 million euros to the project. In total, the production line involves an investment of 153 million euros. / LA

Research on touch wins Klokhuis Science Award

March 9, 2026 - This year’s Klokhuis Science Award has been awarded to Dutch Touch Society, a group of researchers studying the effects of touch. One of them is TU/e researcher Antal Haans. Klokhuis presenter Tirsa With handed out the prize last weekend during the InScience film festival in Nijmegen.

Two other TU/e research projects were also nominated for the science award, which is named after a long-running educational children’s TV program. Student Juliëtte Klink made cardboard dance, and researchers Myrthe van der Ven and Juliette van Haren developed an incubator for extremely premature babies. A total of 8,500 children cast their votes for one of the nominated research projects. / LvA

The news items in this overview were translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.