Global Photonics Engineering Contest launches at PIC Summit USA

The photonic chips contest offers startups the chance to win up to €2M investment and €100K in services.

photon delta photonics competition

Photonic chip industry accelerator PhotonDelta has announced the second global engineering contest. This year, the competition will focus on communications and computing, imaging, sensing and wireless applications.

Last year’s winner was MIT spin-off, Perceptra and the photonic chip-based Raman sensor for real-time chemical monitoring, which is opening an R&D facility in the Netherlands.


Engineers and startups can submit concepts and designs for fields such as healthcare, autonomous vehicles, AI and agriculture by 19 June. Entries received by 2 March will be reviewed and receive feedback from PhotonDelta Technical Experts with the opportunity to refine the submission before final evaluation.


The contest is open to startups, established companies, engineers, researchers, students, and academic organisations working on innovative photonic chip applications.

Contest entries will be judged on the level of innovation, technical and commercial feasibility, and how effectively the design addresses current industry challenges. Participants are required to submit detailed descriptions of their projects, including team information and supporting visuals or videos.

The winning entry will receive up to €100,000 worth of services and be considered for investment of up to €2m by PhotonDelta. There is also the chance to present at the PIC Summit Europe 2026 main stage, in Eindhoven this November with two tickets for flights and hotel also included in the prize.

Submissions will be open until the 19th of June with the winner and runners up announced in August.

 

Strategic partnerships drive the next era of silicon photonics

Caroline Hayes

Caroline Hayes

Caroline Hayes is the editor of Electronics Weekly. She has been covering the electronics industry for over 30 years, edited UK and pan-European titles and contributed to UK and international online and print publications. Although specialising in the semiconductor market, she also has a keen interest in education, careers and start-up opportunities in the broader electronics industry.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*