20 May 2025 / 16:00 - 17:00 CEST
EPIC Technology Report: from Idea to Optical Product by Oliver Faehnle
Online Event



Join us for an insightful online meeting where we discuss the latest report – from Idea to optical Product.

Optics products empower us to harness light for illumination, data transfer, imaging, target detection (in bodies, nature, and space), precise measurements, and the creation of artificial environments. Every successful optics product stands out—whether in performance, design, or manufacturability—by excelling in quality or cost.

This technology report explores the full journey of optics product development, from the initial IDEA to successful MARKET IMPLEMENTATION through serial production. It systematically analyzes the cascade of tasks that unfold along this path, structuring them into a clear methodological framework.

The process is mapped across two key dimensions:

  1. Quality Generation – including performance, mastery of physical laws, and durability.
  2. Maturity Development – progressing from early research (TRL1) to full commercialization (TRL9).

At each stage, the complexity of tasks—whether handled by humans, AI, or commercially available software solutions—will be examined and discussed. With this structured task landscape in place, the presentation will offer a comprehensive (but not absolute) review of today’s SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS that support and accelerate optics product developments from concept to market.

This market report is dedicated to EPIC members only

Speakers

Oliver Faehnle (co-founder and co-owner) joined PanDao GmbH this February as full time technical director.

Oliver is internationally renowned specialist in optical fabrication technologies, having received his Physik-Diplom 1993 from Heidelberg University, Germany, and made his PhD at the University of Delft, The Netherlands. He has been working and teaching in the optics industry for more than 30 years and is a senior member of OPTICA and SPIE, head of the Industrial Advisory Committee of the European Optical Society, and Executive Board member of Swissphotonics.

From 1993 he worked at TNO Institute of Applied Optics, Delft, The Netherlands, carrying out contract research. From 1999 he was working at FISBA company, St.Gallen, Switzerland, heading the optical fabrication technology group. Since 2020 he was heading the group for Photonics Systems Manufacturing at the university of Applied Sciences OST, Buchs, Switzerland, while lecturing optical fabrication technologies in Switzerland, USA, Japan, Germany and UK. Besides that he has been training kendo for more than 30 years increasing his awareness in life and technology.
PanDao is EPIC member and Oliver has been active within EPIC for many years.

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Moderator
Coordination
Jeremy Picot-Clemente, PhD
Jeremy Picot-Clemente, PhD
Technology Expert for Optics and Optical Systems
Event Manager
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