Thank you to all participants for joining, it was a pleasure seeing you! On the agenda of the EuroTech Summer Reception 2023, which took place on 22 June in Brussels, we had:
- An insightful high-level debate on innovation and entrepreneurship,
- A cutting-edge exhibition on innovative advanced materials that afterwards went on display at the European Commission,
- A festive ceremony with the winners of the EuroTech Future Award 2023,
- And of course ample opportunity to network.
Find a recap and some photos below. Enjoy the summer and see you hopefully soon again!
Research | Educate | Innovate: How can we valorise our assets in Europe?
Europe has brilliant academics, innovative entrepreneurs, a strong industrial base, and a high level of education. But will this be enough to stand our ground in the world, to deal with global challenges, to prepare future generations for what is yet to come? Three leaders reflected on that and shared their ideas on how we can make the most of the assets we have in Europe.
Discussion moderated by Katrina Sichel with:
- Anders O. Bjarklev, President of EuroTech Universities Alliance, President of Technical University of Denmark
- Nicolas Cudre-Mauroux, Chief Research & Innovation Officer, Solvay
- Cristina Riesen, European Innovation Council Board Member, Founder and CEO of Educreators Foundation
Click on the speakers to learn more about their backgrounds.
Anders O. Bjarklev
Anders O. Bjarklev was born on 2 July 1961 in Roskilde, Denmark. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering and a PhD from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Anders O. Bjarklev is also Doctor Technices (Dr.Techn.) from DTU.
Anders O. Bjarklev has been President of DTU since 2011. Anders Bjarklev has been at DTU since 1985 and has held a variety of positions. He was appointed Professor in Optical Waveguides in 1999. He was Head of Department of Photonics Engineering from 2004-2010 and DTU Provost from 2010-2011.
In his research, Anders O. Bjarklev focused on dielectric optical waveguides, rare-earth-doped waveguide components, fibre amplifiers and laser sources, optical communication systems, planar waveguide structures, electromagnetic field theory, and photonic crystal waveguides. He is author and co-author of 2 books, more than 155 articles in scientific journals, and more than 200 articles in international conference proceedings. He has supervised more than 35 PhD projects and more than 60 MSc thesis projects as well as served as a referee on several international journals. In 1999, Anders O. Bjarklev became a co-founder of the company Crystal Fibre Ltd.
Anders O. Bjarklev has received several prizes and is the president of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America. He holds several positions of trust, among others he is Chair and Spokesman for the Danish Rectors’ Conference, board member of the University of the Faroe Islands, the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship, and the Danish Technological Institute.
In 2013, Anders O. Bjarklev was awarded the Order of Dannebrog.
Anders O. Bjarklev
Technical University of Denmark
Nicolas Cudré-Mauroux
Nicolas Cudre-Mauroux is the CTO of Solvay, in charge of R&D at this science and innovation company investing more than 300M€/yr in R&D.
Nicolas spent the first part of his career with DuPont, starting in 1988 as a researcher at the Experimental Station, DuPont's central research facility in Wilmington, Delaware (USA). Until 2006, he held a range of R&D, marketing, new business development leadership roles in the United States, Canada and Europe.
In 2006, Nicolas was named Regional Business Director for the Advanced Fibers Systems and Nonwovens businesses in EMEA. In 2011, he joined the DuPont-Danisco integration team and, in 2012, moved to Denmark to become the Technology & Innovation Director for the food ingredient business that DuPont formed following this acquisition.
In 2015, Nicolas joined Solvay where he focuses on maximizing the impact of Research & Innovation investments. In addition to his CTO role at Group level, he recently also took over the R&I leadership of the Specialty Polymers GBU, Solvay's main growth engine. He is based at the corporate headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
He is also a member of the Board of Directors of CNRS, the largest French research organization, and of the Board of Governors of the Argonne National Lab in Chicago. He was also elected to the Royal Academy of Belgium.
Nicolas is Swiss and was born in Luxembourg. He has a MS and a PhD in Materials Science from the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nicolas Cudré-Mauroux
Solvay
Cristina Riesen
Cristina Riesen is animated by a strong vision to contribute to human development and empowerment through innovation, constantly creating dotted lines between research, imagination and action.
Cristina founded the future-oriented non-profit organization Educreators Foundation in 2017. In 2021 she joined as Board Member the European Innovation Council, a flagship innovation programme under Horizon Europe.
In previous roles, Cristina was General Manager EMEA at Evernote, managed the launch of the Swiss Edtech Collider at EPFL Lausanne, worked with the Strategic Development team at ETH Zurich on foresight projects, was a Public Relations Manager in the field of design and architecture and a Radio Moderator.
Cristina holds a lic.phil. university degree with teacher certification and an Executive Master of Science in Communications Management diploma. She is a certified IFTF foresight and futures design practitioner, Hasso Plattner Institute design thinking professional, and a Reputation Institute alumna. In addition, she holds an IMD Certificate in Mastering Board Governance.
Cristina was named Digital Shaper by the leading Swiss economic magazine Bilanz in 2019 and 2020.
Cristina Riesen
European Innovation Council
EuroTech Future Award
Contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a core element of our vision as an alliance, and we are proud of the achievements of our researchers that help Europe and the world advance on their way to a more sustainable future. The EuroTech Future Award recognises excellent scientific contributions to the UN SDGs by EuroTech researchers at the beginning of their career.
But who won this premiere edition of the EuroTech Future Award? EuroTech President Anders O. Bjarklev lifted the secret during our Summer Reception. Big congratulations go to:
- 1st Prize: Charlotte Vogt, Assistant Professor at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
- 2nd Prize: Zongyao Zhou, Postdoctoral Scientist at EPFL
- 3rd Prize: Dinesh Krishnamoorthy, Assistant Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology
Read more about our winners and their work here.
Innovative Advanced Materials: Building Blocks for a Sustainable Future
Thanks to six excellent labs of our universities, participants had the chance to visit an interactive exhibition with cutting-edge research. After the event, the demonstrators were part of a bigger exhibition, organised jointly by EuroTech and EIC. For more information on the EIC-EuroTech exhibition, click here.
3D printed lightweight magneto-active polymers
Zahra Hooshmand Ahoor
PIs: Prof. Kostas Danas, Prof. Laurence Bodelot
Laboratory of Solid mechanics (LMS), École Polytechnique
Fabricating lenses using only liquids – from eyeglasses to space telescopes
Mor Elgarisi, Omer Luria
PI: Prof. Moran Bercovici
Fluidic Technologies Laboratory, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Highly porous sponges for globally important separations
Anne Belin
PI: Prof. Wendy L. Queen
Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials, EPFL
Proteins in LEDs? Yes, of course!
Sara Ferrara, Marco Hasler
PI: Prof. Dr. Rubén D. Costa
Chair of Biogenic Functional Materials, Technical University of Munich
Reducing anaesthetic greenhouse gas emissions in hospitals
Christina Würtz Bjerre
PI: Prof. Seyed Soheil Mansouri
DTU Chemical Engineering
Silicon for everything
Wouter Peeters
PIs: dr. J.E.M. Haverkort, Prof. E.P.A.M. Bakkers
Physics Department, Eindhoven University of Technology
