In a recent interview with Optica, our Managing director Thijs Kniknie shared how Demcon photonics is helping bridge the gap between photonic innovation and industrial reality. By combining expertise in photonics, mechatronics, precision engineering and manufacturing, we develop the systems and equipment needed to bring photonic technologies to market.

The Demcon 2026 Photonics grand tour & big opportunities

Demcon is one of Optica's largest engineering corporate members, and it has recently set up a dedicated photonics division. I spent a day there with the managing director for Demcon photonics, Thijs Kniknie, and it was quite an experience.

We discussed a lot in this interview. From their existing collaborations in space and in-house manufacturing to the catalytic role they are playing in several regions of the world, including Enschede.

One highlight for me was a system built under an EU Horizon project for analysing microfluidic samples, designed to detect pathogens in blood and other fluids. Look inside the box and you see how much has to work together. The sample sits on a microfluidic chip that carries a passive photonic element. An active element at the back of the machine aligns to that chip with six degrees of freedom, reads it out using Raman spectroscopy, and processes the data on board before the operator swaps in the next chip. Photonics, mechatronics, microfluidics and medical compliance, all in one enclosure, with DEMCON having developed the complete electronics and mechanics.

Then Thijs Kniknie raised something bigger. Demcon is working on laser writing technologies that can write waveguides in situ and remove the need for active alignment. Everyone in this field understands that active alignment will not carry us to the volumes photonics needs. Solving that is a scaling problem, not a lab problem. So here is the open call. Demcon wants to talk to two kinds of companies: those with a laser writing process proven at lab scale that needs to become real equipment, and those with the technology and a product to sell who need the machine to make it.

#enschede | Jose Pozo

THE DEMCON 2026 PHOTONICS GRAND TOUR & THE BIG OPPORTUNITIES Demcon is one of Optica's largest engineering corporate members, and it has recently set up a dedicated photonics division. I spent a day there with the managing director for Demcon photonics, Thijs Kniknie, and it was quite an experience. We discussed a lot in this interview. From their existing collaborations in space and in-house manufacturing to the catalytic role they are playing in several regions of the world, including #Enschede. One highlight for me was a system built under an EU Horizon project for analysing microfluidic samples, designed to detect pathogens in blood and other fluids. Look inside the box and you see how much has to work together. The sample sits on a microfluidic chip that carries a passive photonic element. An active element at the back of the machine aligns to that chip with six degrees of freedom, reads it out using Raman spectroscopy, and processes the data on board before the operator swaps in the next chip. Photonics, mechatronics, microfluidics and medical compliance, all in one enclosure, with DEMCON having developed the complete electronics and mechanics. Then Thijs Kniknie raised something bigger. DEMCON is working on laser writing technologies that can write waveguides in situ and remove the need for active alignment. Everyone in this field understands that active alignment will not carry us to the volumes photonics needs. Solving that is a scaling problem, not a lab problem. So here is the open call. DEMCON wants to talk to two kinds of companies: those with a laser writing process proven at lab scale that needs to become real equipment, and those with the technology and a product to sell who need the machine to make it. If that is you, contact Thijs directly, mentioning this Optica video interview. Who will step forward?