Andreas “Andy” Bechtolsheim
Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Arista Networks
Previously, Andy was a Co-Founder and Chief System Architect at Sun Microsystems, responsible for next generation server, storage, and network architectures.
As a private venture investor, Andy has been involved in the funding of numerous companies including Google, VMware, Mellanox, and Brocade. He has served on the Board of Directors of over 25 companies, the majority of which went public or were acquired.
Andy earned a M.S. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1976 and was a doctoral student in Computer Engineering at Stanford University from 1977 to 1982.
He has been honored with a Fulbright scholarship, a Studienstiftung scholarship, the Stanford Entrepreneur Company of the year award, the Smithsonian Leadership Award for Innovation, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Can Interconnects Keep Up with AI?
The bandwidth requirements of AI clusters represent an unprecedented challenge for AI Fabric interconnects. I will discuss ways to improve the power, cost and reliability of optics, the boundaries between copper and optics, and opportunities for packaging innovation.
Thomas van Briel
SVP Architecture and Strategy Deutsche Telekom Technik GmbH
At the core of Thomas’ career is driving transformation of technology, business and organization, building on experience from a broad range of roles within telecommunications. He is holding master degrees in computer science and business administration. Thomas started his career in software development with Nortel and Swisscom, followed by an executive leadership of project and investment controlling. Since 2010, he holds executive
leadership roles in IT and NT strategy and architecture. He joined DT end of 2016 as a dual citizen to establish and lead today’s DT Technik architecture and strategy team.
He is currently responsible for network and service architecture Germany (fixed & mobile access, core & transport network, service platforms), OSS architecture as well as network automation (DT group level).
Evolution of IP and Optical Networks
Experience an informative insight into the past, present, and future of Optical Networks. I will highlight the strategic importance and technological advancements that have revolutionized Optical Transmission and will continue to drive it forward.
Roel Baets
Emeritus Professor at Ghent University and former Group Leader at IMEC
Roel received MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering both from UGent and from Stanford University. He received a PhD degree from UGent in 1984. From 1984 till 1989 he held a postdoctoral position at IMEC. Since 1989 he has been a professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of UGent where he founded the Photonics Research Group. He has also held part-time professor positions at Delft University of Technology and at Eindhoven University of Technology.
Roel Baets has made contributions to research on photonic integrated circuits (PICs), both in silicon photonics and in III-V semiconductors, including their heterogeneous integration. His early research focused mostly on components and technologies, such as widely tunable lasers for optical fiber communication systems, grating couplers for fiber-chip coupling, phased array beam steerers and light sources integrated with silicon photonics. Later his research gradually moved to the application level, especially with focus on medical and environmental sensing.
Roel Baets has chaired the Photonics Research Group at UGent-IMEC until October 2022. With 12 professors and 85 researchers this group is involved in numerous (inter)national research programs. Seven spin-off companies have resulted from the group’s research.
Roel Baets has led major research projects in silicon photonics in Europe. In 2006 he founded ePIXfab, the globally first Multi-Project-Wafer service for silicon photonics. Since then ePIXfab has evolved to become the European Silicon Photonics Alliance. He was also co-founder of a MSc programme in Photonics, a joint master programme of UGent and VUB.
Roel Baets has been an ERC grantee of the European Research Council and a Methusalem grantee of the Flemish government. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, of the European Optical Society (EOS) and of Optica. He has been a recipient of the 2011 MOC award, of the 2018 PIC-International Lifetime Achievement Award, of the 2020 OSA-IEEE John Tyndall award and of the 2023 IEEE Photonics Award.
Towards Silicon Photonics 4.0
Silicon photonics is rapidly transitioning from a relatively uniform and monolithic technology used primarily for data centers to a diverse and heterogeneous technology family serving a much broader array of markets. Adopting an “Industry 4.0” approach will be crucial for the success of this transition.
Joyce Poon
Head of Photonics Architecture at Lightmatter
Joyce Poon’s career has taken her across the globe, from the curiosity-driven explorations in academia to the dynamic world of industry. Dr. Poon is currently the Head of Photonics Architecture at Lightmatter. She is on leave from the University of Toronto, where she is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and has been on faculty since 2007. She is a guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, where she served as Director from 2018 until July 2024. She is also an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Technical University of Berlin.
Dr. Poon and her team specialize in integrated photonics on silicon. They work closely with foundries on a wide range of topics in silicon photonics, including multi-layer silicon nitride integration, hybrid lasers, and integrated optics for the visible spectrum. Their research aims to advance integrated photonics for communications, computing, and brain interfaces.
Dr. Poon obtained the Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2007 and 2003 respectively, and the B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (physics option) from the University of Toronto in 2002. Recognitions she has received include a Canada Research Chair (2012-2019), ECE Department Teaching Award (2017), OFC Top-Scored Paper (2017), MIT TR35 (2012), and the IBM Faculty Award (2010, 2011). She served as a Director-at-Large for Optica (formerly OSA) from 2021 to 2023. She is an Optica Fellow and a Fellow of the IEEE.
Future Computing with Integrated Photonics
The most significant opportunities and challenges in computing lie at the extreme ends of the size scale – in large datacenters and personal devices. I will discuss how advanced integrated photonics can transform computing across these different scales, from boosting the efficiency of large-scale AI systems to enabling new types of wearables and brain-computer interfaces.