Photonic Symposium Speakers

Aart de Geus

Dr. Saeed Fathololoumi

Principal Engineer
Intel

Dr Saeed Fathololoumi is currently Principal Engineer at Intel, where he is leading the Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuit design and technology development for co-packaged optics products. He has more than 15 years of experience in developing technologies for novel optoelectronic devices and systems. He obtained his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Waterloo and has more than 50 publications and 17 US patents.


Aart de Geus

Vikas Gupta

Senior Director of Product Management
Global Foundries

Vikas Gupta is the Senior Director of Product Management at GlobalFoundries focused on Silicon Photonics and ancillary technologies. Prior to the current role, he was the Vice President of Design Systems at POET Technologies. Vikas has a MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.


Aart de Geus

Twan Korthorst

Group Director of Photonic Solutions
Synopsys

Twan Korthorst is Group Director of Photonic Solutions at Synopsys. He has been active in the field of chip design and fabrication for non-traditional semiconductor micro and nano technologies for over 25 years. After roles in product engineering and fabrication, he joined PhoeniX Software in 2007 and developed the company into a leading supplier of design solutions for photonic ICs in his role as CEO. In February 2018, Synopsys acquired PhoeniX Software, bringing together the industry’s widest portfolio of solutions for designing and manufacturing photonic devices, optical systems, and photonic integrated circuits within one organization and one single support channel. Twan leads the Photonic IC Solutions activities and continues to advocate for integrated photonics technologies around the world.


Aart de Geus

Duncan MacFarlane

Professor of Electrical Engineering
Southern Methodist University

Duncan MacFarlane is Professor of Electrical Engineering at Southern Methodist University in the Lyle School of Engineering. He also serves as the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean for Engineering Entrepreneurship. He has more than 30 years in PIC-related R&D with pioneering work in 3D displays, microlens, 2D lattice filters, true time delay devices and programmable PICs.


Aart de Geus

Eric Mounier

Director of Market Research
Yole Group

With more than 25+ years’ experience in the semiconductor industry, Eric Mounier, Ph.D., is Director of Market Research at Yole Intelligence. Eric provides daily in-depth insights into current and future semiconductor trends, markets, and innovative technologies (such as quantum computing, Si photonics, new sensing technologies, new types of sensors). Based on relevant methodological expertise and a strong technological background, he works closely with all the teams at Yole to point out disruptive technologies and analyze and present business opportunities through technology and market reports and custom consulting projects.


Aart de Geus

Jose Pozo

Chief Technology Officer
Optica

Jose Pozo is member of the Executive Board of Optica (former OSA) as the Chief Technology Officer since March 2022. Originally from Spain, Jose Pozo has spent more than 25 years working in photonics. He earned a PhD in quantum physics from the University of Bristol, UK, and an M.Sc. and B.Eng. in telecom engineering from UPNA, Spain / VUB, Belgium. Prior to joining EPIC in 2015 as CTO, Jose was a Senior Photonics Technology Consultant with PNO Consultants, with some of the main accounts such as CERN, Thales or TE Connectivity. He has worked at TNO, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, and as a post-doctoral researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he contributed to the early development of EFFECT Photonics.


Aart de Geus

Yuval Shay

Director of product management
Synopsys

Yuval Shay is a Director of product management and marketing at Synopsys, responsible for the Photonic Solution at the Custom Design and Manufacturing group. Prior to joining Synopsys, Yuval held product management positions at Cadence Design Systems, responsible for Custom and Analog Mixed-Signal design products and solutions. Prior to that, Yuval spent over 15 years at STMicroelectronics in various engineering roles. 


Aart de Geus

Mitch Thornton

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Southern Methodist University

Mitchell A. (Mitch) Thornton is currently the Cecil H. Green Chair of Engineering and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security. His research areas include cyber security and quantum informatics, including quantum design automation (QDA).

 


Aart de Geus

Dr. Suresh Venkatesan

Chief Executive Officer
POET Technologies

Dr. Venkatesan is currently the Chief Executive Officer at POET Technologies, a photonics company dedicated to enabling the integration of photonics and electronics through hybrid silicon photonics approaches to device design and packaging. Prior to joining POET Technologies in 2015, Dr. Venkatesan was the Senior Vice President, Technology Development at GlobalFoundries, where he was responsible for development and qualification of all technologies including leading edge logic and value added technologies like mixed signal analog, embedded non-volatile memories (NVM), RF, high voltage and MEMS.