AMBROSIA is a research-driven innovation action with ambitious, but well-defined technical objectives. The consortium has been selected to include the entire technology development chain, comprising a high-quality blend of strong academic and industrial partners satisfying all possible technological requirements and exploitation paths. The AMBROSIA team is built for success consisting: (a) 4 universities (AUTH, SOTON, UB, UOI) and 2 research institutes (ICN2, VHIR) that bring together their expertise on real deployments of photonic sensors technology and neuromorphic processing, and (b) 6 established SMEs with strong R&D teams providing: 1) SiN plasmo-photonic chips for biosensing (LGT), 2) C-band InP-based lasers and photodetectors (SMART), 3) μTP technology in order to transfer InP-based lasers and PDs on the SiN PICs (XCEL), 4) PCB assembly of the integrated chip prototypes onto fully functional device prototypes (ARGO), 5) fabrication and integration of the microfluidic subsystem (MLIQ), 6) system assembly and prototyping (BIOPIX-T). With this partner composition, AMBROSIA will provide a clear path towards transforming the project objectives into exploitable know-how with strong market potential.
AUTH - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
ICN2 - Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
UB - University Dijon Bourgogne
X-CEL - X-CELeprint Limited
VHIR - Vall d'Hebron Research Institute
ARGO - Argotech
BIOPIX-Τ - Biopix DNA Technology P.C.
MLIQ SL - microLIQUID
UOI - University of Ioannina
SMART - Smart Photonics
LGΤ - Ligentec
SOTON - University of Southampton
AUTH
The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), GR is the largest university in Greece, established in 1925. Today the main campus extends over an area of 429 metric acres in the heart of the city and comprises 10 Faculties organized in a total number of 40 Schools that cover the full range of scientific disciplines. More than 70.000 undergraduate and 8.000 postgraduate students are working towards their degrees at AUTH, while more than 2.200 Faculty members are employed as Teaching and Research personnel.
AUTH will participate in AMBROSIA with the research group of:
The Wireless and Photonic Systems and Networks (WinPhoS) research group, established in 2016 at AUTH’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation (C.I.R.I.) as a common facility of AUTH’s Departments of Physics, Informatics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The main research activities of WinPhoS extend along a broad area in the field of photonics and wireless technologies, with the main focus being integrated photonics and plasmonics, optical interconnects converged Fiber-Wireless networks for 5G networks, 5G Fronthauling, οptical RAM architectures and network-on-chip technologies and architectures. It is a fully equipped laboratory with a range of high-speed test and measurement systems for the characterization of passive and active photonic devices at bit rates up to 100 Gbps. WinPhoS has coordinated numerous projects in the areas of integrated photonics, optical interconnects and 5G networks (MOICANA, ICT-STREAMS ICT-PLASMOFAB and 5GPHOS), while it participates in several other (PLACMOS, QAMELEON, L3MATRIX, MASSTART). WinPhoS has also participated in several FP7 research projects (PLATON, RAMPLAS, MIRAGE, COMANDER and PHOXTROT), coordinating the three of them (COMANDER, RAMPLAS and PLATON).
AUTH webpage: http://winphos.web.auth.gr/
Contacts:
Prof. Nikolaos Pleros, email:
Dr. Evangelia Chatzianagnostou, email:
Dr. Dimosthenis Spasopoulos, email:
ICN2 (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology)
ICN2 is a non-profit international research institute located close to Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) devoted to the generation of knowledge, materials, and devices in the broad fields of ICT, health, energy, and the environment. The expertise of the ICN2 lies at the nanoscale, where new properties, interactions, and ways to exploit them in everyday life are being discovered. ICN2 is accredited as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence the highest national award conferred to the Spanish research institutions that stand out for the quality and impact of their research and for their scientific leadership. The ICN2 is a CERCA Center and one of the founding members of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) and the Graphene Flagship. The Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications (NanoB2A) research group led by Prof. Laura M. Lechuga focuses on the development of photonic point-of-care biosensors and their employment in clinical, biomedical, and environmental areas.
ICN2 webpage: https://icn2.cat/en/ and https://nanob2a.icn2.cat/
Contact:
UB (University Dijon Bourgogne)
Université Bourgogne (uB) hosts more than 1200 researchers and more than 34 000 students with its main site located in Dijon (France). Laboratory Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (LICB), jointly operated by CNRS, counts about 270 Physicists, Chemists, Engineers and Technicians and is among the largest of uB. Main activities of LICB are oriented towards nano-sciences, quantum sciences, optical materials and corresponding applications for industry, medicine and telecommunications. More specifically LICB includes a photonic department deeply involved in non-linear control, plasmonic devices for datacom applications and sensing. Among several technical platforms such as telecom optical characterizations, LICB is organized around the ARCEN micro- fabrication facility allowing for the processing of chip-level photonic and/or plasmonic devices. In the context of AmbrosIA, uB is responsible for the development of “slow-plasmon” sensors exploiting plasmonic modes of CMOS compatible metallic surfaces patterned at the mesocopic scale and the integration of those sensors into the optical circuitry of the photonic chips targeted in AmbrosIA.
UB webpage: https://icb.u-bourgogne.fr/en/home-page/homepage/
Contact:
X-CEL (X-CELeprint Limited)
X-Celeprint is an international leader in micro-transfer printing, serving clients in Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific. It was founded in 2013, and hold 625 patents and applications worldwide. Its headquarters are at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland.
X-Celeprint mission is to empower chip manufacturers to achieve heterogeneous integration. To do this, it offers a turnkey experience from chip design to printing with straightforward technology licensing. X-Celeprint guides its clients through the process, offering expertise and best practices. It also offer hands-on services including design, prototyping, assembly, and printing. Finally, its experts consult on MedTech device submissions for approval with FDA/EMA.
X-CELeprint webpage: https://x-celeprint.com/
Contact:
VHIR (Vall d'Hebron Research Institute)
VHIR is a legally independent research institute with almost 30 years of experience in developing and supporting the research activity of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (HUVH), the biggest Hospital campus in Catalonia, located in Barcelona. The institution offers to its researchers a series of centralized services (Core Facilities) aimed at supplying them with specialized support, as most of scientific disciplines require some extremely complex and costly tools to carry out more advances research procedures. These services include Lab Animal Service, High Technology Unit, Statistics and Bioinformatics Unit, Clinical Trials Pharmacy, Clinical Research Support Unit, Biobank, and the Academic Research Organization. In addition, VHIR is member of EATRIS and ECRIN, two platforms created to provide easy access to their European infrastructures.
VHIR is involved in a wide range of biomedical research areas spanning basic science and clinical trials, to epidemiological, economic and healthcare studies. The institution hosts more than 70 research groups and more than 700 researchers of which almost 70% are clinical researchers. Research groups are organized in different global health challenges (global health, chronic and prevalent diseases and aging, woman and child health, rare diseases, brain, mind and behavior, cancer) and two enabling and technologies areas such as (i) personalized medicine, innovative diagnostics, molecular imaging and digital health, (ii) advanced therapies, nanomedicine, transplant and donation.
VHIR webpage: https://vhir.vallhebron.com/ca
Contact:
ARGO (Argotech)
Argotech a.s. is an SME based in the Czech Republic, with 52 employees, established & operating since 2006. The company has a wealth of experience in customized packaging of opto and microelectronics, including silicon photonics. It operates in aerospace/defense/automotive/healthcare/telecom/datacom industries, company is involved in few Europe Horizon (ongoing and completed) projects and collaborates with several universities all over Europe. The company's process portfolio includes high-speed and high-load board design, packaging & micro-assembly from wafer level to full optical sub-assembly and optical micro-alignment.
Argotech provides complex solutions for our partners starting from
- Assembly feasibility study
- Design activities with mechanical design / high-frequency design up to 100GHz / thermal & optical simulations
- Prototyping including environmental and ageing testing, material selection & budgeting
- Qualification (following multiple standards like Telcordia, JEDEC, MIL)
- Sample assemblies (small quantity for customer verification)
- Volume-up manufacturing
The company provides SERVICES, not products, so there is no risk of competition with customers.
ARGO webpage: https://www.argotech.cz/
Contact:
Project management: Michal Szaj, email:
Finance: Mr Michal Svoboda, email:
Legal representative: Mr Bretislav Liska, email:
BIOPIX-Τ (Biopix DNA Technology P.C.)
BIOPIX-T is a certified designer and manufacturer of molecular diagnostic devices for the point of care. The company targets two healthcare-diagnostics related markets through the production of instruments and standardized assays for detection and monitoring of Infectious Diseases and Companion Diagnostics
BIOPIX-T webpage: https://biopix-t.com/
Contact:
Head of Production: Alexandros Pantazis, email:
MLIQ SL (microLIQUID)
MLIQ is a company located in Mondragón (Basque Country) that develops and manufactures solutions for the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry focused on the custom design and manufacture of microfluidic components and fully automated analysis systems. MLIQ is based in Spain, but provides its services worldwide. MLIQ is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), specializing in the design, development and manufacture of microfluidic consumables. MLIQ works with its partners side by side from design and proof of concept through to new product introduction and mass production of microfluidic devices. The company is committed to providing its customers and partners with a wide range of quality services and innovative solutions, covering any stage of the product lifecycle, applying microfluidic technology mainly to the health sciences (in vitro and in vivo applications) and agri-food sectors.
MLIQ's expertise is essential to establish the process of developing new technologies and successfully translating them into automated microfluidic solutions. MLIQ's multidisciplinary team of engineers and bioscientists has extensive experience and expertise in the development and manufacturing of immunoassays and molecular diagnostic platforms. The company's strategic plan is focused on the development of new manufacturing technologies that offer an advantage over current ones, such as higher resolution, faster manufacturing speed, etc. MLIQ plans to incorporate new technologies for chip manufacturing.
In 2021 MLIQ was acquired by the US multinational TE Connectivity (https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/brands/microliquid.html). It is an end-to-end provider of bioscience solutions, covering the entire microfluidics value chain, from cartridges to equipment. TE Connectivity specializes in OEM microfluidic cartridge technologies, as well as ODM microfluidics, which meet the demand for improved efficiency of techniques applied in the manufacture of microfluidic products, such as microfluidic chips and IVD devices.
MLIQ webpage: https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/brands/microliquid.html
Contacts:
Dra. Ikerne Extebarria, email:
Dr. David Olea, email:
UOI (University of Ioannina)
University of Ioannina (UoI) GR was established in 1964 and is one of the 4 largest Universities in Greece. It is organized in 11 schools consisting of 23 departments and 31 graduate programs covering a wide range of scientific disciplines. It has more than 33,000 students, 524 academic staff and 175 teaching and technical staff. Of the students there are approximately 1,300 MSc and 1,600 PhD students.
The AMBROSIA modeling activities will be performed by the Computational Materials Science Laboratory (CMSL: http://cmsl.materials.uoi.gr), which is established in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of UoI. Started in 2004, it comprises of 3 faculty, 3 research staff and over 10 Postdocs and PhD students. CMSL has world leading expertise in multiscale and Multiphysics modeling of nanomaterials, starting from atomic and molecular state with ab-initio (DFT) studies of electronic structure, to mesoscale studies of structural order, to macroscale modeling of photonic and/or plasmonic and/or graphene-based optoelectronic devices. World leader in numerical non-linear optimization techniques and long experience in algorithm and software development. CMSL group has participated in several EU Projects: “MUSICODE” (coordinator), "SMARTONICS", "GrapheneFlagship", "BioTiNet", "GrapheneCore1", "GrapheneCore2", "SELECTA" and a number of National Projects. Related to AMBROSIA project, CMSL holds a long-term expertise in computational photonics i.e. photonic crystals, plasmonics, resonant cavities etc. CMSL will be involved in the theoretical analysis, design and simulation of the photonic sensing integrated circuit i.e. optimization of plasmo-photonic sensors (both MZI-based and Bimodal-based) and SiN-to-InP interfaces. Utilizing the commercial Ansys Lumerical software for 2D and 3D electromagnetic and in-house software for 1D and 2D opto-thermo-electric simulations and taking advantage of the in-house 960-core supercomputer cluster of 4 TB RAM.
UOI webpage: http://cmsl.materials.uoi.gr
Contacts:
Prof. Elefterios Lidorikis, email:
Dr. Dimitris Bellas, email:
SMART (Smart Photonics)
Smart Photonics is an independent pure-play foundry, which uses the knowledge, experience, and equipment from its long photonics legacy to produce building blocks and to offer chip manufacturing services for InP Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC). For the latter service, customers designs are implemented using a standardized and validated Process Design Kit (PDK). The target is to be the world’s leading InP integrated photonics foundry reaching a 4-inch wafer capacity of 50,000 annual around 2030.
SMART Photonics webpage: https://smartphotonics.nl/
Contacts:
LGΤ (Ligentec)
LIGENTEC is a B2B company manufacturing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) for customers in high-tech areas such as communication on ground and space, Quantum technologies, LiDAR and Biosensors. LIGENTEC commercializes the all-nitride-core technology. With the all-nitride-core technology LIGENTEC enables the customers to develop their products in the industrial revolution 4.0.
LGT webpage: https://www.ligentec.com/
Contact:
SOTON (University of Southampton)
The University of Southampton (SOTON), UK, one of the leading universities in Britain, was founded in 1952 and is a member of the prestigious Russell Group of UK Universities. SOTON is an excellent venue for conducting cutting-edge research and for providing high quality education and has been ranked 96th in the 2019 QS World University Rankings. It has been ranked 8th in the UK for research and has 97% of its research environment rated as world leading or internationally excellent (Research Excellence Framework, 2014). It has more than 17,100 undergraduate and 7,500 postgraduate students from over 140 different countries. In 2016/17 alone SOTON has received over €150M in research grants and contracts, including over €17M from the European Commission. SOTON has a successful track record of industrial collaborations and is at the centre of a cluster of local high technology companies. It has an enviable track record in the generation of patentable work, with a portfolio of over 250 patents. To ensure the impact of its research projects, SOTON’s Research & Innovation Services (R&IS) is responsible for professional protection of IP and supporting commercial development with industry. R&IS has had considerable success, as a world-leading business incubator, and has launched 28 spin-out companies since 2000.
SOTON has also a strong record of accomplishment of working in European projects, especially within the Framework Programme. The EC 7th FP7 Monitoring Report ranked SOTON 15th out of all higher and secondary education organizations for number of participations during 2007-2013. Throughout the FP7 Southampton received over €125M in research grants and was involved in 318 projects, including 63 ICT. Since the start of H2020 Southampton has been awarded 153 grants worth over €102M (EC Participant Portal).
The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences includes the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, incorporating the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). FEPS has a strong background working on international research projects, including 109 H2020 projects worth in excess of €61M.
SOTON webpage: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/
Contact:
F.Y Gardes, email:
Ioannis Zeimpekis, email: