Vanguard Automation GmbH (VA)

Vanguard Automation GmbH (VA) is a high-tech spin-off company, which emerged from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). VA offers industrial processes and equipment for photonic multi-chip integration based on additive manufacturing. The company is a joint venture between ficonTEC Service GmbH, market leader in several areas of optical system assembly, and Vanguard Photonics GmbH, which was founded in 2017 by Prof. Christian Koos, Alois Hauk and Philipp-Immanuel Dietrich. VA builds upon an internationally unique technology portfolio and exploits nearly two decades of experience in industrial automation through our partner companies. The core team at Vanguard Automation comprises experts in photonics, material science, high-precision opto-mechanics, and automation engineering. https://www.vanguard-automation.com

In TeraSlice, VA is responsible for developing the processes and coupling interfaces which are required to build up the optical multi-chip modules in this project. This includes exploration of concepts for optical coupling interfaces that combine low backreflection with high power-handling capabilities as well as development of the specific coupling interfaces for the photonic integrated circuits (PIC) needed in the project. For these tasks, VA can build upon on their photonic wire bond (PWB) technology, connecting optical chips with 3D-printed freeform waveguides.

Dr. Matthias Lauermann is Head of System Development at Vanguard Automation GmbH and with the company since 2017. From 2015 to 2017 he worked as Senior Hardware Development Engineer at Infinera Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, responsible for test development and test automatization of photonic integrated circuits. He received his PhD degree from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he worked as research assistant from 2012 to 2015, focusing his research on high-speed silicon-photonic modulators. In 2011 he received the Diploma degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology also from KIT.