The value of light-enabled products and services is estimated to be between $7 and $10 trillion annually, which means the science of light represents roughly 13% of the world’s economy. With the push toward smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and 5G, the demand for connected devices and higher capacity networks is steadily growing, thereby increasing the need for light-enabled products and services, ushering photonics into a position of prominence in the world economy.

As the need for photonics enabled devices grows, so too does the need for core components. In 2016, while there were more than 3300 companies making photonics components, to keep up with the demand and still remain profitable, these companies must
continue to find methods to scale up volume, increase yield, and reduce costs in production.

Developing a successful photonics device can involve diverse teams that are often large and comprised of talented people, but who may not understand each others’ roles (R&D scientists, design engineers, packaging engineers, manufacturing engineers, assembly technicians). They may not understand all the aspects of designing and manufacturing, and to make communication even more difficult, may be scattered around the country or the globe. A collaborative mindset can prevail over all of these challenges.

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