CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre (C-PIC)
We are thrilled to announce that CORNERSTONE’s bid to become an Innovation and Knowledge Centre has been successful, securing £11m in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK, securing the foundry service for the next 5 years whilst also providing us with the opportunity to grow and expand our offerings to the community.
Led by Professor Graham Reed at the University of Southampton, in partnership with the University of Glasgow, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and other partners, the CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre (C-PIC) will unite leading UK entrepreneurs and researchers. The goal is to transition silicon photonics technologies from research labs into industry and ultimately into everyday life, supporting the creation of new companies and jobs. This will be underpinned by the CORNERSTONE flexible prototyping foundry, streamlining the path from innovation to commercialisation.
C-PIC will start in April 2024 and will initially operate for five years.
Minister Saqib Bhatti, MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Technology, and the Digital Economy, along with a distinguished delegation from DSIT (Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, EPSRC and Innovate UK, visited the University of Southampton on Monday 5th February to officially launch C-PIC. This event marked the close alignment of C-PIC and the government’s National Semiconductor Strategy.
C-PIC Manager Professor Callum Littlejohns said:
“Although we pride ourselves on our customer service, C-PIC will enable CORNERSTONE to become more than just a foundry. We will launch a suite of technical and non-technical training, act as a united voice for the UK silicon photonics community to policy makers and the public and look to seed new interdisciplinary collaborations around the UK. I am very excited to help bring the C-PIC vision of taking silicon photonics from research labs to everyday life into reality.”
C-PIC EDI Lead, Professor Averil Macdonald, said:
“Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity are pivotal to the creativity, productivity and overall success of the whole optoelectronics ecosystem. The C-PIC EDI programme aims to act as a beacon to inspire culture change across the community such that all colleagues have a genuine sense of belonging, feel listened to and able to contribute fully, and know that they are fairly recognised and rewarded for all aspects of their work.”
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