The foundation stone for a UPV industrial campus

The UPVfab laboratory, part of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has taken a new step forward in its project to launch a pilot photonic chip manufacturing plant planned for La Eliana (Valencia). This initiative, part of the European PIXEurope project, has entered the business development phase.

A team from UPVfab, led by Pascual Muñoz and José Capmany, took part in the PIXEurope Connect – Industry Ecosystem Building Day in Barcelona, where the Valencian plant was presented to potential end-users, technology suppliers, industry leaders and policy-makers as part of this pan-European initiative.

PIXEurope, funded by the European Commission's Chips Programme in collaboration with the Ministry for Digital Transformation, has a budget of 400 million euros. UPVfab is one of the 20 organisations involved in this project, which aims to accelerate the currently growing market for photonic chips and strengthen European technological sovereignty.

The Valencian pilot plant represents a total investment of €45 million, of which €33 million comes via PIXEurope, whilst a further €12 million is a direct investment by the UPV, used to acquire industrial land in L'Eliana for the construction of the pilot factory, to attract other companies to set up in the surrounding area.

In this regard, Pascual Muñoz, director of the laboratory, highlighted that the Valencia project is the only Spanish initiative within PIXEurope that will build infrastructure linked to the project. "The UPV believes this plant could become the foundation stone of what might become a photonic chip technology hub in Valencia," he stated.

He also added that there is a desire to go beyond PIXEurope and move towards what could be "the first industrial campus outside the university area". The aim is for both end-users of this technology and the rest of the value chain to be able to set up around this plant.

The importance of photonic research

80% of the European business sector consists of small and medium-sized enterprises that face significant difficulties in developing new technological processes. For this reason, pilot facilities such as those in Valencia offer an opportunity for them to "develop their processes and then export them to industrial factories".

UPVfab is currently developing hybrid photonic chip technology that combines the best of existing technologies. This represents the next wave in photonic chips and can be applied across sectors such as autonomous vehicle production and biomedicine.

The Valencia plant, currently in the tendering phase, is expected to generate around 50 highly specialised jobs in this field, both in Spain and in other countries such as the UK, the US, Germany and the Netherlands.

In this context, the UPV has been developing collaborations with ecosystem stakeholders since 2020, leading and coordinating PIXSpain, the initiative to develop the integrated photonics sector in Spain. It also coordinates the PIXSpain Competence Centre, a hub for accessing PIXEurope technologies in Spain, as well as for training, technology transfer and access to investment opportunities.

About UPVfab

UPVfab is the UPV's own laboratory working on the development of hybrid photonic chip technology. It is the only one in Spain working in this field, playing a decisive role in globally significant industries such as healthcare, the automotive sector and telecommunications.