In the beginning...

In 2006, the UKCPO, SmartOptics, Sira and EPPIC submitted a bid for funding for the Photonics Knowledge Transfer Network (PKTN). The DTI awarded £3.3million to set up and run the network nationally for three years, starting from the 1st July 2006.

The new Photonics KTN executive is the UKCPO (United Kingdom Consortium for Photonics and Optics) and the partners are UK ATC, Photonics Cluster UK, TWI, Centre for Integrated Photonics, Association of Industrial Laser Uses and University College London. Some of whose links can be obtained by accessing the UKCPO site.

The Vice-President of the UKCPO (Prof. A D Boardman) and his liaison officer (Keith Dalby) have undertaken to create a NorthWest Photonics Association that will stand with equal rank alongside other associations, such as the Welsh Opto-Electronic's Forum (WOF) and the Scottish Optoelectronics
Association (SOA).

The UKCPO is the lead partner and has backing from the Institute of Physics. The UKCPO will be responsible for network administration, including the operation of the UK Photonics Portal. The UK regions have been commissioned with the following general tasks:

Surveying companies and research institutes
Identifying all photonics activity and creating a database
Roadmapping
Input to portal from database
Bring communities together
Collaborate on technology transfer

The Northwest region is being managed from the University of Salford under Prof. Allan Boardman, who has appointed Keith Dalby as the NWPA Liaison Officer.

Funding has been allocated for the task of starting and maintaining the NWPA. The first stage is the establishment of a membership database. If you would like to become a member of the NWPA contact Keith Dalby or click here for details.