July 13, 2021
At the invitation of the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) and the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima visited TU Berlin on July 7, 2021. During their state visit to Germany, the Dutch royal couple placed a focus on Dutch-German cooperation in the field of photonics and quantum technologies. The Netherlands and Germany are market leaders in the development of photonic chips and strong cooperation partners in Europe.
The highlight of the visit was the signing of a cooperation agreement between the competence networks "Optec-Berlin-Brandenburg " (OpTecBB) and "Photonics Netherlands " in the presence of the royal couple. Prof. Martin Schell, Executive Director at Fraunhofer HHI and Chairman of OpTechBB, signed on behalf of OpTechBB. Photonics Netherlands was represented by its Chairman Benno Oderkerk.
The king and queen saw demonstrations from the field of photonics and quantum technology at various booths. Hauke Conradi and Klara Mihov, Fraunhofer HHI, presented a miniaturized BB84 transmitter, a component for secure key exchange in quantum communication that helps to protect communication and IT systems against eavesdropping. Dutch partners Dr. Arne Leinse, CEO of LioniX , and Ewit Roos, CEO of PhotonDelta , presented products to whose development the collaboration with Fraunhofer HHI was essential.
