2025 Keynote Speakers
On-chip learning with organic neuromorphic and biohybrid systems
Neuromorphic engineering takes inspiration from the efficiency of the brain and focusses on how to utilise its functionality in hardware. Organic electronic materials have shown promise in accelerating neural networks by performing multiply-accumulate operations in parallel, as well in the manipulation and the processing of biological signals, with applications ranging from neuromorphic accelerators and bioinformatics to smart sensors and robotics.
This talk describes state-of-the-art organic neuromorphic devices and provides an overview of the current challenges in the field and attempts to address them. I demonstrate a device concept based on novel organic mixed-ionic electronic materials and show how we can use these devices in trainable biosensors and smart autonomous robotics. I will present a novel implementation of backpropagation with gradient descent directly in hardware and highlight a route towards large-scale integration of organic neuromorphic arrays that are necessary for advanced intelligent computing systems.
Next to that, organic electronic materials have the potential to operate at the interface with biology. This can pave the way for novel architectures with bio-inspired features, offering promising solutions for the manipulation and the processing of biological signals and potential applications ranging from brain-computer-interfaces to bioinformatics and neurotransmitter-mediated adaptive sensing. I will highlight our recent efforts on hybrid biological memory devices and artificial neurons.
Prof Yoeri van de Burgt
Associate Professor
Microsystems Section
TU Eindhoven
Yoeri van de Burgt is associate professor at Eindhoven University of Technology leading the neuromorphic engineering group. He obtained his PhD degree in 2014 and worked at a high-tech startup in Switzerland after which he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge in 2017 and Georgia Tech in 2022, and was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2018 and an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2023. Yoeri was a member of the Eindhoven Young Academy and served as the chair from 2021-2022. He is one of the MIT Technology Review innovators under 35 Europe and Advanced Materials Rising Stars. Yoeri is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Centre for Cognitive Systems and Materials at the University of Groningen.
Lowering the Barrier to Entry for Flexible Foundry Technology
Successful commercialisation of a novel technology such as Pragmatic Semiconductor’s FlexIC technology relies on several key aspects beyond the technology itself. To drive successful adoption of new technologies into mature markets, a low barrier to entry and a healthy ecosystem around the technology must be established.
Provision of IP, EDA tool access and packaging / assembly options are all part of the wider enablement of technologies.
This talk discusses flexible semiconductor benefits and the applications they enable, as well as the barriers to adoption. We will go on to describe key elements of a successful ecosystem such as the one Pragmatic is developing.
David Verity
Senior Director (Design Platform)
PragmatIC
David Verity is Senior Director of the Design Platform team at PragmatIC, responsible for creating the design interface systems needed for people to innovate and create their own designs on its technology. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the semiconductor industry working for leading fabless design and silicon manufacturing companies.
Manufacturing organic semiconductors enabling high performance large area organic photovoltaics
Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) is a new light energy harvesting technology that offers a unique blend of extreme thinness, flexibility, and lightweight properties while also enabling semitransparent devices that are beautifully colorful. What differentiates OPV from other photovoltaic (PV) light-harvesting technologies is the use of carbon-based semiconductors as the light-absorbing layer. These semiconductors are environmentally friendly and do not contain rare or toxic components.
The technology is also mass-producible at a low cost using Roll-to-Roll (R2R) printing methods, paving the way for low-cost mass-produced solar panels. Combined with recent advances in organic semiconducting materials enabling power conversion efficiencies of over 20% in the lab, this demonstrates that OPV has the potential to be a large-scale contributor to global energy solutions.
This talk will cover the successful transfer to commercial-scale solar panels and the pathway towards mass market applications from the perspective of Brilliant Matters as a key technology provider and material supplier. We will present specific challenges in the development of semiconductors for the OPV industry and the importance of product quality and low batch-to-batch variability for enabling successful integration into supply chains.
François Grenier
Chief Scientific Officer
Brilliant Matters
François Grenier is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Brilliant Matters Inc. During his Ph.D. studies at Laval University, under the supervision of Professor Mario Leclerc, he contributed to the development of Brilliant Matters’ core semiconducting polymer production technology by improving its large-scale applicability. François led the company’s operations from 2017 to 2021 and was responsible for setting up Brilliant Matters’ new facilities in St-Augustin. He is now responsible for product development at Brilliant Matters, resulting in BM's first industrial product. François has 15 years of experience working on organic semiconducting materials.