At the prestigious Kennispark business park, LioniX International has been developing microsystems that make a difference worldwide since 2001. From design to end product: everything happens in Enschede. Together with the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and Lockheed Martin, they are now taking a new step: using advanced photonic microwave technology, they are making communication systems for satellites and aircraft more compact, faster and more powerful. This is an important advance in space and defence technology.
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LioniX is one of the global leaders in photonic chips. CEO Arne Leinse: “In addition to designing and manufacturing chips, we also develop the associated modules. Chip production is our core business. We engage external partners for higher production volumes. As a vertically integrated company, we take care of the entire process, so that we can guide the customer from start to finish in realising the end product.”
Link between university and industry
LioniX and NLR have been working together for years in the field of integrated photonics. ‘We are a research organisation and support the aerospace industry, SMEs and Dutch start-ups in product development,’ says Jaco Verpoorte, Principal R&D Engineer at NLR. ‘We take innovations from the university to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) so that they can be applied in aircraft and satellites, for example. That’s how we ended up at LioniX: first via the University of Twente, later directly. Their technology was unique and innovative. That offered opportunities for future antenna systems.’
‘Our collaboration at the project level clearly shows how things work in Twente: companies, universities and knowledge institutions help each other.’
Lockheed Martin as an international springboard
At the end of 2024, LioniX and NLR announced their collaboration with the American company Lockheed Martin. Together, they are working on a new antenna system for aerospace applications. For Leinse, this collaboration means more than just a technical project: ‘These are, of course, highly respected customers,’ he says. ‘If you can serve a player like Lockheed, it opens many more doors. It puts you on the international map.’
Although LioniX works with several major players, this is the first time that it has actually been made public. A major advantage is that the entire supply chain is located within the Netherlands – largely in Twente. From chip design to assembly and testing, everything is close by. Leinse: ‘In our region, we have LioniX for the chips, PHIX for assembly and packaging, and NLR for requirements and validation. That’s a big plus for us and for international customers like Lockheed.’
Co-development key to innovation
According to Leinse and Verpoorte, co-development is indispensable in large projects like this. ‘In an innovative environment, you can’t just throw an assignment over the fence and say, “You take care of this and you take care of that,”’ says Leinse. ‘Our engineers need to sit in the same room with the engineers from PHIX and NLR to determine what is needed. That’s how you come up with a product. Having everything here together makes the collaboration efficient and is crucial for us.’
According to Verpoorte, this joint approach makes all the difference: ‘We provide the user requirements and take measurements, and LioniX designs the chips to meet those requirements. We also work together to see how we can make the product even smaller and lighter. This collaboration at the project level clearly shows how things work in this region: companies, universities and knowledge institutions are located close to each other and help each other.’
‘The many tech companies around the university together form a high-tech campus.’
Regional collaboration with global impact
Both agree that Twente provides the perfect climate for innovation and high-tech. Are there any industries they feel are still missing here? ‘Large end users,’ says Leinse. ‘There are already companies in Twente that purchase our modules, but if there were more major players within Europe, that would offer many advantages from a geopolitical perspective.’ Verpoorte sees it the same way from NLR’s perspective: ‘In the Netherlands, for example, there is no large antenna manufacturer that can integrate LioniX’s chips. Now we are mainly looking for foreign partners. On the other hand, that also makes the collaboration with LioniX very valuable: you are working regionally on a technology with global impact.’
Twente, the place to be
‘In our industry and in this region, everyone helps each other, which has many advantages. In addition, we are located between two airports and collaboration with the university is essential for us. Together with other tech companies around the university, a high-tech campus has been created where networks and joint projects naturally take off.’
Source: Twente.com
