During the annual general meeting 2023 celebrated in Helsinki, Finland, the European Photonics Industry Consortium has announced that Basil Garabet, CEO of NKT Photonics will be the new president of EPIC, succeeding Benno Oderkerk who served six years of the presidency with EPIC.

The EPIC team expresses their gratitude towards Benno Oderkerk for his dedication and guidance throughout the years. As per Carlos Lee, the director general of EPIC, “Benno has been a reliable support in these years of strong expansion, guiding in strategic decisions and networking events such as the now famous EPIC Runs.”

Benno Oderkerk initially joined EPIC as the founder and CEO of Avantes, and after selling the company, he shifted his focus to mentoring and continue connecting photonics companies. Benno shares, “Working with EPIC members and the Photonics Industry has been personally fulfilling, though it requires a lot of time and effort, the great moments we shared and the achievements we attained are priceless”. He is followed by Basil Garabet as the new president.

Garabet, the president and CEO of NKT Photonics, has been successfully leading the company since 2015. With 38 years of experience in photonics, he has been a serial entrepreneur who has started, led, and turned around a number of international photonics companies, including JK Lasers, EM4, Altitun, Melles Griot, and Lasertron. Basil is actively involved in promoting photonics worldwide, particularly in new applications such as Quantum, and holds various honorary positions such as board seats on EPIC, Bifrost Communication, and the Danish Quantum Community. He has an MSc in lasers and their applications.

“I am honored to be appointed as the new president of EPIC,” declared Basil Garabet. “As an organization, we have persevered through challenging times, and now, it is crucial that we forge new bridges to ensure that we can gather input from every voice.”

With Oderkerk departing from the board, Shahida Imani, CEO of Chromacity, is filling the place. “We are delighted to welcome Shahida Imani to EPIC’s board of directors,” said Lee. “She is a highly respected professional, and I am confident that her expertise, from the leadership of Chromacity, experience in raising capital, and her involvement in high-growth SMEs, will contribute significantly to the success of the organization and the members. Garabet expressed, “With Shahida’s appointment, we welcome the valuable perspectives of SMEs and UK’s regional representation to our board of directors. We look forward to broadening our horizons with her joining our team.”

Imani is a chartered management accountant, she has worked for a number of high-tech companies including Optos, Voxar, and Odos Imaging, bringing expertise in scale-up and international expansion. Her extensive experience and enthusiasm for photonics make her a valuable addition to the board. With a strategic, operational and financial background and formerly with Optos another great UK photonics success story, her support provides much appreciated direct knowledge of the day-to-day challenges of rapidly growing a photonics SME addressing diverse markets and delivering products globally.

“I am honored to join the board of directors of EPIC and to have the opportunity to work with such a distinguished group of leaders in the photonics industry,” said Imani. “I look forward to contributing my knowledge and experience to help EPIC promote the growth and success of the European photonics industry.”

Further reading: Nicoletta Casanova joins EPIC Board of Directors, wileyindustrynews.com, 8 April 2022 • Two new board members for EPIC, wileyindustrynews.com, 15 April 2021 • B. Garabet (EPIC / NKT Photonics): Cautious Optimism for Photonics in 2021 – Photonics benefit from being crucial for recession-proof key markets such as quantum technology, medical, life sciences and defense, PhotonicsViews 18(1), p. 1, February/March 2021 • C. G. Leburn (Chromacity): Unifying ultrafast laser imaging and spectroscopy: Pioneering technology demonstrates how ultrafast laser sources can enable 3D imaging of cells at high resolution and in real time, PhotonicsViews 18(3), June/July 2021, pp. 96–99; DOI: 10.1002/phvs.202100043 •