Photonics West
San Francisco, USA
20 January 2026 - 22 January 2026
See who's attending
Northern Ireland at Photonics West 2026
Invest Northern Ireland is bringing a delegation of ten companies and educational establishments to exhibit at Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco on January 20-22.
Northern Ireland boasts world-leading industry anchor firms with significant fabrication capacity and international recognition, supported by strong manufacturing capabilities and a rich engineering heritage. Academic excellence in photonics-related fields complements emerging strengths in sensing, imaging, materials, defence, and data storage, all underpinned by advanced prototyping facilities that drive innovation and collaboration.
Key capabilities include:
- Photonics R&D Nano-manufacturing
- Advanced sensing & imaging
- AI integration
- Smart diagnostics & healthcare
Did you know?
- 1 in 4 of the world’s hard drives has a read-write head manufactured in Seagate Northern Ireland.
- Northern Ireland is the only place in the world that offers you tariff-free market access to both Great Britain (GB) and the European Union (EU) - Sourcing goods from Northern Ireland is easy thanks to our unique market access and regulatory alignment with the EU.
To find out more about the Photonics sector technologies visit SmartNanoNI or NIPhotonics or to schedule a meeting with our team, please contact us.
For further insight into Northern Ireland’s photonics and laser capabilities visit Photonics and Lasers Capability - Matrix.
Companies attending
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Causeway Sensors is a deep-tech photonics company commercialising TITAN, a patented plasmonic nanostructure-based biosensor. It provides real-time, at-line process control data for bioproduction, enabling faster, cheaper, and more sustainable drug manufacturing. The company is actively seeking supply chain partners for the manufacturing of its photonic devices and North American distribution partners.
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Seagate Technology is a global leader in data storage solutions, specializing in hard disk drives (HDDs). Founded in 1979, Seagate enables data-centric innovation across cloud, edge, and client environments, powering industries with reliable, high-performance storage technologies and cutting-edge research in data management.
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Andor Technology is a global leader in high-performance scientific imaging solutions. A spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast, the company specializes in solutions for the Physical & Life Science markets including scientific cameras, confocal microscopy systems and spectroscopy instruments. It is part of the Oxford Instruments group since 2014.
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SmartNanoNI is a Northern Ireland consortium collaborating to develop game-changing advanced photonics prototyping and smart manufacturing methods to deliver new technologies and products. The consortium shares specialist capabilities around nano manufacturing and world-leading knowledge in photonics.
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Re-Vana Therapeutics develops sustained-release biologics, peptides, and small molecules for retinal disease. Its photo-crosslinked biodegradable platforms—EyeLief®, EyeLief SD™, and OcuLief®—enable customizable ocular drug delivery for 6–12 months, reducing injection frequency and setting a new standard in long-acting ocular therapeutics.
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Cirdan is a Northern Ireland based leader in diagnostic imaging and pathology technology, leveraging deep expertise in X-ray detector design and integration. Its large-area imaging cabinets and digital pathology solutions deliver high-resolution, low-noise imaging for surgical, research, and industrial applications, underpinned by ongoing R&D in photon-counting and advanced detector technologies.
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NIBEC pioneers cutting-edge research in optical sensing, nanophotonics, and 2D materials for biomedical and environmental diagnostics. Its interdisciplinary team develops innovative biosensor technologies integrating plasmonics, photonics, and microfluidics to enable rapid, sensitive, and realtime detection for next-generation healthcare and sustainability applications.
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Yelo is a vertically integrated company designing and manufacturing advanced test solutions for the photonics industry. Specialising in Burn-In equipment, Yelo enables reliable deployment of next-generation photonic technologies that meet rising bandwidth demands in telecoms and data centres, driven by the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence applications.
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Digital Catapult is a deep tech innovation organisation driving business value by accelerating the application of advanced technologies Partnering with government, industry and academia, it focuses on significant challenges and opportunities facing the UK’s economy and society, where technology can play a major role in providing solutions.
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The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) , based at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), is Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing innovation centre. With over £100 million initial investment, AMIC will transform Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector by enhancing productivity and will provide an open access photonics applications lab.