Photonics—the following era of electronics expertise, which makes use of gentle as a substitute of electrical energy—is gaining a foothold within the Philippines because of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Research on Optical and Electronic Systems (ROSES) Laboratory, the nation’s first and solely facility devoted to domestically designing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and coaching PIC designers.
Established by physicist Dr. Benjamin B. Dingel in 2017, the ROSES Lab grew from a volunteer effort to bolster the Ateneo’s analysis capability into what’s now the Philippines’ main middle for optical sciences and photonics engineering. It is now positioning itself as a driver of worldwide collaboration in photonics analysis and innovation.
To date, the Ateneo ROSES Lab has over 85 scientific publications and help from the Philippine Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (ARISE), and numerous international companions.
This units the stage for the Philippines to play a key function within the growth of future computer systems, smartphones, telecommunications techniques, medical gadgets, and different superior applied sciences. Already, photonics is poised to be carried out within the close to future in hybrid techniques that mix digital and optical applied sciences for optimized efficiency.
Dingel’s imaginative and prescient of collaboration and technological shift was underscored on the Workshop on Advanced Photonics Technologies for Emerging ICT and Sensing Applications held on 20 February 2026 at Escaler Hall, contained in the Ateneo de Manila University’s Loyola Heights campus.
The workshop convened main researchers from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines below initiatives such because the DOST-PCIEERD’s e-Asia Joint Research Program (JRP) and Japan’s NICT’s ASEAN IVO JRP. Participating establishments included Waseda University, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Chiang Mai University, Thai Microelectronics Center, and business accomplice Xinyx Design and Consultancy Services Incorporated.
Dingel emphasised that the ROSES Lab goals to function a satellite tv for pc hub for international partnerships and is actively increasing its goals to foster worldwide R&D and innovation collaborations. “If we continue with our current technology, then we are already left behind. We can never move forward and compete. So, our laboratory takes an experimental side, in which we try to be as open as possible to outside collaborations,” he defined.
“The Ateneo ROSES Laboratory is a great and important step forward for research in optical science and engineering in the Philippines. It embodies the Ateneo de Manila University’s long-standing commitment to build local capability and strengthen research and development in photonics, which has the potential to produce revolutionary change,” stated Dr. Filomeno Aguilar Jr., Ateneo de Manila University Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation, in his opening remarks.
Calling for deeper collaboration amongst Philippine universities, the ROSES Lab continues to hunt and nurture expertise to assist advance each Ateneo and the nation– particularly in PIC design, an space the place the Philippines leads in design experience however lags in fabrication and expertise assimilation. According to Dingel, with dynamic collaboration, the nation stays well-positioned to make important technological leaps within the years forward.
For interview requests and different inquiries, you might attain Dr. Benjamin B. Dingel at [email protected]. For different issues, please e-mail [email protected]. Visit archium.ateneo.edu for extra details about our newest analysis and improvements.