For one day, Pilsen was adorned with the Technology Town. Among the exhibitors presenting their innovative technologies and products were also members of the Czech Optical Cluster, namely: the HILASE Center, the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences; LaserTherm, and the Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
The exhibition was held as part of Cluster Day, organized by the National Cluster Association (NCA) in Pilsen on October 22, 2025. The Technology Town filled the large hall of Pilsen’s TechTower, with 30 member organizations from several clusters and associations affiliated with the NCA exhibiting there. The event attracted the attention of the national media, with TV Nova broadcasting a live report featuring interviews with exhibitors and Český rozhlas Plzeň broadcasting a report on its Dobré odpoledne.
Cluster Day was attended by 170 participants. The opening of the Technology Town was followed by a lecture part of the event, where a series of lectures on the topics of cluster development and technological trends, e.g., in quantum technologies, dual-use technologies, AI, semiconductors, etc., took place throughout the day. Furthermore, current grant calls and several case studies from exhibitors were presented.
The main theme of this year’s event was technologies that are emerging and being discussed thanks to clusters.
The members of the Czech Optical Cluster (COC) took advantage of the opportunity to present their innovative technologies and products at the Technology Town exhibition.
Representatives of the HiLASE Center presented their Laser Shock Peening and Laser Micromachining technologies at the exhibition, which use state-of-the-art lasers in combination with advanced sensor technology, feedback control, and machine learning. Areas of application include surface functionalization using micro- and nanostructures, increasing the resistance of metal components, and manufacturing parts using hybrid technologies. HiLASE representatives also described the exhibited technologies in detail in a case study presented in the afternoon part of the program.
LaserTherm exhibited some of the results of its development and production, specifically special laser heads and handheld laser technologies for heavy industrial production. These technologies are the result of long-term research and have resulted in complete turnkey industrial technology systems, fully customized to specific customer needs. The company’s solutions are sufficiently comprehensive and therefore include all the necessary safety measures for hand-held laser welding.
The Institute of Photonics and Electronics of the Czech Academy of Sciences presented selected results from one of its areas of activity at the exhibition, namely Special Optical Fibers for Fiber Lasers and Sensors. Specifically, it presented a thulium-doped fiber laser with an output power of 50 W for testing plastic processing. The laser prototype was manufactured at the Institute of Photonics and Electronics as part of the LasApp project, which aims to develop a center of scientific excellence and competence in laser technology with a focus on fiber and thin-disk lasers and their potential applications. The active fibers for the laser were also manufactured at the Institute of Photonics and Electronics.
Furthermore, a hollow-core fiber was developed to reduce the possibility of eavesdropping on communications by reflectometric sensor systems. The fiber was manufactured as part of the Ministry of the Interior’s project “Research on the sensitivity of hollow optical fibers to waves in the acoustic spectrum.”
Among the guests at the event were representatives of cluster organizations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Pilsen Region and the City of Pilsen, the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, CzechInvest, universities, small and large companies, as well as supporters of the cluster ecosystem and technological innovations.
The event also featured the announcement of the GOLDEN CLUSTER 2025 award, which this year went to the MECHATRONIKA Cluster. We would like to remind you that the Czech Optical Cluster won this award in 2022. At that time, the NCA recognized the COC for its long-term support of the optical ecosystem in the Czech Republic, where the cluster managed to build a strong platform for cooperation and connect key players in science and industry in the field of optics and related fields during its first six years of existence.
Further information about the event can be found HERE.
