John is Chief Executive of the UK Photonics Leadership Group supporting the alignment of policy, industry and research strategy in the £15.2bn UK Photonics industry. John has over 30 years’ experience in the laser and optics industry. He has developed commercial photonics products impacting across society, raised venture funds, secured exits and guided influential policy. John has run his business development consultancy, Harlin Ltd, since 2006 helping SMEs, Universities, VCs and governments to identify growth opportunities and photonics impact at company, national and international level. He is SPIE’s Europe Strategy Director, sits on multiple advisory boards, visualising emerging innovation trends and is entrepreneur coach for the European Innovation Council.