Fraunhofer IOF hosts UPM workshop in Jena; Keynotes by ESA and Airbus leaders.

Fraunhofer IOF hosts UPM workshop in Jena; Keynotes by ESA and Airbus leaders.

Workshop on Ultra Precision Manufacturing of Aspheres and Freeforms: Register Now! - Fraunhofer IOF

Jena | August 20, 2026

On September 8 and 9, 2026, the “Ultra Precision Manufacturing of Aspheres and Freeforms” (UPM) workshop invites national and international experts from research and industry to Jena (Germany), the city of optics. Since its inception in 2010, the workshop has been a leading platform for the exchange of ideas on free-form and aspheric optics, including their manufacturing and characterization.

Special highlights of this year’s event include keynote speeches by Volker Kirschner, Head of Optics Section at the European Space Agency (ESA) , and Julien Archer, Head of Optical Analysis, Architecture, Alignment and Test at Airbus Defense and Space . With additional technical presentations, this year’s UPM workshop will focus on the following topics:

Freeform optics for novel applications,

Manufacturing and characterization of freeform surfaces.

An accompanying exhibition will facilitate networking with leading industry players such as ZEISS, excelitas and asphericon . There will also be an opportunity for direct interaction at an evening networking event at the Panorama Restaurant SCALA with the Conference Center in Jena.

The event will take place at the Abbe Center of Photonics (Albert-Einstein-Straße 6, Jena). The conference will be conducted in English. Registration is open until September 1, 2026.

The complete program and registration information can be found at: www.ultra-precision-workshop.de