Light Trace CTO Makes Photonics100 List

September 2025, Bristol UK – We are thrilled to announce that Light Trace co-founder and CTO Dr Dominic Sulway has been recognised as one of the industry’s ‘most innovative minds’ in the Photonics100 2026 list. 

The list, assembled and published by Electro Optics, showcases the people whose work is shaping the future of photonics worldwide. It’s the first year that the UK leads the list, and Light Trace’s Dom is among 21 national honourees. 

“Every challenge photonics faces—whether technical, economic, or political—is matched by an opportunity to innovate,” said Warren Clark, Managing Director of Europa Science, publisher of Electro Optics. “The Photonics100 celebrates those leading the way.”

Dom said that the biggest challenge, and opportunity, for integrated photonics in the next year is moving from being a niche technology to a foundational enabler of next-generation data communications and quantum technologies. 

He said that Light Trace is “pushing the frontiers of what integrated photonics can achieve”, citing the LightPort - which is training up the next generation of photonics engineers, and LightBridge - a high-impact fibre-to-chip packaging solution due to be announced in the coming months.. 

While co-founding Light Trace has been the "defining adventure” of his career so far, he says that what he’s proudest of is the team’s daily accomplishments. 

“Seeing the ingenuity, dedication, and collaborative spirit they bring to complex challenges, and watching them consistently deliver groundbreaking work, is incredibly rewarding. This collective success, and the culture of innovation we have built, is my greatest source of pride because it is the engine that drives our company's mission to shape the future of integrated photonics.”

He points out that to do big things, you need to have a strong support network and “actively seek out discomfort”:

“Put yourself in rooms with people who know far more than you do, challenge them with questions, and learn from their expertise. Significant breakthroughs rarely happen in a vacuum; they often emerge from the conversations you least expect.”

Congratulations Dom for winning this prestigious award!