I am happy to contribute to the community with our tool by making photonics more accessible and creating a positive impact in society.
Barbara Buades - CEO and Co-Founder of Meetoptics
2024 WE Empower UN SDG Challenge Finalist, Europe and North America Region
Barbara Buades, co-founder and CEO of Meetoptics, embodies the spirit of innovation and leadership. With an unwavering passion for science and a profound understanding of optics and photonics, Buades has navigated Meetoptics to become a pivotal player in making photonics more accessible worldwide.
Driving Innovation and Sustainability
Meetoptics was founded to streamline the sourcing process for photonics technologies, addressing bottlenecks that researchers and engineers often encounter. Buades’ vision was to create an AI-powered search engine that simplifies finding, filtering, and getting photonics components from suppliers worldwide. Today, Meetoptics boasts the largest database in optics and photonics, with more than 100,000 products from more than 100 suppliers. The platform has helped over 90,000 engineers and researchers to create light-based projects.
The platform’s features include an Academy Page for technical information, a Photonics Forum for expert discussions, and a Ray Tracing Simulator for fast prototyping. These tools support researchers and engineers in developing cutting-edge technologies for applications like LIDAR, VR & AR, advanced manufacturing, quantum computing and medical imaging.
Commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Meetoptics also plays a significant role in advancing Sustainable Development Goals. By optimizing the prototyping process, the platform helps reduce overproduction and supports responsible manufacturing practices (SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).
Additionally, Meetoptics’ contributions to medical imaging and diagnostics are revolutionizing healthcare, driving advancements in disease detection and treatment (SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being). Meetoptics serves as a catalyst for innovation and infrastructure development by streamlining the sourcing process for photonics technologies, accelerating the pace of technological advancement, driving innovation, improving healthcare, and promoting environmental sustainability. By making photonics more accessible, Meetoptics contributes to medical imaging and diagnostics, revolutionizing healthcare and driving advancements in disease detection and treatment.
Buades is dedicated to fostering gender equality and empowering women in STEM. Meetoptics maintains a balanced gender ratio and actively participates in events that highlight women’s contributions to science and technology (SDG 5: Gender Equality).
Beyond healthcare, Meetoptics drives significant advancements in various fields such as scientific research, consumer electronics and autonomous driving, where its optical technologies improve the accuracy and reliability of navigation and object detection systems. In quantum computing, Meetoptics’ contributions are essential for developing sophisticated optical components that enable faster and more secure data processing.
We want to keep incorporating new features, tools, suppliers, products, and resources for our photonics community, to help them develop the technologies that will improve our lives.
By Grace Reiter, WE Empower Intern