WHEN DID YOU DECIDE THAT THE AREA OF OPTICAL FIBRE SENSORS WAS THE THING FOR YOU?

I had serious doubts about what I wanted to do in the future. In high school, I had good grades in almost all subjects but I didn’t stand out in anything. I ended up choosing the area of  science in high school and in college I chose physics because I thought I could do anything with these areas, and I was right. At the beginning I did not find it particularly interesting, as it was very academic and theoretical. Everything changed in the third year, when I started having courses that were related to light, and so that’s what I decided to pursue.

In 1992, I started working as part of a huge collaboration between the group of the Faculty of Science of University of Porto, which was already working with optoelectronics, and INESC TEC.

THAT WAS WHEN YOU BEGAN INVESTING IN OPTICAL FIBRES?

Optoelectronics was an expensive research area in our country because the infrastructure required was complex. The optical fibre sensors allowed us to do something without huge investments. I always wanted to demonstrate that something made of optical fibres was cool, but turning that into a product was even cooler.

We thought that the area of optical fibre sensors wasn’t simply a matter of possibility, ideas and research; projects could indeed have a specific applicability. Because of the knowledge that we had we asked INESC TEC if they wanted to create a spin-off. At the time it was not easy, but they went for it. After that, we started looking for venture capital and we tried to develop products. After about one year we sought further investment to begin the industrialisation phase.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO CREATE A SPIN-OFF AND NOT GO FORWARD WITH EQUITY?

It was clearly because we already had the know-how. The fact that INESC TEC has invested in the company for ten years and there is consistency ends up bearing fruits. With that, we have managed to maintain a close relationship with leading research centres in the world. The board of INESC TEC realised that the model where services are provided to industry was not providing good results, and so they changed their position and encouraged researchers to take a leap forward. The fact that we have relationships with other departments of the Faculty of Engineering also allowed us to test some technology projects in the field.

THEN WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO SELL THE COMPANY TO HBM?

After ten years and after having a main stockholder that was mostly financial, we wanted to bring in a strategic partner. Not because we were dissatisfied with Portugal Ventures, but because Portugal Ventures is a shareholder and ultimately they bring in money, and that’s it. If we were acquired by any company that could leverage our technology, the business part would come naturally.

It is curious that HBM already had some optical technology, but they understood that they wanted to expand that component and that the market was following that trend. They preferred to look at the market and see which companies would be an asset instead of spending millions creating one from scratch.

This is interesting from the standpoint of the company because we are not limited, and we can reach a large portion of the market. We now have access to a large sales team worldwide and take advantage of the company’s extensive experience in developing and producing testing and measurement equipment.

WHAT CHANGES DO YOU EXPECT?

I can say that we are free to focus on what is really important. Often a technological company like ours has to be distracted by many things in order to survive.

HBM wanted a technology that they did not have and so they decided to acquire it because they want to grow and succeed. The goal is to make FiberSensing a centre of excellence for HBM in all optics related fields. For that reason, we are going to combine not only all that we used to do, but also everything that appears from now on.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY?

That's what they saw in us – the knowledge and the ability to have our own technology and develop products. Currently, FiberSensing has more information to take certain steps.

WAS THE REPUTATION OF PORTUGUESE ENGINEERING KEY TO THIS ACQUISITION?

The relationship we have with academia and research centres is very good, but I find no direct link. I think stepped away from everything and saw a company with skilled people. When HBM is trying to integrate technology, they look for worldwide renowned companies.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE PARTNERSHIPS WITH RESEARCH CENTRES?

Clearly we need to maintain this umbilical cord, even though we have started cutting it a little bit. It's good to know all the steps that are ahead for companies like ours so that we can anticipate and understand if we can integrate such technology. The fact that we have such a close collaboration with research centres of excellence and that we have qualified human resources at balanced costs was something that HBM was attracted to.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE YOUR CURRENT WORK?

From the beginning, in the area of optical fibre sensors, that is, the area where we use optical fibres as a sensing element, we focus on a specific technology. Bragg networks consist of writing and inscribing a microstructure in the core of a five millimetre long optical fibre. This means that if I eliminate all wavelengths with a source of light injected into the fibre I get a signal that comes encoded in wavelength. It is like a selective mirror which reflects only one colour, and then I receive these slices of light that are associated with each of the mirrors. If I work in these regions I can see small changes, and so I can analyse and know what happened in those points. This requires the development of sensors, measurement units and IT systems.

IN WHAT AREAS DO YOU WORK?

Many development departments buy our products. We are in many areas such as civil engineering, aeronautics, energy, aerospace, among others. We have companies that buy our products to monitor bridges and buildings, integrated with other technologies.

Being in different areas is an advantage, but it can also be a problem. We may know a little of everything, without being experts or having a solution to anything. That’s why we focus our strategy on development and production, and then on establishing strategic partnerships with companies in the area and develop products according to their specificities. Who is FiberSensing? FiberSensing - Advanced Monitoring Systems, S.A. was founded in 2004 as a technology spin-off from INESC Porto. It is a worldwide leader in the development and production of systems based on in optical fibre Bragg sensors (FBG) for advanced monitoring applications. We work mainly with areas such as energy (generation, transmission and distribution), civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation, aerospace (through development projects), industry and research (through Universities and Institutes). With skills ranging optical fibre technology to optoelectronics, electronics and instrumentation, the company markets a broad portfolio of sensors, measurement devices and software applications, as well as complete monitoring solutions (development of custom-made products and OEM systems).

País Positivo (distributed with Sol), 31 October 2014