Advancing Technology, Celebrating Milestones, Building Community

What a week! From September 15–18, we had the pleasure of joining the micro- and nanofabrication community at the 51st International Micro and Nano Engineering Conference (MNE 2025) in Southampton, UK. Heidelberg Instruments proudly participated as a Platinum Sponsor and exhibitor — a long-standing tradition and an exciting opportunity to connect with peers from around the world, share our latest developments in maskless laser lithography and direct-write technology, and to celebrate a very special milestone. The 10th Anniversary of our MLA 150 Maskless Aligner was a true highlight of MNE week. Since its launch in 2015, the MLA 150 has proven itself as an indispensable “workhorse” in cleanrooms worldwide, delivering high-performance, flexible, and cost-effective patterning. We celebrated this important milestone in Heidelberg Instruments’ history with a special moment at our booth, raising a glass with a refreshing Pomegranate cocktail. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who stopped by and celebrated with us!

We were also proud to support the MNE Fellow Award once again. This year’s award went to Professor Emeritus Lars Montelius (Lund University), Director of AM-I, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research. Congratulations to Professor Montelius! In a heartfelt moment during the award ceremony, we presented to Professor Montelius a special gift — a custom micro-structured wafer, symbolizing precision, creativity, and the spirit of microfabrication.

Throughout the conference, our experts and users of our systems took the stage to share insights and innovations: Mark Rosamond from the University of Leeds kicked things off at the BEAMeeting with his experience using the MLA 150. Sven Preuss, strategic product manager DWL series, informed in a fast-paced shotgun presentation (5 minutes!) on the latest upgrades to the DWL 66⁺, and Julia Stark, Research and Development Engineer of Heidelberg Instruments Nano Process and Application Lab in Switzerland contributed to the MNE conference program with her talk „Advances in parallelization of thermal scanning probe lithography and large-area patterning”.

Thank You, MNE 2025!  All had a great time reconnecting with users, partners and friends, meeting new faces, and diving into exciting conversations about the future of lithography. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth, listened to the talks, or simply stopped to say “Hello”. We are already looking forward to seeing you next year in Switzerland!