From Cyclotrons to Satellites...

An interesting article was published on the innovative environment in which JEMA is growing for the last few decades…

From cyclotrons to satellites: how Louvain-la-Neuve built its tech ecosystem

A Flemish journalist, Wim De Preter, has written a piece in L’Echo on the scientific ecosystem of Louvain-la-Neuve. He came to take a closer look at what’s happening on the Walloon side, and JEMA features in it as an example of how this science park has developed.

It all started with the cyclotron installed at UCLouvain in the early 1970s, which gave rise to IBA, today the world leader in proton therapy. JEMA grew in its wake, becoming a supplier of high-power equipment for IBA and for other demanding applications, eventually establishing itself as a niche player with international recognition.

The park now covers 231 hectares and is home to some 270 companies and 9,000 jobs, spanning a wide range of sectors (life sciences, engineering, fine chemicals, IT, green technologies) — a diversity the article rightly contrasts with Leuven, which is more focused on microprocessors and biotech.

But the article also points to our limitations. The park’s buildings are running at 97% capacity. And on our side, at JEMA, we were refused an increase in our electricity grid connection at the very moment we were expanding our facilities. We adapted our needs and found other ways to support our customers and projects, but…

The irony is lost on no one: we help our customers electrify their industrial processes, yet we ourselves are running up against the limits of the grid.

That may well be the real underlying issue behind this ecosystem’s success: without investment in infrastructure, growth has a ceiling…