LioniX International key contacts
The LioniX International team is made up of around 60 engineers, project leads and professionals. The team members you are most likely to meet during events and presentations are:
Robert Grootjans – Key Account Manager
Robert Grootjans, born in Oldenzaal, the Netherlands, studied Electrical Engineering with a specialization in microwave engineering at the University of Twente. In 2016, he began his career as a Microwave Photonics Engineer at LioniX International, focusing on high-speed signal interfaces to active components like InP. Over the years, Robert expanded his expertise across the entire spectrum of Silicon Nitride (SiN) waveguide technology, including its applications and processing. Currently, he is Account Manager for custom vertically integrated solutions based on SiN. Robert is eager to explore innovative ideas and encourages anyone with challenging projects in integrated photonics to reach out to him.
Amitesh Singh, PhD – Key Account Manager
Amitesh has a curious & enthusiastic persona with a unique combination of technical, people, and business skills. He received a Bachelor of Technology from IIT Delhi (2017) and a Ph.D. in Physics from Leiden University (2023). He started his career in Corporate Banking at Citi (2017-2018) and works in Technical Sales at LioniX International since 2023. He is currently pursuing an MBA in Leadership & Management at Quantic School of Business (2023-2025). In his free time, Amitesh loves going to the movies and traveling the world.
Sadoon Al-Obaidi, MSc – Marketing & Communications Director
Sadoon is a curious and outspoken generalist bringing an interdisciplinary formal education and a broad set of extracurricular interests. He attained a BSc in Liberal Arts & Sciences from Maastricht University (2016), and a nanotechnology MSc at the University of Twente (2022). The subjects of his study included fundamental physics, electronics, microfabrication, microfluidics, biotechnology, molecular chemistry, science & technology studies, and continental philosophy. Parallel to his education, Sadoon worked in academic and corporate communications roles. He is passionate about connecting well-established knowledge pools with the general public as well as to the bleeding edge of technological application, tying different tech disciplines together.
Paul van Dijk, PhD, MBM – VP Strategy and Innovation
Paul received his MSc. (1992) and Ph.D. (1997) in Applied Physics from the Technical University Eindhoven in the field of materials science and materials characterization using high energy ion beam analysis techniques. Paul holds a Master of Business Marketing (MBM) from TIAS Nimbas School where he graduated in 2002. He started in 1997 at High Voltage Engineering Europe (HVEE) as R&D Engineer using High-Energy Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for Carbon and Iodine dating applications and build up the AMS facility of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in Mutsu. Since 1999 he worked 11 years at ASML and was responsible for new business development and product marketing at the Special Applications and 300mm Business Units. As co-founder of SATRAX (2010), Paul acted as CEO and was responsible for Supply chain management, Business development and marketing of the integrated microwave photonics products.
Arne Leinse, PhD – CEO
Arne Leinse has been active in integrated optics for more than 20 years. He received a PhD degree from the University of Twente in the integrated Optical Microsystems group in 2005. Hereafter he joined LioniX BV where he was involved in the invention and development of the TriPleX® platform from the beginning. He has been involved from the original concept until the exploitation and (co)authored over 100 articles in the last years. He has been active as Vice-President of LioniX BV in the last years and since the establishment of LioniX-international in 2016 active in the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Since January 2020 Arne is active in the role of CEO, leading the Management Team.
Ronald Dekker, PhD – CTO
Ronald brings over 25 years of expertise in material engineering, microfabrication, integrated optics, packaging, and assembly. Since joining LioniX International in 2016, Ronald has been an invaluable force in guiding the Module and Assembly group. Prior to joining LioniX International, he held various leadership positions, including senior researcher at the Integrated Optical Micro Systems Research Chair of the University of Twente and CTO at XiO Photonics, focusing on standardization and assembly methods for integrated optics. Ronald’s extensive background is grounded in his academic journey, earning a B.Sc. degree in Applied Physics and a Ph.D. degree in Integrated Optics from the University of Twente, The Netherlands.