From 27 to 30 October 2026, CAEN took part in the Big Science Business Forum 2026 (BSBF2026), held at the MECC Maastricht Exhibition & Congress Centre in the Netherlands and jointly hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. Now in its fourth edition, following Copenhagen, Granada and Trieste, BSBF is Europe’s leading meeting point between the major research infrastructures – including CERN, ESA, ESO, ESS, ESRF, European XFEL, FAIR, Fusion for Energy and SKAO – and the high-tech industry that designs and supplies the technologies they rely on. This year, more than 1,000 companies, research organisations and institutions gathered in Maastricht to foster innovation and shape the future of Big Science.
On Tuesday, 27 October, CAEN contributed to the IUPAP satellite event “Attracting Future Workforce from Schools and Universities”, promoted within the collaboration between BSBF and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and supported by the IUPAP Working Group on Physics and Industry. Building on the conclusions of the 2024 edition in Trieste, which CAEN also attended, the event brought together representatives of research infrastructures, industry and the education community around a shared goal: strengthening the bridge between the research-industry ecosystem and schools and universities, to inspire the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.
During the roundtable discussion, Gianni Di Maio – Maintenance Division Manager at CAEN SpA shared a perspective on the connection between research and industry, drawing on the company’s decades-long experience as a partner of major physics experiments and research laboratories worldwide, and on how this collaboration translates into new technologies, skills and career opportunities.
Cristina Mattone, Ph.D, Educational Product Manager, then presented CAEN’s educational activities, highlighting how hands-on experience with advanced instrumentation can spark students’ curiosity and help prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers. Working with the same kind of tools used in real research laboratories allows students to move from theory to practice, discovering first-hand how modern physics is investigated – and how many paths a scientific education can open, both in research and in industry.
Beyond the satellite event, BSBF2026 was a valuable opportunity to meet inspiring people, exchange ideas with research organisations, companies and institutions from across Europe, and explore new perspectives for future collaborations and developments.
At CAEN, we believe that investing in education means investing in the future of Big Science: equipping students with the skills and curiosity they need to tackle tomorrow’s scientific challenges is part of the same mission that drives our instrumentation for research. Because Big Science needs great technologies – and the people who will make them possible.
