Guest blogger: Sidney Goossens is a PhD student and past president of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel SPIE Student Chapter in 2017. Last year was an eventful one for the SPIE student chapter of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) as BA, MA and PhD candidates celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special edition of Light Night, a yearly photonics event showcasing an international range of speakers from across academia and industry. The early years The chapter was founded in 2007 by former chapter President Jürgen Van Erps , Vice President Nathalie Vermeulen and advisor professor Hugo Thienpont . From 2008 onward, networking activities and job-related events were frequently organized with the support of the SPIE invited-lecturer program, offering students various opportunities to discover the industry’s world of photonics. As the popularity of the events grew and attendance increased, many events were combined into the annual Light Night, which launched officially in 2014. The...