Synova

Bernold Richerzhagen is the Founder and CEO of Switzerland-based Synova S.A., the world pioneer in water jet-guided laser technology. Synova’s proprietary technology was incubated at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where Mr. Richerzhagen championed its transition from concept to today’s reality.

Recognised worldwide as the inventor of water jet-guided laser technology, Mr. Richerzhagen has received several prestigious accolades, including Technology Innovation Awards from the Swiss Secretary of Economy (SECO) and the Cantons of Central Switzerland (1997); the Technopark Zurich Foundation and the Swiss Minister of Economy (1998); Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young Switzerland (2004); and the Frost & Sullivan’s European Technology Innovation Award (2005).

He is the author of several hundred articles and has addressed numerous water jet-guided laser technology conferences. He also holds several patents on developing the water jet guided laser and related inventions such as laser dicing tape, water film for surface protection, laser trenching of semiconductor wafers, and gas-enveloped liquid jets.

Mr. Richerzhagen received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH) in 1986 and 1988, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Microtechnics from EPFL in 1994. He joined EPFL’s Optical Applications Institute as an assistant working on medical lasers for his thesis.

In 1996, Mr. Richerzhagen founded an engineering office where he developed a water jet-guided laser machine prototype before founding Synova S.A. to bring the Laser MicroJet® to market in 1997.