About openUC2
We’re a Jena-based startup accelerating optical development with modular, open tools. Our mission: give every lab, school, and maker the tools to see the world at the microscale — and the freedom to modify those tools.
Our story
openUC2 started as an academic project at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, born from the frustration that custom optical setups take months to design, weeks to procure, and can't be iterated without starting over. The idea: what if microscopy had a standardized, modular building block — like LEGO, but for optics?
What Raspberry Pi did for embedded computing — making professional-grade capability accessible and configurable — UC2 does for optical systems.
The UC2 cube was the answer. A 50×50 mm standardized interface that holds any optical component. Snap cubes together on a grid, and you have a microscope. The concept was published in Nature Communications and adopted by labs and educators worldwide.
In 2022, we founded openUC2 GmbH to turn the research project into a product company — while keeping everything open source. Today we sell educational kits, the FRAME automated microscope, and support a global community of builders and researchers.
Why open source?
No vendor lock-in
You own your microscope. Modify the hardware, fork the software, source components from anyone. Your lab’s investment is never held hostage by a vendor’s roadmap.
Full reproducibility
Publish your methods with complete transparency. Reviewers and readers can inspect every hardware design, firmware parameter, and software version used in your experiment.
Community-driven innovation
Hundreds of users worldwide contribute designs, report issues, and build new modules. The platform improves faster than any single company could manage alone.
The team
Physicists, engineers, educators, and makers united around one goal: accelerating optical development.
Physicist and inventor of the UC2 system. Benedict leads the company vision and drives R&D. Published in Nature Communications and Nature Methods.
Dr. Benedict Diederich
CEO & Co-Founder | Vision | R&D
Hardware and optics expert responsible for production, quality assurance, and logistics. Key architect of the FRAME microscope.
Haoran Wang
CTO | R&D | Production | Logistics
Business strategist managing finances, sales operations, and marketing. Drives partnerships and commercial growth.
Sebastian Trampenau
CFO | Financing | Sales | Marketing
Electronics engineer designing the UC2 control boards, motor drivers, and LED controllers. Expert in ESP32-based systems.
Christian Kuttke
Electronics design
Manages product development lifecycle from concept to delivery. Coordinates between engineering and customer needs.
Armin Grundmann
Product Management
Mechanical engineer specializing in precision mechanics and automation. Designs cube modules and stage assemblies.
Jens Gerstenberger
Mechanical design | Automation Engineer
Oversees production workflows and ensures product certification and compliance for educational and research markets.
Christine Aumüller
Production | Product certification
Software developer contributing to ImSwitch and the UC2 web ecosystem. Focuses on microscopy control and automation.
Dr. Ethan Li
Software Engineer
Software engineer working on firmware, web interfaces, and system integration for the UC2 platform.
Florian Paproth
Software Engineer
Software engineer and application specialist bridging microscopy workflows with software development.
Dr. Johannes Roos
Software Engineer | Application Specialist
Automation and robotics expert integrating UC2 with lab automation systems and robotic sample handling.
Stephan Becker
Automation Engineer | Robotics
Sales specialist connecting openUC2 products with educational institutions, labs, and research organizations.
Dirk Truckenbrodt
Sales
Publications
Peer-reviewed work describing and using the UC2 system
B. Diederich et al., “UC2 — A Versatile and Customizable low-cost 3D-printed Optical Open-Standard for microscopic imaging,” Nature Communications, 2020.
The foundational UC2 paper — cited 200+ times
B. Diederich et al., “A versatile and customizable low-cost 3D-printed open standard for microscopic imaging,” Nature Methods, 2022.
UC2 in Nature Methods Technology Feature
H. Wang et al., “UCsim2: Two-dimensionally structured illumination microscopy using UC2,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 2022.
Get in touch
Questions about our products, partnership opportunities, or custom configurations?