Brainport’s Best Kept Secret

Eindhoven's Brainport region hold a hidden gem, called TOPIC. While TOPIC is renowned among its customers, their expertise remains relatively unknown to others. Their innovative hardware and software systems are seamlessly integrated into customer’s products worldwide. CEO Rieny Rijnen, who will step down at the end of this year, shares what makes the company so remarkably special.

Rieny, let’s start with TOPIC as a best-kept secret. What are your thoughts on that?
On the one hand, it would be great if more people understood how exciting our work is. On the other hand, the clients who need our expertise will always find us. Having been TOPIC’s CEO for almost 29 years, I’ve learned one thing: it’s often surprising to customers where our expertise can add value. Recently, we were contacted by an egg processing company looking for specialized software for egg quality control. It was remarkable yet again how we can offer solutions for the challenges our customers face.

Thinking of impactful projects that deserve a global audience, which ones come to mind?
One particularly exciting project we participate in is the SKA Observatory (SKAO), which is an intergovernmental organisation building the two largest radio telescope arrays on Earth, one of which comprises 131,072 antennas in the Australian outback. We integrate hardware, firmware, and software to correlate and process signals into detailed scientific data, enabling scientists to analyze space at an unprecedented level.

Another project I’m very proud of is the extremely high-bandwidth interface solution for photonics that we developed for Optalysys, the first photonic-based chip to accelerate Fully Homorphic Encryption for Secure Computing. And, of course, there’s the EU’s first supercomputer, for which we provided the electronics.

How does TOPIC’s approach stand out?
We specialize in the development of the most complex embedded systems solutions. When customers ask, "Is this project technically feasible?" that’s when we get really excited. Very few companies in the world work at the forefront of innovation like we do. And we are the only AMD Premier Adaptive Computing partner in the Benelux region, which enables us to provide our customers access to the latest chip technology. 

How would you define the TOPIC culture?
We combine our passion for innovation with a family atmosphere. It’s important to us that our team and our customers feel at home. My wife, Marie-Louise, has always been part of the company and has been instrumental in shaping our family culture since we started TOPIC at our kitchen table almost 30 years ago. Since March 2023 we are part of the Technology & Strategy Group (T&S) but the family feeling remains unchanged.

You will soon be stepping back. When did you make that decision?
It was during the Christmas break of 2021—almost three years ago—that Marie-Louise and I sat down to discuss the future and the continuation of TOPIC. After an intensive search we were thrilled to have found a wonderful match with the T&S Group and an excellent successor in our new CEO, Ronald van Gerwen. I will continue as an advisor for two days a week, promising Marie-Louise it will not be much more.

Looking back, what are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the stable company we’ve built, with a broad portfolio to support customers worldwide, a strong technical foundation, and a great team of 140 highly talented individuals. Our team's dedication has brought us to where we are today.

What has been your most important lesson?
Every day provides a lesson, and what matters most to me is the evolution of those learnings: always have fun in what you do, be open to the world, and always try new things—otherwise, you limit yourself!

How do you see the future of TOPIC?
We are living in an exciting time with the rise of AI, robotics, photonics, and more. Everything is becoming faster and more complex. It’s crucial to embrace these changes and make them work to your advantage—and that’s where TOPIC excels. There are still plenty of opportunities for us to grow geographically and apply our technical know-how to the challenges our customers face. TOPIC will be embedded in your future!

Pictured: Rieny Rijnen - Founder & CEO TOPIC