CARLA 360 2025 - visitor registration

About the event

Join the Carla Symposium and Training at TU Delft

We are thrilled to invite you to this exciting event that bridges the gap between academic excellence and industry opportunities in photonics. This is your chance to explore how students (HBO, Master, PhD) like you can shape tomorrow’s technological advancements through innovative careers.

Why Attend?

Meet Potential Employers: On Day 1, we’ll host exclusive company pitches where you can connect with potential employers early on. The following companies will be represented (more to come): ASML, Airbus, Single Quantum, Wederic, Signify, PhotonDelta.
Hear Genuine Stories: On day 2, from cutting-edge research breakthroughs to industry-specific insights, our guest speakers will provide diverse perspectives on career opportunities in research. Whether in institutes, universities, research centres or industry. Scroll down to the program and speaker section for more information.

What’s In It for You?

Networking Opportunities: Connect with peers who share your passion for photonics while building connections that could lead to future opportunities.
Career Exploration: Gain insights into various career paths in photonics and related fields, helping you align your skills with industry needs.
Attendance certificate: Following the two-day event, you will receive an attendance certificate to use for your graduate school.

Additional Opportunities

Dutch Network Party: Meet with your future colleagues at the network gathering and enjoy some Dutch nibbles.
Training sessions: We have tailored workshops specifically for PhD students to prepare for your next move.
Hackathons: Test your skills and creativity under time pressure while working on innovative projects.
Lab Visits: Visit various labs at the TU Delft campus. Scroll down to the Labs section for more information.

Whether you’re looking for internships, job opportunities, or just a chance to expand your professional network, this event will help you achieve your goals. Join us and take the first step toward building your future! We look forward to welcoming you there!

The 360Carla Event is part of the CarlaHub activities. For more information about other events, please visit https://carlahub.eu.

Program

Click on a program item to read more, or scroll down for more information about the Workshops (day 1), the Labs and the Academic Speakers (day 2).

Academic speakers

Meet the academic speakers who will share more about their careers during the career pitches and panel on day 2.

Day 1 - Creating your Career

Workshops:

Workshop 1: Photonics Beyond the Lab

Discover how your passion for photonics can drive real-world change, and how you can be part of that journey!

For whom: Researchers and students eager to contribute to real-world innovation

Hosted by: Impact Studio, Pre-Incubator TU Delft

Are you a researcher curious about how your work could make a difference beyond academia? Or a (master’s) student eager to contribute their skills to deeptech innovation? This interactive workshop is your entry point into the world of science-based entrepreneurship. Discover how academic research can lead to real-world impact, and how you can play a role in that journey.

During this interactive workshop, our goals are to:

Inspire: Step beyond the academic box and explore how research and technical expertise can lead to real-world solutions. Whether you're a researcher or a student, discover how you can contribute to science-based innovation.

Empower: Learn and apply practical tools and structured brainstorming techniques to identify concrete applications and the potential impact of cutting-edge research.

Support: Get introduced to the ecosystem, tools and programmes that help bring early-stage ideas forward, from market exploration to startup development.

By the end of this workshop, you will have:

A broader perspective on how academic work and talent can impact society beyond academia.
Practical insights and strategies to navigate the entrepreneurial landscape and transform ideas into tangible outcomes.
Access to ongoing support to assist you in various ways to support your startup journey.

Whether you're ready to move your research forward or want to be part of a team shaping the future of innovation, this is where it starts.

Day 2 - Shaping your Career

Labs

Lab 1: Hydrogen sensor based on fibre

PI: Lars Bannenberg

In our lab, we research and develop (materials for) optical hydrogen sensors. These sensors utilise the fact that certain metals absorb hydrogen when in contact with an atmosphere containing hydrogen. The absorption of hydrogen by the metal causes an expansion of the material and a change in its optical properties, which can be utilised in combination with optical transmission/reflectometry, surface plasmon resonances, or fibre Bragg gratings to create a sensor. During the tour, we will show you how we make these materials with thickness of 2-100 nm, how we analyze the materials using advanced characterization techniques such as X-ray Diffraction, Reflectometry, Photoelectron spectroscopy and microscopy and test the sensors in our hydrogen lab where we can simulate different environments in terms of temperature, hydrogen concentration, gas composition and humidity.

Lab 2: Optical Metrology for Aerospace (OMA) Laboratory

PI: Andrei Anisimov

The OMA Lab focuses on the development of new instrumentation for metrology applications, efficient inspection and material characterisation. It is a new research group established in 2023 at the TU Delft Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. The group bridges optics, physics, composites, and data analysis. The focus is on high-end composite materials, complex engineering cases and cultural heritage. All activities are done in close contact with end-users and commercial technology providers. The main techniques include shearography, speckle interferometry and machine vision.

Lab 3: Aerospace Non-Destructive Testing Laboratory

PI: Roger Groves

The laboratory focuses on developing innovative non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, fibre optic sensing, optical coherence tomography and hyperspectral imaging. These methods enable the detection and characterisation of defects and damage in composite materials and aerospace structures. The lab collaborates extensively with industry partners and academic institutions, supporting aerospace safety, structural health monitoring, and sustainable aviation.

Lab 4: Rossi Lab

PI: Massimiliano Rossi

In our lab, we levitated nano-objects using optical tweezers and studied their motion in extreme isolation. We aim to prepare and observe macroscopic quantum dynamics at even larger mass and distance scales. Our research combines fundamental and technological aspects: to answer the fundamental questions in quantum physics about the classical-to-quantum transition, we are developing novel quantum technologies for sensing. Massimiliano Rossi is a young PI who moved to TU Delft last year to establish his own research group and direction. The group is dynamic and seeks to expand, welcoming more students and scientists.

Lab 5: Sustainable Aircraft Propulsion Lab

PI: Francesca De Domenico

Our core mission is to develop clean and stable combustion systems for the future of aviation. To support this goal, we are advancing state-of-the-art combustion diagnostics. Our lab is equipped with a femtosecond laser system used for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) and other spectroscopic techniques, enabling precise measurements of temperature and major species in flames. In addition, we employ more conventional diagnostics, such as Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF), to visualise flame structures and combustion products.

Lab 6: Scatterometry Lab

PI: Silvania Pereira

The lab features several setups of coherent Fourier scatterometry, an optical technique used for non-destructive characterisation of nanostructures.

Lab 7: The Brinks Lab

PI: Daan Brinks

We address neuroscience questions through functional imaging. Some of the projects we work on are the optimisation and expression of fluorescent proteins called Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators (GEVIs). These proteins can be expressed in neurons and used to visualise their electrical activity. This enables us to measure the activity of brain cells with unprecedented resolution and throughput using fluorescence microscopy. In our lab, we have a custom-built microscope called 'the Octoscope', optimised for this purpose. The Octoscope enables imaging of brain cells with optical patterning in either 1-photon or 2-photon excitation mode, with millisecond time resolution. The Octoscope also features an integrated electrophysiology setup, enabling simultaneous electrical recording or stimulation during imaging.

Lab 8: Optics Lab from Space Instrumentation

PI: Jerome Loicq

We develop optical setups intending to improve remote sensing from space and space optics in general. Currently, an interesting setup is the spectropolarimetric modulator by Bogdan Vasilescu. It allows for full strokes spectropolarimetry.

Lab 9: Rooftop Lab

PI: Rudolf Saathof

The new optical Telescope on the roof of the Aerospace building. Currently, two PhD students are working there on free space optical communication and atmospheric turbulence.

This event is sponsored by