Current
Yuan TIAN
Email: KU Leuven Who's who; Linkedin
Undergrad/Master: Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University (China) / Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, KU Leuven (Belgium) & Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden)
Project: Printed inorganic thermoelectric generators
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Yuan won an exchange scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC) to study physical chemistry at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France) during her undergraduate study. With Erasmus Mundus CatA scholarship, she completed her master in Nanophysics track. She joined the group as a PhD student in October 2019 and 1 year later she got the FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research. She enjoys doing sports, studying languages, writing Chinese calligraphy and reading books during her spare time.
Hasan Emre BAYSAL
Email: KU Leuven Who's who ; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Materials Science & Nano Engineering, Sabancı University (Turkey) / Materials Science, ETH Zürich (Switzerland)
Project: Printed organic thermoelectric generators
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Hasan received Sakıp Sabancı Encouragement and Dilek Sabancı scholarships during his polymeric composites and manufacturing oriented undergraduate studies in Sabancı University. He worked as a summer research student at Durham University (UK) with the support of Erasmus+ Grant. In his master’s study in Zürich, he received a scholarship award from Birkigt Scholarship Fonds. His master’s study and thesis focused on soft matter and additive manufacturing. He is a photography enthusiast who likes to hike for photography and works as an event photographer.
Bokai ZHANG
Email: KU Leuven Who's who ; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology (China) / Materials Science, University of Michigan (USA)
Project: Printed organic thermoelectric generators
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Bokai won the Mitsubishi Chemical Scholarship during his undergraduate study. He also participated in the summer school of engineering & science in Technion (Israel) with a full scholarship. In his master’s study, he worked on “Flexible piezoelectric nanocomposites used in the extreme environment”. In his spare time, he likes to play tennis and badminton, watch movies, traveling.
Viktor NAENEN
Email: KU Leuven Who's who; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Engineering Sciences (Materials and electrical engineering), KU Leuven / Materials Engineering, KU Leuven
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Project: MXenes for energy storage and conversion technology (in collaboration with Prof. M. Wevers & Prof. J. Vleugels)
His bachelor thesis on lithium titanate nanowires for lithium-ion batteries introduced him to nanomaterials for energy storage, which he explored further in his master thesis on core-shell dielectric nanocomposites for structural capacitors. In October 2022, he got awarded the FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research. He is a coffee enthusiast with a passion for being outdoors with friends, running and cooking (ratatouille).
Tsu-Yu (Jean) CHOU
Email: KU Leuven Who's who
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Undergrad/Master: Materials Science and Engineering, Tsing-Hua University (Taiwan) / Materials Science and Engineering, Tsing-Hua University (Taiwan)
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Project: Printed organic photovoltaics for energy harvesting in smart contact lenses
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Tsu-yu worked as an R&D engineer in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for nearly three years after she graduated. In her master’s study in Tsing-Hua, she focused on photophysical properties of thermally activated delay fluorescence and aggregation-induced emission organic light emitted devices (OLED). She enjoys doing sports in the gym, reading books and going travelling during her spare time.
Michael ROHDE
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Email: KU Leuven Who's who
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Undergrad/Master: Bachelor in Physics, University of Hamburg (Germany) / Master in Applied Physics, Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands)
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Project: Unveiling the cooling potential of anomalous Ettinghausen effect in magnetic Weyl semimetals (in collaboration with Prof. Clement Merckling & Prof. Pascal Gehring)
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During his theses, Michael researched in the field of organic nano electronics. Now he is pursuing his interest in topological thermoelectrics in the framework of a partnership between UCLouvain, KULeuven and IMEC. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling/hiking, drawing, board games and macro photography.
Tzu-Yi (Thomas) YU
Email: KU Leuven Who's who; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University (Taiwan) / Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
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Project: Printed organic thermoelectric generators
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Tzu-Yi worked as a research assistant in Academia Sinica, developing micropatterned substrate for studying neuron migration. During his undergraduate and master's projects at National Taiwan University, he synthesized biomaterials aiming at tissue engineering and studied their structure-property relationships. He is a guitar player and coffee enthusiast. Also, he enjoys traveling, playing sports, and doing weight training in his spare time.
Tanmay SINHA
Email: KU Leuven Who's who
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Undergrad/Master: Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology (Mesra, India) / Materials Engineering, KU Leuven
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Project: Printed photosupercapacitors for energy harvesting and storage on smart contact lenses
Tanmay has carried out experimental and modelling-based studies on nanomaterials during his bachelor and master theses respectively. He now seeks to explore their applicability in energy conversion and storage. In a yearlong hiatus from his academic career, he has also worked as an engineer at the chemical industry. He got awarded the FWO PhD Fellowship fundamental research in October 2022. During his leisure time, he likes to travel, walk, read and write.
Isidro FLORENCIANO CANO
Email: KU Leuven Who's who; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Applied Physics, Paris-Saclay University (France) / Physics and Engineering of Energy, National University of Singapore & Paris-Saclay University
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Isidro is interested in the field of alternative energies. After his undergrad, he was granted an exchange scholarship to study in Singapore. During his master’s thesis, he worked at CEA-Saclay synthesizing and characterizing thin film semiconductors for solar water splitting. He is passionate about rock climbing and board games.
Navid Mostofi SARKARI
Email: KU Leuven Who's who; Linkedin
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Undergrad/Master: Polymer Engineering - Surface coatings, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) (Iran) / Polymer Engineering- Surface coatings, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic)
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Project: Design of discontinuous coatings with enhanced de-icing properties (in collaboration with Prof. David Seveno)
Navid studied BSc in Polymer Engineering (majoring in surface coatings) at Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Iran, from 2012 to 2016. He graduated from the same university with an MSc in Polymer Engineering (surface coatings) in June 2019. During the MSc degree, he was granted an Erasmus+ exchange scholarship for research at Middle East Technical University, Turkey. His research focus in BSc and MSc was on surface characteristics of silane-crosslinked polyethylene (Si-XLPE) compounds and improving their printability. In his free time, Navid is interested in watching documentaries, hiking, and playing volleyball.
Heyi XIA
Email: KU Leuven Who's who;
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Undergrad/Master: Material Chemistry, Sichuan University (China) / Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University (China)
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Project: Material characterization and transfer printing of electrodes on thin-film semimetal crystals (in collaboration with Prof. Maria Seo)
Heyi’s previous research work was mainly about structure evolution and ion transport behavior of energy storage materials through TEM characterization. Beyond that, he also does some work in hydrovoltaic, a new energy harvesting method. He enjoys attending concerts and playing table tennis in his spare time.