AMO Students Receive SpeedFund Award from RWTH Aachen University

AMO GmbH is delighted to congratulate four master’s students on their outstanding achievements. Grigory Vydrevich, Deniz Lemcke, İlhan Can Avcu, and Sybren d’Avis have been awarded a SpeedFund by RWTH Aachen University. The Speed Funds are an initiative of the university’s Profile Areas in collaboration with the Hans-Hermann-Voss Foundation and are designed to support excellent research at the master’s level. During the kick-off event on December 2, 2025, the awardees had the opportunity to present their work and engage with researchers as well as experts from across RWTH’s Profile Areas, creating an inspiring setting for exchange and networking. All four students are conducting their master’s thesis at AMO and are contributing significantly to key research activities within the company. Grigory Vydrevich is involved in the QSPEC project, which aims to develop a compact, quantum-enhanced sensor based on frequency-comb interferometry to enable food-analysis spectroscopy with much higher sensitivity, capable of detecting even trace amounts of ingredients or contaminants. Deniz Lemcke contributes to the PhotonMed project, where AMO advances CMOS-compatible plasmo-photonics for compact and highly sensitive refractive-index sensors, with his work focusing on evaluating the thermal stability of these devices, a crucial factor for future medical-diagnostic applications. Sybren d’Avis is conducting research within the NeuroSys Cluster on neuromorphic photonic information processing, while İlhan Can Avcu is contributing to the AttoSwitch project, which explores the potential of graphene and other Dirac materials for the development of ultra‑low‑power transistors. Special thanks also go to Maksim Lipkin, who supports the students in their research as a supervisor and plays an important role in guiding their work. Following the success of the previous SpeedFund round in 2024, which resulted in the award-winning master’s thesis of Elif Merve Özalp, AMO is honored to receive renewed support. This recognition highlights both the high quality of the students’ research and the trust placed in the scientific work carried out at AMO GmbH, further strengthening the connection between academic training and applied research.