This year's MESA+ Meeting occurred at Kinepolis in Enschede on 23 September. It was a joyful event filled with opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and showcasing research. Scientists from MESA+ and internationally renowned speakers gave inspiring lectures, while various networking and parallel sessions helped strengthen cooperation between different research groups. Of course, the popular MESA+ poster competition was also a highlight, showcasing promising projects. It was a successful day, with research and innovation taking centre stage!
Lectures and parallel sessions
Prof. Dr. Vinod Subramaniam, president of the University of Twente, opened the event and welcomed nearly 600 participants. Prof. Dr. Albert Polman from AMOLF gave an inspiring lecture on photonic technologies to combat climate change, showcasing innovations such as nanophotonic solar cells and light-driven chemical reactions. He also shared his research on metasurfaces for multi-junction solar cells, achieving a record efficiency of 36.1%. Prof. Dr. Loes Segerink from BIOS Lab-on-a-chip highlighted advancements in organ-on-chip systems for disease research and drug testing, focusing on stem cells and microfluidic technology.
In the afternoon, MESA+ scientists presented their work during the parallel sessions on Computing and Simulation, Organ-on-a-Chip, Quantum and integrated Photonics, Molecules of Nanotechnology, Two-dimensional materials, and Process Engineering and Analysis. These sessions were followed by Prof. Dr. Martin Winter's lecture on solid polymer electrolyte batteries. He discussed the potential of lithium metal batteries and polymer electrolytes, highlighting challenges and improvements in battery performance, such as hybrid cells and enhanced operational conditions.
Photo contest
Every year, the final four quarter winners of the MESA+ Photo contest were awarded their photo at the MESA+ Meeting. The winners who were awarded a photo this year were Michel Nunnenkamp with Indented glass sphere (winner Q3 2023) and Sun (winner Q4 2023), Nataliya Debera with Muscle Moon (winner Q1 2024) and Roberto Andrade with Trees of particles on crystal soil (winner Q2 2024). Want to know more about the Photo contest or submit a photo? Check out the website.
Poster competition
Throughout the day, almost 70 research posters from all different research groups at MESA+ were presented and discussed. The group with the best poster was awarded this year’s MESA+ poster award. The winners were Suna Azhdari, S.T. Roldan Velasquez, Andre Gröschel, and Frederik Wurm with their poster Fully Biodegradable Polymer Carriers for Plant Protection. The second place was won by M.J. Vreman, M. Versluis, A. Van den Berg, and T.J. Segers with their poster Controlling lipid phase separation in the shell of monodisperse microbubbles. Amber J.A. Heskes, Mario Cignoni, Dennis van der Bovenkamp, Quim Torrent Nicolau, Joost Ridderbos, and Floris Zwanenburg won the third place with their poster Characterization of single 209 Bi donors in Si nanoelectronic devices.
Outreach Awards
This year’s Outreach Award, consisting of €1.000 to be spent on outreach activities, was given to Femke Witmans, PhD in the Nano Electronics and Interfaces Correlated Electron Systems groups. The jury praised Femke for her enthusiastic commitment to various outreach activities. She has become a prominent figure in science communication, acting as one of the Faces of Sciences. She has been interviewed by the Universities of the Netherlands and, together with three colleagues, formed the Nanolympics team, which uniquely created iconic sports moments on the nanoscale during the Olympics, gaining attention on regional TV and radio. Dave Blank handed over the cheque to Femke.
Nanolympics
After presenting the Outreach Award, Feike van Veen, Daan Wielens, Esther van de Logt and Femke Witmans were spotlighted. Last summer, under the name Nanolympics, they recreated the most beautiful fragments of the Olympics on the nanoscale. The jury of the Outreach Award highly recognised this unique action, their hard work, and the outreach they achieved. In appreciation, they all received flowers and one of their photos made on a chip. Check out the Nanolympics' Instagram account for all the videos they made last summer.
Photos by René Wolf
