HiLASE Centre

Business Development & Laser Training Centre Manager

Martina Řeháková

Jan Brajer

Head of Department

Mihai-George Mureșan

Team Leader

Jan Vanda

Senior Researcher

International Business Development Manager

VACANCIES

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Sanin Zulić

Business Development & Laser Training Centre Manager

Brief Introduction of the Department

The Business Development and Marketing Unit operates under the Project Management Department at HiLASE and plays a vital role in advancing the Centre’s growth, visibility, and long-term success. Its mission is to foster a culture of innovation while continuously identifying opportunities to strengthen HiLASE’s position in both domestic and international markets. By pursuing new business opportunities—ranging from emerging markets to strategic partnerships and revenue streams—the unit contributes directly to the sustainable growth of HiLASE.

To achieve this, the team conducts in-depth market research to better understand customer needs, evolving industry trends, and competitive dynamics. These insights guide the creation of marketing strategies and targeted campaigns that communicate the value of HiLASE’s technologies and services. The unit is also responsible for sustaining HiLASE’s brand and reputation, ensuring clear and consistent messaging across all platforms. From producing marketing materials and managing digital content to overseeing social media and advertising campaigns, its work builds global recognition and trust.

Business development at HiLASE also involves protecting and leveraging innovation. The team supports the patent application process, safeguards intellectual property, and maintains a robust IP portfolio to ensure long-term competitiveness. Working closely with researchers and inventors, it evaluates the commercial potential of new ideas and strategically determines whether to license, further develop, or spin them off into independent ventures.

Another core responsibility is forging strong collaborations. The unit initiates and leads partnership discussions with industry leaders, coordinates joint ventures, and aligns projects with HiLASE’s strategic priorities. Through these efforts, it not only expands the Centre’s capabilities but also creates sustainable value for all stakeholders. The department additionally manages the drafting and negotiation of commercial agreements, ensuring outcomes that are beneficial to both HiLASE and its partners.

In essence, the Business Development and Marketing Unit serves as the bridge between breakthrough science and market impact—driving HiLASE’s mission to deliver cutting-edge laser solutions to the world.

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Department Staff Number

5-10 people

Internship Job Description

Conduct market research on global and Asia-Pacific trends in semiconductor lasers, including applications in: chip manufacturing, EUV lithography, laser annealing, ion implantation.

Analyze market data and growth opportunities to prepare sectoral reports for internal strategy and external communication, focusing on: industry size and structure, emerging applications and growth forecasts, competitor analysis, the impact of AI-driven-design on laser commercialization.

Investigate technological opportunities for Czech–Taiwan collaboration, mapping relevant stakeholders, research institutes, and companies in both regions.
Participate in evaluating HiLASE’s technology offerings for their suitability in semiconductor production and assessing commercial potential for international ventures.
Assist in preparing and supporting presentations, workshops, and roundtables addressing market trends, innovation, and bilateral cooperation.
Attend internal team meetings with business development and technology experts to align research outputs with HiLASE’s project portfolio.
Support outreach and communication efforts by drafting concise materials for external stakeholders in both Czech and Taiwanese markets.

Preferred Intern Education Level

Undergraduate students (third year and above)
Master's students
Doctoral students

Preferred Intern Skill Sets or Qualities

Currently pursuing studies in business, economics, science, or engineering.
Analytical and research skills, with an interest in market analysis and technology transfer.
Strong written and verbal English communication skills.
Cultural awareness and enthusiasm for international collaboration.
Proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, and online research tools.

Internship Period

From June 15 to August 31, 2026 (adjustable at the discretion of the organisation)

Others

Expected working hours per week: 40 hours
Salary/Financial Support: CZK 10000 per month & Voyage of Aspiration Intern Scholarship
No additional benefits provided

Scholarship

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Martina Řeháková

Brief Introduction of the Department

The HiLASE Laser Training Center was established two years ago and is dedicated to providing laser safety training as well as specialized courses for laser developers and designers, including laser mechanics and maintenance professionals. The team of trainers consists of experienced scientific and technical staff from HiLASE.

The Training Center makes full use of the HiLASE infrastructure, including modern seminar and training rooms. It also features a newly equipped teaching laboratory with optical tables, optics, optomechanics, laser diagnostics, and laser systems, enabling participants to gain hands-on experience in a professional research environment.

The Laser Training Center collaborates closely with the Czech Technical University, the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the Institute of Physics, and the Institute of Scientific Instruments, as well as with private companies from the optical sector.

The Center’s mission is to educate a new generation of laser engineers, provide consulting services to experts in the laser field, and promote awareness of laser safety. In addition, it organizes technical symposia, workshops, and other educational events that support knowledge sharing and professional development within the photonics community.

Department Staff Number

Less than 5 people

Internship Job Description

Prepare a brochure for the Education Laboratory to be used both online and during training courses.
Familiarize yourself with the laboratory equipment and the requirements of individual courses.
Design the brochure content, including descriptions of the equipment, its capabilities, and basic course tasks.
Perform beam alignment and basic laser parameter measurements.
Visualize course tasks in both electronic and printed formats.
Collaborate with lecturers from the Laser Training Center and, under their supervision, test the functionality of the brochure or manual.
Demonstrate strong analytical, systematic, communication, and organizational skills.
Gain hands-on experience in advanced technology, collaboration with HiLASE scientific staff, and the organization of laser training activities.

Preferred Intern Education Level

Undergraduate students (third year and above)
Master Students

Preferred Intern Skill Sets or Qualities

Analytical and methodical, with an interest in developing visual and graphic materials.
Strong written and verbal English communication skills.
Cultural awareness and enthusiasm for international collaboration.
Proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, and online research tools.

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Internship Period

From June 15 to August 31, 2025 (adjustable at the discretion of the organisation)

Others

Expected working hours per week: 40 hours
Salary/Financial Support: CZK 10000 per month & Voyage of Aspiration Intern Scholarship ‍
No additional benefits provided

Scholarship

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Jan Brajer

Head of Department

Brief Introduction of the Department

The Industrial Laser Applications Department focuses on transferring cutting-edge laser technologies into real industrial use. Its activities include advanced materials processing such as laser micromachining, surface structuring, laser cleaning, and laser shock peening. The team develops customized solutions for partners in sectors including aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical engineering.

By combining high-power and high-energy laser systems with deep expertise in industrial processes, the department bridges the gap between fundamental research and practical applications. It also collaborates closely with international companies and research organizations, aiming to strengthen competitiveness and drive innovation through laser-based technologies.

This internship offers direct exposure to the defense sector at the intersection of laser technology and strategic market development. By joining HiLASE, you will gain valuable experience in advanced photonics, international cooperation, and technology commercialization, while contributing to projects that have a real impact on the future of defense capabilities.

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Department Staff Number

More than 10 people

Internship Job Description

Research global and regional trends in defense technologies using lasers, including directed energy systems, counter-drone solutions, and laser-based sensing.
Analyze market data and prepare concise sectoral reports on industry size, procurement priorities, competitor activities, and future growth opportunities.
Map stakeholders, defense contractors, research institutes, and government agencies to identify opportunities for international partnerships between academia and industry.
Assess HiLASE’s technology portfolio for potential applications in defense and dual-use sectors, highlighting both commercial and strategic value.
Contribute to presentations, workshops, and roundtables on defense innovation and security cooperation.
Support outreach and communication by drafting materials for stakeholders in domestic and international markets.

Preferred Intern Education Level

Master Students
Doctoral Students

Preferred Intern Skill Sets or Qualities

Currently pursuing studies in business, economics, science, or engineering.
Analytical and research skills, with an interest in market analysis and technology transfer.
Strong written and verbal English communication skills.
Cultural awareness and enthusiasm for international collaboration.
Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and online research tools.

Internship Period

From June 15 to August 31, 2026 (adjustable at the discretion of the organisation)

Others

Expected working hours per week: 40 hours
Salary/Financial Support: CZK 10000 per month & Voyage of Aspiration Intern Scholarship
No additional benefits provided

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Scholarship

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Mihai-George Mureșan

Team Leader

Brief Introduction of the Department

The Laser-Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT) Unit, part of the Industrial Laser Applications Department at the HiLASE Centre, designs, builds, and operates specialized LIDT testing stations to quantify the maximum laser fluence that optical components can withstand without sustaining damage. Following the ISO 21254-2:2011 “s-on-1” methodology, the team uses high-energy, high-repetition-rate laser systems such as PERLA to expose bulk optics, thin films, and fibers to controlled femtosecond and picosecond pulses—precisely determining damage thresholds essential for reliable, high-power laser system design and quality assurance.

Beyond supporting internal research, the group also provides contract testing services for industrial partners and organizes the annual LIDT Challenge, which invites participants to submit anti-reflective-coated windows for blind evaluation (using 900 fs, 1 kHz Gaussian-beam irradiation in the 2025 Challenge). This initiative promotes transparent benchmarking of optical component durability and helps users qualify their optics under real-world operating conditions.

As a shared infrastructure—together with the Laser Shock Peening Station—the LIDT Unit underpins HiLASE’s roadmap for optical component sustainability, bridging cutting-edge laser research with industrial application through expert measurement services and collaborative development projects.

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Department Staff Number

5-10 people

Internship Job Description

The HiLASE Centre offers an internship for candidates passionate about applying AI/ML and image processing techniques to laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) testing.
As a LIDT Damage Recognition Programming Intern, you will develop software pipelines for in-situ, real-time damage detection during high-power laser tests, as well as ex-situ analysis of confocal microscope images. Your work will include designing data acquisition interfaces to capture live test signals, implementing pattern-matching algorithms to align test masks with microscopy images, and training machine learning models to classify and segment damage sites.

You will collaborate closely with physicists and engineers to validate your solutions against ground-truth measurements, optimize code for GPU-accelerated environments, and integrate your tools into HiLASE’s shared infrastructure.

Key Duties:

Design and build real-time image capture and processing workflows for in-situ LIDT testing.
Develop ex-situ analysis routines to align confocal microscope images with predefined test masks and extract quantitative damage metrics.
Implement, train, and validate AI/ML models (e.g., convolutional neural networks) for damage classification and segmentation.
Optimize algorithms for performance in Python/C++ codebases using GPU frameworks such as TensorFlow and PyTorch.
Document methods, present results at team meetings, and assist with integration into HiLASE’s test stations.

Preferred Intern Education Level

Undergraduate students (third year and above)
Master Students
Doctoral Students

Preferred Intern Skill Sets or Qualities

Applicants should be pursuing or recently completed degrees in computer science, engineering, physics, or related fields.
Proficiency in Python and C++ programming, including code optimization and debugging.
Experience with GPU-accelerated machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch).
Strong foundation in computer vision and image processing libraries (OpenCV, scikit-image).
Background in machine learning, particularly convolutional neural network (CNN) training and validation.
Familiarity with scientific data acquisition interfaces and real-time processing pipelines.
Experience with pattern matching, image registration, and segmentation algorithms.
Excellent analytical skills with meticulous attention to detail.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for documentation and presentations.
Collaborative, team-oriented mindset, with experience working alongside physicists and engineers.
Self-motivated problem solver able to learn new tools and techniques independently.
Effective time management skills to balance multiple tasks in a research environment.
Proficiency in English, both written and spoken.

Internship Period

From June 15 to August 31, 2026 (adjustable at the discretion of the organisation)

Others

Expected working hours per week: 40 hours
Salary/Financial Support: CZK 10000 per month & Voyage of Aspiration Intern Scholarship
No additional benefits provided

‍

Scholarship

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Jan Vanda

Senior Researcher

Brief Introduction of the Department

The Industrial Laser Applications Department focuses on transferring cutting-edge laser technologies into real industrial use. Its activities include advanced materials processing such as laser micromachining, surface structuring, laser cleaning, and laser shock peening. The team develops customized solutions for partners across sectors including aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical engineering.

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Department Staff Number

More than 10 people

Internship Job Description

The HiLASE Centre offers an internship for candidates interested in advanced laser technologies for precision, long-range, line-of-sight applications. This role provides hands-on experience in optical design, end-to-end propagation modeling, and experimental validation within a high-tech photonics environment.

Key Duties:

Survey system architectures for precision beam delivery, including beam directors and expanders, aimpoint control, dwell and energy management, pointing–acquisition–tracking (PAT) methods, and atmospheric mitigation techniques.
Model end-to-end performance by building optical and system budgets for representative scenarios—energy delivery to moving or distant targets, and high-integrity throughput between separated platforms—considering wavelength, aperture, M², temporal format (CW/pulsed), and jitter.
Simulate atmospheric and aero-optic effects, incorporating turbulence (Cn² profiles), scintillation, absorption, aerosols, thermal blooming, and weather; quantify losses, beam wander, and residual wavefront error, and assess mitigation through aperture sizing and wavefront control.
Design beam-director optics and optomechanics, including expanders, relays, mirrors, windows, coatings, and substrates for high-power operation; prepare tolerance, stray-light, and contamination budgets, accounting for LIDT and thermo-optical effects.
Evaluate stabilization and control systems, analyzing fast-steering mirrors, gimbals, trackers, and (optionally) adaptive optics; develop jitter and aimpoint error budgets and control bandwidth trade-offs for dynamic platforms.
Prototype and validate designs, setting up benchtop free-space paths (with phase-screen or turbulence emulation), measuring M², pointing stability, and far-field profiles/PSFs; compare experimental data with simulations and iterate designs.
Communicate results through concise technical reports, figures, and presentations for internal reviews and selected external partners in the aerospace, security, and critical-infrastructure sectors.

Preferred Intern Education Level

Master Students
Doctoral Students

Preferred Intern Skill Sets or Qualities

Core Skills

Solid grounding in geometrical and physical optics.
Proficiency in Python and C++ programming, including code optimization and debugging.
Knowledge of MATLAB or Python (NumPy/SciPy/FFT) or SOLIDWORKS Beamprop module.
Experience with GPU-accelerated machine learning frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch).
Strong foundation in computer vision and image processing libraries (OpenCV, scikit-image).
Background in machine learning, particularly convolutional neural network (CNN) training and validation.
Familiarity with scientific data acquisition interfaces and real-time processing pipelines.
Experience with pattern matching, image registration, and segmentation algorithms.
Strong analytical and research skills, with meticulous attention to detail.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
Collaborative, team-oriented mindset, with experience working alongside physicists and engineers.
Self-motivated problem solver, able to learn new tools and techniques independently.
Effective time management skills to balance multiple tasks in a research environment.
Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and online research tools.

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Valued Skills

Experience with optical design software (Zemax/OpticStudio, Code V, FRED, ASAP).
Familiarity with FFT-based propagation and link budgeting.
Understanding of wavefront sensing and adaptive optics fundamentals.
Experience in beam quality (M²) measurement, thermal/structural analysis, or COMSOL simulations.
Knowledge of LIDT and optical coatings.
Skills in image/signal processing for tracking and channel characterization.
Hands-on experience with alignment in free-space optical setups.

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Optional Skills

Experience with SOLIDWORKS for optomechanical fixtures.
Familiarity with atmospheric modeling datasets and site statistics.
Czech language skills.

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Internship Period

From June 15 to August 31, 2026 (adjustable at the discretion of the organisation)

Others

Expected working hours per week: 40 hours
Salary/Financial Support: CZK 10000 per month & Voyage of Aspiration Intern Scholarship
No additional benefits provided

‍

Scholarship

Mentor(s)/ Co-supervisor(s)

Jan Vanda

Senior Researcher