This was ZESS PhD Research Forum 2026
The Center for Sensor Systems (ZESS) organises the annual ZESS PhD Research Forum in collaboration with the VDI Siegen District Association (VDI Siegener Bezirksverein e.V.). This event, which is important for early-career researchers, requires reliable long-term planning. The cooperation agreement between ZESS and the VDI enables a sustained support programme, offering early-career researchers the opportunity to present progress on their own research each year. Its goal is to foster an interdisciplinary exchange of experience and knowledge among the various research groups and external participants. Regional VDI members now regularly take advantage of this excellent opportunity for sharing knowledge.
During the event, speakers gain presentation experience, helping them refine their delivery techniques for scientific conferences. The discussion following each presentation often opens up new perspectives on the topic at hand and the approaches taken – particularly when questions arise from practitioners in the field.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by Prof Dr Kristof Van Laerhoven, Spokesperson for ZESS, and Prof. Dr. Jörg Himmel (VDI), Board Member for University Communication and Institutes at the VDI Siegen Regional Association. Dr. habil. Andreas Bablich from the INCYTE research center gave the keynote lecture, titled “WISENT – Westphalian Intelligent Sensor Integration Pilot Line,” offering insights into his work.
This was followed by two sessions each of inspiring Lightning Talks and poster presentations sessions. The event concluded with the award ceremony where three prizes in the categories “Best Lightning Talk” and “Best Poster” where awarded by the VDI. Each consists of a monetary part, a VDI certificate, and a complimentary one-year VDI membership.
Honored in the “Lightning Talks” category were
- Merle Richter (M.Sc.): Selective and Dynamic Detection of Tumor Markers Using THz Metamaterial-Based Biosensors
- Marcel Wiemann (M.Sc.): State-Dependent Operational Modal Analysis of Wind Turbines
- Nahshon Obiri (M.Sc.): From Environmental Sensing to Fade Margins: Parametric Reliability Calibration for Indoor LoRaWAN
The poster presentations awards were for:
- Pratik Bisht (M.Sc.): NRF-GS: Neural Residual Fields for Expressive and Compact Gaussian Splatting
- Anna-Lena Dreisbach (M.Sc.): Electro-Mechanical Impedance Spectra for the Monitoring of Bolted Connections under Varying Temperatures
- Amir Peiraviminaei (M.Sc.): Modeling and Recovering Differential Motion of the Transparent Microscopic Objects
All photos © Jan Söhlke/ZESS, University of Siegen
Text © Jörg Himmel, VDI Siegener Bezirksverein e.V.
