Dr. Gordon Zyla Shares His International Experience with Students at the VU Faculty of Physics
Young scientist Dr. Gordon Zyla began working at the Vilnius University Faculty of Physics Laser Research Center at the beginning of this year. His choice to work in Lithuania proves that the high quality of science at Vilnius University enables international collaboration. He shares his accumulated international experience with the students as well.
In the spring semester, he teaches undergraduate students at the VU Faculty of Physics about the use of light and lasers in 3D printing. Dr. G. Zyla leads seminars on Nano- and Micro-Structure Technologies. The Bachelor's program in Light Technologies at the Faculty of Physics is conducted exclusively in English.
“This is very exciting for me, as I once again have the opportunity to give lectures — something I last experienced during my PhD. I hope that my recent scientific experience and ongoing research activities will enrich the course,” says Dr. Zyla. He hopes to excite students about 3D printing at such a small scale and encourage them to pursue research in this field for their final theses, or potentially as PhD candidates in the future. “I hope to inspire students to become curious about Multi-Photon Lithography and the work we do in the Laser Nanophotonics group,” he adds.
Dr. Gordon’s research focuses on the fabrication of advanced micro-optical systems (refer to figure) to enhance the imaging capabilities of optical microscopes.
The micro-optical system that can be integrated into optical microscopes comprises a processed coverslip and a printed micro-sphere. The diameter of the sphere is 20 µm, i.e., approximately 625x smaller than the diameter of the coverslip.
Among other applications, this may positively impact bio-imaging, telecommunications, and laser processing. To create these structures, he employs a technique known as Multi-Photon Lithography, which enables laser-based 3D printing at the micro- and nano-scales – where individual features can be approximately 100 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.
Dr. Gordon is one of the winners of the 2024 Young Scientist Co-Funding competition, his research is supported by the VU Foundation. He joined the “Laser Nanophotonics group” led by Prof. Dr. Mangirdas Malinauskas at the Laser Research Center of the VU Faculty of Physics. His objective is to establish an independent research group on advanced 3D printing in the future viewing Lithuania and its expertise in lasers and photonics as an excellent environment to support him in achieving this goal.
Dr. Gordon Zyla completed his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral studies at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Ostendorf with part of his PhD research conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, under the supervision of Prof. Yongfeng Lu. He previously worked for three years at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (IESL-FORTH) in Greece under the supervision of Dr. Maria Farsari. During this time, he was awarded two prestigious fellowships: the Feodor Lynen Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission.