Dr. Neda Baktash

Neda Baktash completed her PhD at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton, UK, focusing on beam-tailored high-power fiber lasers under the EPSRC collaborative Energy Resilient Manufacturing (ERM) project. After earning her PhD in 2020, she joined UKRI as a laser scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory-STFC, where she worked on upgrading the Petawatt Vulcan laser. She then transitioned to an industrial role as a Laser Development Engineer at Trumpf Laser UK in Southampton, and currently holds the position of Lead Laser Development Engineer at Coherent Corp in Glasgow.

In 2022, Neda was elected as an Optica Senior Member. Since early 2023, she has been serving as the social media officer for the Lasers in Manufacturing (FL) Technical Group of Optica, which received the Greatest Growth in Activity prize from the Optica Board of Meetings. She is also a member and secretary of the Early Career Group (ECG) of The Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU), and Scotland STEM Ambassador.

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