MSCA PhD Vacancy at KU Leuven for INTELLASE (DC14) “Development of multi-sensor fusion methodologies for femtosecond laser machining”

**MSCA PhD Vacancy at KU Leuven for INTELLASE (DC14) “Development of multi-sensor fusion methodologies for femtosecond laser machining”** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *(ref. BAP-2026-658)* *Laatst aangepast: 12/11/26* KU Leuven (University of Leuven) has been a centre of learning for nearly six centuries since 1425, making it one of the oldest and most renowned universities in Europe. Today, it is Belgium’s highest ranked university (QS 2025 : 60), ranked among the top 4% universities in the world and consistently ranked in the top 10 most innovative universities in Europe. The university caters to over 60,000 students from more than 140 countries. KU Leuven's three doctoral schools provide internationally oriented PhD tracks for more than 4,000 doctoral students. KU Leuven and affiliated knowledge institutes provide fertile ground for innovation and high-tech entrepreneurship in the Leuven region. This favourable climate for knowledge-driven innovation makes the Leuven region an attractive location for many high-tech companies. KU Leuven website: www.kuleuven.be/english/kuleuven This proposed PhD research will be carried out in the Monitoring for Intelligent Manufacturing Group at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of KU Leuven. Monitoring for Intelligent Manufacturing Group website: Unit website ##### **Project** Description of the project and PhD topic INTELLASE is an interdisciplinary European research and training network that will recruit 15 doctoral candidates to advance next-generation laser-based micro- and nanomanufacturing. The project focuses on laser-material interaction physics, photonics engineering, advanced sensing, physics-based modelling, and AI-driven intelligent process control. Through collaboration among 20 academic, research, and industrial partners across eight countries, INTELLASE will equip doctoral candidates with the interdisciplinary expertise needed to develop intelligent, adaptive, and reliable laser manufacturing systems. In this context, DC14 PhD researcher at KU Leuven will develop a multi sensor process monitoring and control system for femtosecond laser processing. The doctoral candidate will: * Integrate acoustic and optical sensors into the current femtosecond laser micromachining system at KU Leuven. * Develop high-speed data synchronization and signal feature extraction. * Establish sensor fusion methodologies to correlate sensor signals and the process features. * Develop hybrid-learning based defect classification models towards achieving closed-loop process control. The research is supervised by Prof. Tegoeh Tjahjowidodo (https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/00037544), head of the Monitoring for Intelligent Manufacturing Group (https://iiw.kuleuven.be/onderzoek/mim/index.html). DC14 will work closely with the Laser Manufacturing Group (https://www.mech.kuleuven.