EEE Alumni Stories: Luisa Schrempf - MSc in Nanotechnology

Luisa Schrempf completed her MSc in Nanotechnology at UCL after studying Physics as an undergraduate. Although her early research was in soft matter physics, she was drawn to the intersection of physics, materials, and electrical engineering, and saw UCL's programme as a way to pivot towards a career in semiconductors. The experience gave her new technical confidence, hands-on insight into the European chip industry, and a stepping stone into the applied world of engineering.

What inspired you to pursue the MSc Nanotechnology at UCL, and how did it align with your career aspirations?

During my undergraduate studies in Physics, I had very much enjoyed courses in solid state physics. However, my applied research projects had all been centred around the field of soft matter physics. While I had been offered a PhD position in that field, I felt drawn to the courses offered in the MSc Nanotechnology programme at UCL, and felt that the intersection between physics, materials, and electrical engineering could potentially be a better fit for me. I could see myself working in the semiconductor industry, rather than diving head-first into a PhD in soft matter physics after completing my Bachelor’s studies. Hence, although it was a risk, given my limited relevant research experience, I felt it was worth the risk to accept my offer at UCL!

Can you tell us about the most memorable or impactful project you worked on during your MSc at UCL?

The most memorable project I worked on was certainly my Master’s project, in the final term of the programme. My project was supervised by Dr Anthony Kenyon and Dr Adnan Mehonic, where I conducted electrical characterisation tests of memristors created by the company Intrinsic, founded by my supervisors, to inform a component model. The project gave me my very first insight into the semiconductor industry. Not only did I learn about characterisation techniques and component modelling, as well as becoming a more skilled and independent researcher, but I gained an insight into Europe’s capabilities for wafer processing. I learned that it is not only possible to work in the semiconductor industry within Europe, but there are many interesting, deep-tech, and fast-paced projects being led by highly knowledgeable and motivated researchers and engineers. It gave me confidence that I had selected the right career path for myself.

How did the MSc programme at UCL prepare you for your current role as a Research and Development Engineer at Lumiphase?

Although my research projects (2-probe characterisation, an abundance of metrology tools, wafer processing) do not overlap with my daily work in the reliability team at Lumiphase, I see the programme as having been a stepping stone between my Bachelor’s studies in Physics and my work as an R&D engineer. I was suddenly expected to approach problem solving in the same way as my peers, as an engineer, who tend to have a more pragmatic approach to problem solving, whereas physicists like to approach a technical problem from the ground up, or from first principles. I feel this stepping stone helped me harness my physics training in a more applied field, such as using my learned intuition for functional dependencies to take learnings from characterisation data, not only on the measured components, but also the laboratory setups. This skill is one that comes in handy daily in my current position at Lumiphase.

You’ve worked on cutting-edge technologies like deposition methods for oxide growth and IQ modulators. How did your time at UCL contribute to developing those technical skills?

Working for a startup requires you to be a highly independent researcher and engineer, as well as maintaining the ability to quickly redirect your work to account for changes within the company or on the market. Both of my Master’s supervisors, Dr Kenyon and Dr Mehonic, allowed me to shape my Master’s thesis and to determine in which direction I would best like to explore. A similar sense of freedom regarding my work within the reliability team at Lumiphase is not just a perk of working within a startup, but the eagerness to work dynamically is a requirement in such a fast-paced environment.

What advice would you give to prospective MSc Nanotechnology students about making the most of their time at UCL?

Do not hesitate to help shape and mould the programme into something that works best for you. The professors are generally quite eager to receive feedback from proactive students, and will gladly take constructive criticism into consideration.

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