Rob Ameloot

Group Leader

Rob obtained his PhD at KU Leuven in 2011. Afterwards he moved to the US, to work at UC Berkeley. Since Oct 2014, he is active as a research professor (BOF-ZAP) at KU Leuven.

His main research interests are: porous materials, crystal engineering, thin films, new materials for microelectronics, 3D printing.

Jesus Gandara Loe

Postdoc

Jesus's research effort will be focused on the in-situ characterisation of responsive MOFs. In particular, he will study the structural flexibility of MOFs upon vapour adsorption using in-situ FTIR.

B. Sc. Chemical Engineering, university of Guanajuato, Mexico (2014)

M. Sc. Chemistry, University of Guanajuato, Mexico (2016)

Ph. D. Materials Science, University of Alicante, Spain (2020), research stay at the University of Saint Andrews (UK)

Postdoc, University of Seville, Spain (2021)

Nicolas Chanut

Postdoc

Nicolas's main focus will be on studying the diffusion of vapors in MOFs, and simultaneously, he'll be working on the coupling of adsorption and NMR measurements to unravel insights regarding their adsorption mechanisms.

B. Sc. Chemistry, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (2010)

M. Sc. Catalysis and Physical Chemistry, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (2012)

Ph. D. Physics and Materials Science, Aix-Marseille Université (2016)

Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017-2021)

Kateryna Borysova

Postdoc

Kateryna's research focuses on synthesizing and studying the physicochemical properties of inorganic materials (silicates of rare earth elements with apatite structure, zeolites).

Ph. D. Inorganic Chemistry, Donetsk National University (2015)

M.Sc. Inorganic Chemistry, Donetsk National University (2009)

B.Sc. Inorganic Chemistry, Donetsk National University (2008)

Nick Gys

Postdoc

Nick’s research focuses on the synthesis and in-depth characterization of phosphonate MOFs and PMPs within the EOS project “PHOSPHORE”. In addition, he is focusing on the development of novel photoresist materials for EUV lithography. 

B. Sc. Chemistry, Hasselt University (2014)

M. Sc. Chemistry, University of Antwerp (2017)

Ph. D. Chemistry, VITO & University of Antwerp (2022)

Miriam de Jesús Velásquez Hernández

Postdoc

Miriam's main focus will be on the synthesis and in-situ characterization of MOFs for multicomponent separations. Simultaneously, she will explore the ceramic to MOF vapor-phase transformation.

B. Sc. Chemistry, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), (2011)

M. Sc. Materials Science and Engineering, UNAM, (2013)

Ph. D. Materials Science and Engineering, UNAM, (2018)

Postdoctoral researcher, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), (2018–2020)

University Assistant, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), (2021–2023)

Jinhwan (Peter) Byeon

Postdoc

Jinhwan's research will be focused on developing a novel EUV photoresist by understanding the physicochemical reaction mechanisms induced by EUV exposure, alongside dry processes such as ALD/CVD and reactive ion etching.

B. Sc. Physics, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Republic of Korea (2015)

M. Sc. Material science and engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Republic of Korea (2017)

Ph. D. Chemistry, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Republic of Korea (2023)

Athanasios Koutsianos

Postdoc

Nassos’s research effort concentrates on adsorptive separations using nanoporous materials and the study of their multicomponent equilibria and kinetics.

B. Sc. Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2010)

M. Sc. Energy Systems, International Hellenic University (2014)

Ph. D. Materials Engineering, Swansea University (2019)

Postdoctoral Associate, Technical University of Dortmund (2020-2023)

Pieter De Smedt

Doctoral Student

Pieter focuses on demonstrating shape selectivity in electrocatalysis by employing an ALD-based bottom-up design strategy for electrodes. The project is in collaboration with Prof. Dirk De Vos.

B. Sc., M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2018)

Giel Arnauts

Doctoral Student

Giel's focus is on the development of one-dimensional photonic gas sensors for electronic device applications. Using the MOF-CVD technique, nanometer-thin layers of MOF and oxide is alternatingly stacked to build distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs).

B. Sc., M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2018)

Elif Persembe

Doctoral Student

Elif's work is on the use of inkjet-based methods to optimize supported catalysts, with a special focus on materials based on ceramic supports. Apart from new experimental techniques, she is developing a method for the interpretation of the results through simulation studies.

B. Sc., M. Sc. Chemistry, Bilkent University, Turkey (2017) research stay at Eindhoven University of Technology

Margot Verstreken

Doctoral Student

After doing her Master's thesis at the Ameloot group, Margot will continue her research covering the integration of MOFs in sensors for the selective detection of VOCs in complex mixtures.

B. Sc., M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2020)
Exchange student, University of Delaware (2019)

Jorid Smets

Doctoral Student

Building upon his Master's thesis project on molecular layer deposition (MLD) of MOFs, Jorid's Ph.D. work is on the development of plasmonic sensors enhanced by MOF-MLD. His work is carried out in collaboration with Prof. Sammy Verbruggen's lab at the University of Antwerp.

B. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp (2018)
M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2020)

Jonas Adriaenssens

Doctoral Student

Jonas is working on 3D-printed point-of-care diagnostic devices, as a continuation of his Master's thesis project with the Ameloot Group.

B. Sc., M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2020)

An Vanduffel

Doctoral Student

After doing her Master's thesis at the Ameloot group, An's Ph.D. work focuses on 3D-printing for the improvement of biomedical imaging.

B. Sc., M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2021)

Leen Boullart

Doctoral Student

After doing her Master's thesis at the Ameloot group, Leen will implement a novel methodology to efficiently study multicomponent isotherms and diffusivities of fast-diffusing molecules in MOFs.

B.Sc., M.Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2023)

Jennifer Theissen

Doctoral Student

Jennifer started a joint PhD project between KULeuven and UHasselt. Her research project covers the synthesis and in-depth characterization of phosphonate MOFs and PMPs.

B.Sc. Chemistry, UNamur (2020)

Traineeship, University Ca’Foscari Venice (Italy)

M. Sc. Industrial Chemistry, UNamur (2022)

Quentin Goudard

Doctoral Student

For his Ph.D., Quentin focuses on new methods to improve the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) through 3D printing. This project is in collaboration with Prof. Wim Vanduffel at the KU Leuven Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology.

M. Sc. Electrical Engineering, INSA Lyon  (2022)

M. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (2022)

João Fernandes

Doctoral Student

João's research focus will be on the integration of MOFs in capacitive sensing structures, with the aim of developing a MOF-based sensor platform for the selective detection of VOCs in complex mixtures.

Integrated Masters, Physics Engineering, University of Minho (2021)

Masaya Sugihara

Doctoral Student

Masaya started a joint PhD project between KU Leuven and TU Dublin. His research project focuses on developing a MOF-based sensor array for VOC detection.

Lotte Willemsen

Doctoral Student

Lotte’s research focusses on 3D printed gastroretentive dosage forms for timed multidrug release.

B.Sc. Pharmaceutical Sciences, KU Leuven (2021)

M.Sc. Drug development, KU Leuven (2023)

Associate Scientist Discovery Pharmaceutics, Janssen Pharmaceutica Beerse (August 2023 - March 2024)

Aleksandra Anna Hernik

Doctoral Student

Aleksandra is pursuing a joint PhD at TU Dublin and KU Leuven in the MSCA SENNET Project. Her research focuses on the development of MOF-functionalised holographic sensor arrays for VOCs detection.

B.Sc. Photonics, Warsaw University of Technology (2021)
M.Sc. Applied Optics, Warsaw University of Technology (2022)

Laura Ramió i Matas

Doctoral Student

Laura is pursuing a joint PhD at University of Barcelona and KU Leuven in the MSCA SENNET Project. Her research is focused on data processing to optimize the fabrication of MOFs and zeolites sensor arrays.

Dual B.Sc. Mathematics and Physics, Autonomous University of Barcelona (2020)
M.Sc. Data Science, ETH Zurich (2023)

Robbe Van Loenhout

Doctoral Student

After doing his master thesis at the Ameloot group Robbe will continue the development of a novel technique for measuring multicomponent adsorption and diffusion in nanoporous materials. 

B. Sc. Bioscience engineering, University of Antwerp (2022)

M. Sc. Bioscience engineering, KU Leuven (2024)

Maarten Loos

MSc Student

Supervised by Christian and Kateryna, Maarten works on the detection of elastane in textile blends to enable recycling.

B. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2023)

Noa Van Elsacker

MSc Student

Guided by Jonas and Lotte, Noa focuses on powder-based 3D printing for controlled drug release.

B. Sc., Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2023)

Bram De Maertelaere

MSc Student

Supervised by Jennifer, Bram synthesizes phosphonated MOFs with ZrOAc clusters through ligand exchange.

Bachelor of Chemistry, Odisee (2021)

Bridging programme: Master of Chemistry, KU Leuven (2023)

Tine Callewaert

MSc Student

Tine will focus on the selective detection of volatile organic compounds based on their transport properties in MOFs and zeolites. She will be supervised by Margot and Leen. 

B.Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2023)

Luca Meuris

MSc Student

Under supervision of Christian and Kateryna, Luca works on the recycling of black plastics via post-consumer tagging. 

B. Sc. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2023)

Manu Donders

MSc Student

Supervised by Jorid, Manu aims to stabilize gold nanoparticles in metal organic framework to dose them more precisely as a dry powder.

B.Sc. Bioscience Engineering, University of Antwerp (2023)

Cesar Parra

Staff Scientist

Cesar's research focus is on designing, simulating, fabricating, and characterizing 3D-printed microfluidic devices.

B. Sc. Electronics Engineering, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (2004)
M. Sc. Biomedical Engineering, Universitat de Barcelona and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (2010)
Ph. D. Biomedicine, Universitat de Barcelona (2014), research stay at KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Postdoc, University of Washington (2019)

Christian Steuwe

Staff Scientist

Christian is building the bridge between lab research and industrial applications for recycling and more general, resource management. His main focus is efficient material detection using optical techniques & computing.  

M. Sc. in Physics, Bielefeld University, D (2010)

Ph.D. in Physics, University of Cambridge, UK (2014)

Postdoctoral research position, KU Leuven (2014-2017)

Teamleader, TOMRA (2017-2022)

Paul Van der Aerschot

Support Staff

Paul is our lead technical staff who can fix almost anything electrical, mechanical, and digital!

Annelies Vanvlasselaer

Support Staff

Annelies is the group's very punctual and incredibly efficient administrative manager.

Bart Leclercq

Support Staff

Bart is our group's lab manager, dealing with both engineering and health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) sides of our day-to-day scientific activities.

Bart van Duffel

Valorization manager

Bart van Duffel – Innovation Manager

As an innovation manager, Bart’s mission is to create value for industrial partners based on the group's research output. He will also lead the intellectual property management domain of the team. Prior to this role, he has gained R&D and general management experience in the areas of surface treatments and printed materials.

M. Sc., Ph.D. Bioscience Engineering, KU Leuven (2001)