Empa - PSEH2025 - Overview

Photonic Sensing for Environment and Health

Tuesday, 30. September 2025, 11:00 - 18:30 h

Empa, Akademie, Dübendorf

Photonic sensing technologies are essential tools for addressing critical challenges in environmental monitoring and healthcare. This workshop explores the latest advances in photonic-based sensing systems, focusing on their applications for real-time detection, analysis, and mitigation of environmental pollutants and health biomarkers. Key topics include the development of optical sensors for air and water quality monitoring, compact spectroscopic systems for early disease diagnostics, and integrated photonic platforms for wearable health monitoring.

Program

11:00	Laboratory tours / optional Trace Gas Analysis Transport at Nanoscale Interfaces Laboratory & Coating Competence Center NEST & move
12:00	Lunch / optional

13:00	Welcome Coffee

13:30	Welcome Frank Nüesch, Empa Tobias Lamprecht, SIH

13:45	TITEL Hatice Altug, EPFL

14:15	Photonic sensors for transcutaneous biomarker detection Jean-Christophe Blancon, Liom

14:30	Label-Free Biosensing with Grating-Coupled Interferometry for Drug Discovery Berk Yesin, Malvern Creoptix

14:45	From Light to Life: PPG-Based Wearables for Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring Philipp Vetter, Rheo

15:00	Coffee break

15:30	Exploring boundaries: environmental trace gas sensors for mobile platforms Béla Tuzson, Empa

16:00	How traditional process photometry enables new applications Yves Gubelmann, Sigrist Photometer

16:15	From Light to Insight: Continuous Methane Monitoring for GHG Reduction Hedwig Knötig, Sensirion Connected Solutions

16:30	Advanced light scattering solutions to accelerate new product formulations Gora Conley, LS Instruments

16:45	From Light to Life: Advanced Metrology's Photonic Pathways into Life Science Jean Berney, CSEM

17:00	Closing David Schmid, CSEM

17:10	Apéro und Networking

18:30	End of the event

Venue

Empa – Akademie

Überlandstrasse 129

8600 Dübendorf

The Empa-Akademie is located on the Empa campus, which can easily be reached by bus (bus stop Dübendorf-EMPA), Tram (Tram stop Dübendorf Am Ring) or by train (10-minute walk from railway station Dübendorf).

Please note that the number of toll parking spaces on the site is limited. We therefore strongly recommend travelling by public transportation.

Details and options to reach Empa can be found here.

Registration

Registration form

Registration Deadline
19.9.2025

Registration Fees

90 CHF

(Students 50 CHF)

Contact

Andrea Fischer

Speakers

Titel Präsentation

Hatice Altug, EPFL

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Exploring boundaries: environmental trace gas sensors for mobile platforms

Béla Tuzson, Empa

After his doctoral studies at the Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, he joined Empa as a postdoc, where he contributed to establish the isotope ratio measurements of trace gases based on quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology.

Photonic sensors for transcutaneous biomarker detection

Jean-Christophe Blancon, Liom

Label-Free Biosensing with Grating-Coupled Interferometry for Drug Discovery

Berk Yesin, Malvern Creoptix

Berk Yesin leads the multi-disciplinary R&D team at Creoptix, a bioanalytical instruments company based in Wädenswil which has been a part of Malvern Panalytical since 2022.

From Light to Life: PPG-Based Wearables for Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring

Philipp Vetter, Rheo

Philipp is the founder of Rheo, a startup developing AI-driven vitals monitoring. With a PhD in computational science, he has worked on health reforms, digital clinical data, and scalable care models.

How traditional process photometry enables new applications

Yves Gubelmann, Sigrist Photometer

Today, Yves Gubelmann is a Solutions Engineer at Sigrist-Photometer with a focus on water applications. Thanks to his engineering background Yves has shaped Sigrist's modern calibration plants and has gained a profound understanding of Sigrist instruments.

From Light to Insight: Continuous Methane Monitoring for GHG Reduction

Hedwig Knötig, Sensirion Connected Solutions

Hedwig Knötig works as Product Manager at Sensirion Connected Solutions. She received her PhD from TU Wien, where she worked on mid-infrared lasers and detectors for environmental monitoring.

Advanced light scattering solutions to accelerate new product formulations

Gora Conley, LS Instruments

From Light to Life: Advanced Metrology's Photonic Pathways into Life Science

Jean Berney, CSEM