Team

Ronny is a passionate deep-tech entrepreneur, and has extensive experience building successful companies from the ground up. With a strong background in physics, he earned his diploma and PhD from the University of Technology in Dresden, specializing in organic solar cells. Ronny founded his first startup at 23, leading it to industry leadership and a successful exit. He has since grown multiple companies, leading teams of over 40 and securing key deals with global OEMs.

**Chiara Greganti, PhD**
Co-Founder, Chief Research Officer

Specialized in single-photon sources for quantum computing, she completed her PhD in Quantum Optics at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (2018), within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network PICQUE (Photonic Integrated Compound Quantum Encoding). Results from her research have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Her expertise in laser and photonics has grown in the 6+ years of laboratory experience. She joined the INiTS Incubator Startup Camp of 2018 and the Climate KIC Accelerator program of 2019.
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Expert in photonics integrated circuits and holography, Jonas has obtained his PhD in Quantum Optics at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (2018) and is the main author of VitreaLab first patent. His expertise in the waveguides sector has been validated during the last 5 years where he worked with a number of world leading integrated-optics groups (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Universität Rostock). He is the co-author of three peer-reviewed publications. He took part in the INiTS Startup Camp of 2018 and the I.E.C.T. Summer School on Entrepreneurship 2019.
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**Martina Rod, MA**
Management Assistant

Expert in Human Resources and Marketing, obtained her degree at Webster Vienna Private University. She is taking care of administrative tasks, HR and Marketing.
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**DI Hartmut Schneider, MBA**
VP Business Development

Hartmut holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Vienna. He looks back on more than 25 years of international experience in business development, sales, and project management. In 2012 he completed his MBA at the WU Executive Academy in Vienna. At the same time, he founded a solar energy start-up and led it as CEO.
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**Francesco Pellegatta, MSc**
Senior Photonics Engineer

Expert in photonics integrated circuits and laser fabrication. Francesco has received his MSc in Laser Micromachining at the Politecnico of Milano, IFN-CNR (2018). His work is focused on waveguides fabrication in combination with etching processes and electronics integration.
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Jan obtained his MSc in Physics in the Quantum Imaging and Biophysics Group at the University of Vienna (2020), where he developed a microscopy apparatus for a novel and worldwide unique microscopy technique. With his extensive experience in optical systems, he is now focusing on further improving the fabrication of VitreaLab’s waveguide chips.
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**Alexandros Tzimis, PhD**
Photonics Engineer

Experimental physicist with background in light-matter interaction and quantum optoelectronics. He received his PhD from the University of Crete (2019), in collaboration with the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, where he studied semiconductor microcavity structures with embedded quantum wells. He has more than 8 years of lab experience and several of his works have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
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**Sarah Heidtfeld, PhD**
Photonics Engineer

Sarah is an experimental physicist with a background in laser based applications.
She is about to finalize her PhD project, where she worked at Peter-Grünberg Institute in Forschungszentrum Jülich focusing on the generation of Terahertz radiation from magnetic heterostructures using femtosecond laser pulses.
LinkedIn

**Shai Gertler, PhD**
Senior Photonics Engineer

Shai obtained his PhD in Applied Physics at Yale University (2021), where he worked on utilizing the interaction between light and sound waves to develop novel silicon photonic signal-processing devices. The results of his research have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
LinkedIn

**Alessia Daleffe, MSc**
Photonics Engineer

Experimental physicist with a quantum optics background. Alessia obtained her MSc in Physics in the Pure and Applied Quantum Mechanics Group at the University of Milan (2022), where she developed a new device for local orbital angular momentum detection on entangled photons.

**Sophie-Elisabeth Lerchbaumer, MSc**
Photonics Engineer

Sophie is an experimental physicist who did her MSc in Physics in the Quantum Information Science and Quantum Computation group at the University of Vienna (2021). There she was focused on the implementation of a blind quantum computing protocol, as well as the development of a new Quantum Dot laboratory including first setups.
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Management Team

Waveguide Team

Light Engine Team