Academic Awards 2025 booklet

65 recognizing his highly valuable expertise and inviting Bertens to continue his work at the company after graduation and to present the thesis work at a scientific conference, where Bertens was awarded for Best Presentation, in competition with other doctoral researchers. He continues his work at VDL in a research position focusing on building out the results and insights obtained during his EngD work, serving as an active ongoing bridge between fundamental research at TU/e and industry application in VDL. Altogether, Bertens thesis work clearly demonstrates the highest level of quality and impact of our EngD programs in the scientific community and in industrial practice. Laudatio Tom Bertens completed his EngD thesis in collaboration with VDL, obtaining outstanding scientific and industrial impact. His thesis work been instrumental in advancing the understanding of nanoscale scratching and particle formation in semiconductor manufacturing, a challenge of critical importance to companies like ASML and VDL. Tom successfully conducted an extensive series of nanoscale scratch tests, providing valuable new statistical insights and fundamental understanding for industrial application. Based on his findings, current projects are defined and rolled out at VDL. In the scientific community, competing against nine PhD candidates at a scientific conference, Tom won the award for Best Presentation, an impressive feat highlighting his scientific communication skills. In addition, his scientific results have been published in the International Journal of Solids and Structures. Altogether, Tom’s thesis work clearly demonstrates the highest level of quality and impact of our EngD programs in the scientific community and in industrial practice.