Researchers at HEIG-VD and HES-SO utilise their expertise in optical engineering to develop astronomical instrumentation for international observatories.
The University of Applied Science Western Switzerland (HES-SO in French) is a network of professional schools covering all fields of engineering, arts, management, and medical services. In this network, the School of Business and Engineering of Yverdon-les-Bains (HEIG-VD) has sections of mechanical, electrical, and optical engineering, working with the national and international industry.
In the optics department, we have been involved in the development of astronomical instrumentation for several international observatories, in Europe, Turkey and North America. Thanks to these collaborations, the skills our engineering team have developed over the years have made us an interesting potential partner for research and development projects in the physical sciences domain.
Professor Laurent Jolissaint de Sepibus leads the optics department at HEIG-VD. He holds a PhD in astrophysics (instrumentation) from the University of Geneva (2000), and a degree in electrical engineering. He has spent the last 20 years developing modelling and metrology techniques for astronomical adaptive optics systems.
With his team, he has been very instrumental in the development of a new observatory in Eastern Anatolia (DAG project, Turkey) for which HEIG-VD developed the optical design of the telescope, the adaptive optics system, and is now developing a new generation of adaptive stellar coronagraph system for exoplanet research, in collaboration with the University of Bern, Switzerland. Finally, he also has a strong involvement in EST, the future European Solar Telescope, via an EU collaboration, the SOLARNET consortium.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
- Working with national and international industry
- Optical engineering
- Developing astronomical instrumentation
- Physical sciences
- Metrology techniques for astronomical adaptive optics systems
