We are happy to announce that DENSsolutions has expanded the team with a wonderful new colleague – Dr. Evgeniya Pechnikova.

In the pursuit to grow our applications development for the DENSsolutions Stream system and other future product lines, we recently welcomed Dr. Evgeniya Pechnikova to the team – our new Senior Applications Development Scientist. Evgeniya has years of experience and high-level technical expertise in electron microscopy (EM), including cryogenic-EM, tomography and data processing techniques. Her role at DENSsolutions will be focused on developing novel in situ liquid EM applications that demonstrate the power of our solutions. She will also be working on creating new techniques and methodologies that will support the research of our customers, as well as perfecting our demonstration and installation protocols. We are thrilled to have Evgeniya join the DENSsolutions family and look forward to the valuable contributions she will make to the team on both a personal and professional level. In this article, we have asked Evgeniya to introduce herself so you can learn more about her extensive experience and her new role at DENSsolutions.

Meet Dr. Evgeniya Pechnikova

“My name is Evgeniya Pechnikova, and I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. I have a lot of love for adventure and history, and enjoy travelling around the world to explore ruins of ancient civilizations. I’m also an avid fan of photography, Latin social dances like salsa and tango, as well as playing badminton and a game known as ‘werewolves’!

I have always been drawn to different spheres of science. That is why for my higher education, I decided to enrol in Lomonosov Moscow State University‘s biological faculty. As they had a very broad program there, I had the opportunity to learn about a wide range of subjects, starting with mathematics and physics and ending up with biochemistry, plant physiology and even drawing.

During my master’s degree, I was introduced to the world of electron microscopy and was completely fascinated by its combination of science and photography – two topics that have always been a passion of mine. To add another dimension to my work, I found a PhD position in the field of cryo-EM and 3D reconstruction, working on investigating the structure and function of capsids of a helical plant virus. My PhD project was a result of a collaboration between Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of Crystallography in Moscow and Birkbeck, University of London. During this PhD, I worked in close collaboration with structural biologists that were highly experienced in cryo-EM and image processing before the new detector technology popularised the technique to a broader base of scientists. This was an incredibly enriching experience and certainly shaped my career path moving forward.

After completing my PhD, I joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Netherlands where I worked as an Applications Scientist in the Eindhoven NanoPort facility – a state-of-the-art electron microscopy facility that provides users with hands-on experience with numerous analytical techniques. During this role, I was responsible for providing training and demonstrations for life science TEM equipment. I was also in frequent collaboration with the R&D department to translate customer needs into applications development, and to test new hardware and software tools. As a result of this work, I was able to play a role in accelerating the new-resolution revolution that has bloomed in cryo-EM over the past couple years. Importantly, this role made me realize that trying new tools to solve long-standing problems is what excites me most. 

Now, as a Senior Applications Development Scientist at DENSsolutions, I have the unique opportunity to combine and explore two cutting-edge technologies, MEMS and cryo-EM. My top priority is to boost applications development and create working protocols that showcase the advantages of DENSsolutions’ MEMS technology within in situ liquid EM. I look forward to being actively involved in hands-on support during on-site and remote product demonstrations, as well as working with other departments to translate customer needs into workable solutions. I am excited to take on this new challenge and am confident that I will be able to make a meaningful contribution to the company, our customers and science as a whole.”

Get in touch with Evgeniya via:

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We are excited to announce the expansion of our team with our new colleague, Hans Radhoe.

Despite being a small company in the canal-ringed city of Delft, DENSsolutions has always been highly ambitious, with its sights set on disruptive growth and innovation. Keeping in line with this, we wanted to expand our team with someone who could lead our business development, with a focus on the discovery of new growth opportunities for the company and making our many visions a reality. We are happy to have found just the right person for this position – Hans Radhoe, our new Vice President of Sales and Business Development. With over 25 years of experience in business and development within fields such as life science and materials science, Hans has an extensive understanding of lead generation, advancing business strategy and the sales cycle process within diverse scientific markets. His role at DENSsolutions will focus on finding avenues of growth for the company and leading numerous aspects of the sales process, from prospecting and go-to-market strategies to customer relationship management. In this article, we have asked Hans to introduce himself so you can learn more about his education, experience and role at DENSsolutions. 

Meet Hans Radhoe

“My name is Hans Radhoe, and I was born in Suriname, a country in South America in the Amazon. At just 17 years old, I left Suriname with the bright intention to study medicine in the Netherlands. I had no knowledge at that time, however, that there was a lottery system in place in the Netherlands for being admitted into any of the medical schools in the country. As it turned out, I was not one of those selected to move forward in the admission process, which forced me to think of an alternative study to pursue.

This chain of events catapulted the start of my education in the field of biotechnology, which I studied at the Polytechnical Faculty in Delft. Studying biotechnology felt like an excellent choice for me since it not only piqued my interest, but was also a hot topic in the 80s and beyond. After finishing my Bachelor studies, my fascination with the environment led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Environmental Management at Open University in Heerlen, a small city in the southeast of the Netherlands bordering Germany.

After graduating, I took on a position for a couple years with the task of setting up a mycoplasma and virology lab in accordance with CGMP guidelines. In this role, I managed to upscale Mycoplasma testing services for the pharmaceutical industry. I then worked at Centocor in Leiden for a short while, which is a biotech subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. During this role, I was responsible for the production of biologic drugs involving monoclonal antibody technology, such as Remicade – a drug used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. It was particularly during this role that I gained hands-on experience in cell and gene therapy. 

Shortly after, I made the switch from lab to business because I became more and more passionate about perceiving and fulfilling the commercial needs of others. During my business jobs, I realized how imperative it is to be able to listen intently and actively when in communication with customers. This encouraged me to take a Master’s in Counselling and Coaching, which is part of the Psychology study at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Although the intention of pursuing this Master’s was to use the knowledge learnt to enhance my communication with clients, I found myself applying it in the volunteer work that I did next to my job at the time. This volunteer work involved coaching cancer patients at the Nederlandse Federatie van Kankerpatiëntenorganisaties, which I happened to stumble upon when seeing an advertisement from the organisation on TV. 

Further down the line in my career, after many enriching vocational experiences, I started working as the Sales Director at Amsterdam Scientific Instruments (ASI) – a spin-off company from Nikhef, which is a Dutch research institute for particle physics. ASI specializes in the design and manufacturing of advanced detector solutions for all kinds of particles, such as electrons. Indeed, it was particularly during this position that I stepped into the world of electron microscopy, which I found to be rather fascinating.

This then brings me to today, where I now have the role of Vice President of Sales and Business Development at DENSsolutions, a company that develops advanced electron microscopy solutions. I have actually been following DENSsolutions for a long time since a friend of mine worked here, and I have witnessed for myself the rapid innovation of the company in the past few years. Generally, in the span of my career, I have been active in numerous scientific markets all over the world and in many different positions, including account management, sales and business development. In my new role, I will be in charge of increasing the company’s presence in existing markets, as well as forming strategic partnerships that open up entirely new ones. I look forward to applying my extensive knowledge gained over the past two decades into this new role, and being part of a fantastic team so focused on continuous cooperation and innovation.”

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We are excited to announce the expansion of our team with two new wonderful colleagues: our MEMS Development Manager, Vasilis, as well as our Lab Manager and Quality Control Engineer, Erkin.

A prime focus of DENSsolutions is the innovation and further development of our in situ microscopy solutions, including those catered to the life science community. With this goal in mind, we wanted to expand our team with someone who could lead the development of our MEMS technology for liquid phase transmission electron microscopy. Over the past 15 years, Vasilis has acquired a unique and diverse pool of knowledge within numerous fields, including micro-/nanotechnology, Lab-on-a-Chip devices and life science applications such as point-of-care diagnostics and wearable optical biosensors. His role at DENSsolutions is focused on the development of new MEMS devices which will enable advanced in situ microscopy solutions for the scientific community.

Aside from innovation, DENSsolutions recognizes the need to deliver top-quality products that not only meet but exceed customer expectations. This is precisely the value that Erkin will bring forth in light of his five-year experience in quality control at the leading automotive and aerospace companies in Turkey. Erkin will be responsible for the internal and supplier-side quality control activities at DENSsolutions, as well as the implementation of valuable quality control tools to DENSsolutions processes. We asked Vasilis and Erkin to introduce themselves so you can learn more about their education, experience and role at DENSsolutions. 

Meet Dr. Vasilis Papadimitriou

“My name is Vasilis Papadimitriou and I am 33 years old. I was born and raised in a small town called Levadia in Greece, and in 2013 I moved to the Netherlands.

In 2006, I started my Bachelor in Electronics and Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Crete in Greece. After that, I pursued a Master’s degree in the same field where I focused on programming, electronics and telecommunications. For my MSc thesis, I investigated the use of DNA for complex mathematical algorithms (DNA computing). After my military service, I moved to the Netherlands in 2013 and dived into the world of micro-/nanotechnology as part of my MSc in Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente. During this MSc thesis, I created a novel carbon electrode for use in supercapacitors, which granted me deep insights into electrochemistry and fluid mechanics. 

After that, I decided to continue my studies with a PhD in University of Twente. The focus of my doctorate was on Lab-on-a-Chip devices. I’ve always enjoyed multidisciplinary science, and Lab-on-a-Chip devices integrate numerous fields such as microtechnology, physics, chemistry, biology and electrical engineering. The European project that my PhD was part of focused on the development of a point-of-care device for early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. My role was to separate and concentrate specific proteins from a droplet of blood. In 2019, I received my doctorate degree and since then, I have had two postdoctoral positions: one on artificial intelligence for Lab-on-a-Chip applications at the University of Twente, and another on wearable optical biosensors at the Technical University of Delft.

That brings us to today, where I am really happy to be part of the DENSsolutions team. Actually, I wasn’t previously familiar with in situ microscopy nor the company, which is really unfortunate since their (and now our!) products could have solved many of the challenges I faced during my PhD and postdoctoral work. My main role at DENSsolutions is to investigate new technologies and develop intelligent MEMS devices that will make electron microscopy easier, faster and reproducible. With more than 15 years of experience within academia, I am very much well-acquainted with the struggles of research. I hope through DENSsolutions I will make the lives of scientists easier, while at the same time expanding my engineering and scientific horizons.”

Meet Erkin Demir

“My name is Erkin Demir. I am a 28-year-old individual of Circassian origin who was born and raised in Turkey. As of February 2022, I moved to the Netherlands for my exciting new role at DENSsolutions.

I started my Bachelor in Gazi University in the field of metallurgical and materials engineering. For my Bachelor’s thesis, I did research on the current and potential uses of graphene. After my undergraduate degree, I started working as a Quality Engineer in Bozankaya, a top manufacturer for public transportation vehicles in Turkey. There, I had the opportunity of managing the supplier deployment and incoming quality control processes of the first domestic 100% electric buses and trams. This job granted me my first exposure into the intricacies and importance of quality control for the delivery of top-quality products. As a next step in my career, I became a Quality Engineer at Erkunt Tractor Ind. Inc., an renowned tractor manufacturer in Turkey. This position helped me obtain deeper insights into field of quality control as a whole, as I was involved in areas such as mass production, lean manufacturing, supplier development, 5S and similar processes.

Afterwards, I landed a job as a Lead Quality Engineer at the Tusaş Engine Industry Inc., the leading aviation engine manufacturer in Turkey. During my work there, I was fully responsible for the quality side of the NPI processes of some parts in aircraft engine programs. I worked on the implementation of advanced measurement methods to ensure the high precision and safety conditions associated with the aviation industry. I obtained a lean 6 Sigma yellow belt and AS 13001 DPRV certification after completing related courses and exams. Thanks to this SAE authorization, I became eligible to sell aero engine parts on an international level. In parallel with this position, I completed my Master’s degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at Gazi University in 2020. For my Master’s thesis, I examined the performance of high temperature diffusion coatings on the corrosion resistance of nickel-based superalloys used in high pressure turbine blades.

Here I am now, a different country, a different industry, and some awesome teammates. I couldn’t be more excited and curious to embark on this new journey. My main role at DENSsolutions is to ensure the proper functioning of all our products so that our customers can conduct their research without disturbance. This includes performing meticulous inspections and tests at our lab on our world-class MEMS devices, TEM holders and fluid handling systems. Moreover, I will be working very closely with suppliers to ensure the highest possible quality level for our products. I am excited to be deploying all the best practices I have learned over the years into DENSsolutions, adding value step by step.”

Get in touch with

Erkin

Erkin

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