Neda Baktash
Events
Neda Baktash
Coherent Corp
About the Speaker
Neda Baktash began her professional journey in telecommunications after earning her MSc in Electrical Engineering with a focus on telecommunications. She held early roles as a wireless and local network switching supervisor at a telecom center in Iran and also served as a lecturer in various electrical and computer engineering departments. Driven by a deep interest in physics, Neda pursued a second MSc in Laser and Photonics in Germany, where she worked as a research and teaching assistant at the Institute for High Frequency and Communication Technology at the University of Wuppertal.
Neda later completed her PhD in the Optoelectronics Research Center (ORC) at University of Southampton, UK, working on high power pulsed fiber lasers. Her PhD thesis initiated her UKRI work experience as laser scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory-STFC to upgrade the Petawatt Vulcan laser and later her industrial role as laser development engineer at Trumpf Laser UK, in Southampton and currently at Coherent Corp, Glasgow.
During her postgraduate study, she had the opportunity to be elected and join as the academic officer at the University of Southampton Optics and Photonics Society (OPSoc) for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2018. During her time in this incorporated society with Optica, SPIE and IEEE Photonics student chapters, she was awarded the 2017 SPIE Officer Travel Grant to attend the SPIE student chapter leadership workshop. In 2018, she held the International Light Day Technical public forum and coordinated the photonics technical sessions at the first optical technical congress at the XVI Symposium of Mexican Students and Studies in the UK. Neda was named a Senior Member of Optica in 2022. Since early 2023, she has served as Social Media Officer for Optica’s Lasers in Manufacturing (FL) Technical Group, which received the “Greatest Growth in Activity” award from the Optica Board of Meetings. In 2025, she was appointed Vice Chair of the Laser Systems (PL) Technical Group. She is also an active member of The Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) and serving as Secretary of its Early Career Group (ECG) since June 2024. Neda is a 2025 Optica Ambassador.”
