Materials Science · B.Sc.

MikaJeske

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Experiment at my old school — honouring a chemistry teacher heading into retirement

Invited to the DGZfP in Magdeburg — part of the award

Hey.

My name is Mika: a materials scientist focused on measurement and precision.

Knowledge proves its worth the moment it becomes tangible. Take building a PC with my cousin Jack: his questions about copper heatsinks and diamond thermal paste landed, unknowingly, right at the heart of my field. Materials science makes the physical world graspable. Even the simplest loops — melting waste glass back into new bottles — fascinate me deeply, because they show how materials shape our lives.

Focus and absolute precision are what I find in measurement technology. Not just capturing data, but interpreting it with judgement, is a craft. Since I don't have a scanning electron microscope at home, I'm using the time before my career starts for this website and my own projects. Here I sharpen my skills in data presentation and programming — indispensable tools for a modern engineer.

Standing still is not an option for me. My generation is often accused of a poor work ethic — that doesn't apply to me. Work-life balance is a symbiosis: when the project, the team or the company thrives, I thrive too. Others may have years of experience, but what drives me is an unconditional will to understand a product or a production line in depth, and to improve it.

I'm available immediately. A relocation naturally needs a little organisational lead time; otherwise I'm ready right away and can start on Monday.

Ag · 100 nmAl · 100 nmNi · 100 nm

Relative Seebeck coefficient of sputtered thin films vs. temperature — nickel is negative, silver and aluminium positive. From my Bachelor's thesis.

Ni · 100 nm (PTC)Bi · 50 nm (NTC)

Bismuth is normally a PTC conductor — but sputtered as a polycrystalline thin film, it inverts to NTC. A grain-boundary effect that my Bachelor's thesis touched upon.

My Path

How I ended up in the small scale

Physics and chemistry gripped me back in school, but pure theory wasn't something I could picture for a lifetime. I wanted to apply the knowledge. For a while pharmacy was on the table — it's something of a family tradition for us. Then materials science came along and offered exactly the practical bridge I'd been looking for.

What captured me was the micro- and nano-scale world: intricate, highly precise, almost aesthetic. I danced at competition level for a long time, and the parallel — even though it was a professor who first pointed it out to me — I don't mean as a joke. Both demand absolute control and elegance in the detail. That constant runs all the way through, from the dance floor through the study of thin films and straight into measurement technology.

Résumé

Professional Background

Work Experience

Industrial Engineering Intern

11.2025 – 04.2026

ifm prover gmbh · Tettnang

Qualifying production equipment for series deployment — test planning, process control and process automation
Evaluating and sourcing viscometer systems through independent test series and a procurement recommendation
Characterising lead-free paste alternatives using optical microscopy and X-ray imaging
Introduced a newly developed paste-mixer device together with production — now deployed across 100% of the relevant production steps

Research Assistant

04.2025 – 10.2025

Center for Micro- and Nanotechnology · TU Ilmenau

Sputter deposition of metallic thin films (Al, Ag, Ti, Si) and lift-off patterning in the cleanroom
Profilometry, SEM topography analysis and electrical characterisation (van der Pauw)

Education

B.Sc. Materials Science

10.2022 – 06.2026

Technische Universität Ilmenau

Focus on metallic materials, thin-film technology and manufacturing processes
Bachelor's thesis: Temperature-dependent electrical properties of sputtered thin films
Nominated for the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung)

German university entrance qualification (Abitur) · 1.8

2013 – 2022

Gymnasium Groß Ilsede

Skills

Material Analysis

SEMX-ray imagingProfilometryMicrostructure analysisThin-film technologyViscometry

Methods

Materials characterisationCleanroom workExperimental designQuality testingProcess automation

Software

LaTeXAI toolsMS OfficeSAPFreeCAD

Languages

German (native)English (business fluent)

Award

DGZfP Science Student Award 2025

The driest line in this résumé was, for me, the most exciting stretch of time. A look beneath the surface:

ZMN · Center for Micro- and Nanotechnology

Beneath the surface, in the ISO‑2 cleanroom

Half a year in TU Ilmenau's ISO‑2 cleanroom: magnetron sputtering, profilometry, SEM/EDX, TiOₓ thin films. That sounds dry, but it wasn't. The contrast is almost absurd: an environment controlled down to the last detail, and in the middle of it, samples under one square millimetre that stubbornly refuse to behave the way they're supposed to.

Honestly, it was simply great to work there. Finally doing the thing whose theory I'd learned, with that feeling of real science — the way you imagine “research” as a kid. The kid in me was pretty thrilled.

Specifically, that meant Ag, Al, Ni and Bi layers, the TFA setup, and temperature-dependent transport measurements. Those measurements form the basis of my bachelor's thesis.

Sputtering chamber — film growth under vacuum

Anti-racism workshop at a primary school

Planning our podcast on the student-cinema programme

Volunteering

Engagement that matters to me

Volunteer, Basic Training

since 10.2025

Technisches Hilfswerk · OV Friedrichshafen

Basic training in civil and disaster protection as part of a team, with a focus on CBRN defence advisory work

Telephone Counsellor · Kids' Helpline

since 02.2026

Kinderschutzbund · Friedrichshafen

Trained in telephone counselling for children and young people in crisis situations
Active counselling grounded in systemic psychology

Volunteer Group Leader

since 2022

Protestant Church in Central Germany · Ilmenau

Several years leading groups as part of a multi-person leadership team, in confirmation classes and open youth work
After relocating: contact person, event planning and coordination within the volunteer team
Led camps and events together with the leadership team, with over 150 participants

Elected Student Representative

2024 – 2026

TU Ilmenau

Academic affairs committee in the university senate — helped shape higher-education policy and study regulations together with the committee
Co-developed the Wahl-O-Mat voting-aid tool for the 2024 Thuringia state election (bpb · MDR)

A volunteer role shrinks fast to two lines on a résumé. There's a lot more behind this one:

EKM Ilmenau · Confirmation & Youth Work

Seeing and being seen

For several years I led groups in confirmation classes and open youth work at the Protestant Church in Ilmenau. No one tells you the real task beforehand: staying approachable for young people while they work through faith, doubt and the ordinary business of growing up. That privilege — being there for others and really listening — still feels like a great gift to me.

On days when there was plenty of room for improvement in my own mood, someone would often come to me with their own matters, good and bad. Taking myself completely out of the picture in those moments helped me, more than once, to sort myself out, find motivation, or even solve a problem by the end of the day. Honest respect and unvarnished trust on a human level are, in situations like these, simply astonishing — and they give back an incredible amount.

Working with kids shaped my own attitude, too: “Relax, none of this is that serious!” — teamwork and leading a group only work by setting an example. Anyone who expects young people to come out of their shells has to be willing to be the first at camp in the silly costume, or to pull off some odd dance moves. Whoever is too self-conscious for it gets nothing back. That lesson — going first, fearless but not reckless, and living the behaviour you expect from others — shapes how I understand collaboration today, far beyond youth work.

On the Side

Planning a reunion

On the side, I run ggi-abitur2022.de, the site for my graduating class's reunion. There's a map showing how far we've all scattered since — and how much the roots still hold — plus a countdown built from pure anticipation, and a contact form for getting in touch.

I deliberately kept the old school colours; it just felt right. My favourite part is writing the year-group newsletter — the replies that come back are, time and again, wonderful glimpses.

ggi-abitur2022.de

PlanningConnectionGGI

Project

Sports Window

An app for desktop and mobile that shows the status of two favourite sports teams from the NFL and MLB at a glance: games, standings, roster and history. Built for the quick check on startup — the cache shows data instantly and refreshes in the background. Built purely out of passion: it was my first time integrating an external API and developing cross-platform — a challenge I set myself deliberately, to learn something completely new.

Tauri 2 · RustReact 19 · TSVite 7ESPN JSON APIi18next EN/DE

Dashboard with countdown

Player spotlight

Lineup diagram

Standings & venue

History & playoffs

Filterable roster

View Sports Window

Next Game · Week 25

@ Miami Marlins

Sat, Jun 20 · 1:10 AM · loanDepot park

ERA

5.73

WHIP

1.58

W-L

2-6