My experience

Global SW Specialist for Optical tools

Varroc Lighting Systems

July, 2023 -

Optical Software Development

Associate Senior Engineer - Lighting

March 2022 -

Complete product development of exterior and interior lighting
From concept to serial production and beyond

Lighting & Mechatronics Group Lead

January 2021 - March 2022

Design, development and production of lighting
Responsible for Mechatronics
Team Leader

R&D Engineer - Lighting Systems

January, 2020 - December 2020

Exterior Automotive Lighting

Reference

Research and Development Engineer

Varroc Lighting Systems

November, 2015 - November 2019

Exterior Automotive Lighting | Signal lighting

See work for more

My Skills

CATIA v5/v6

3D Optical design
Catia Macros
Certificate (in Czech)

Automotive Lighting Development

Headlamps and Signal Lighting systems
Interior Lighting
Homologation
Prototype and serial production processes

Lighting Design

Proficiency with LightTools and Lucidshape
Design of reflectors, lenses, TIR lenses, Fresnel lenses, backlighting systems, thin films, optical microstructures etc.
Computation of NURBS optical surfaces using C++
Experience with prototyping and production
Knowledge of certification processes in different markets
Raytracing
Renderings

C++

Programming of tools used to calculate optical surfaces
Development of software used for luminance and luminous intensity data analysis
Optimization Tools

Python

Data Analysis and evaluation
Catia V5 integration
Process Automation
Web development

My education

Masaryk University Brno

Bachelor of Science

September, 2011 - September, 2014

Physics

Thin Layer Deposition

Plasma Enhanced Deposition

Electron Microscopy

Surface Treatment

Thesis: Deposition of inorganic polymers on textile surfaces using dielectric barrier discharge (available in Czech)

Masaryk University Brno

1 year study of Masters Level Plasma Physics

September, 2014 - November, 2015

Plasma Physics

Steamer Properties and Software Development

Passive Current Probe Development

My work

I worked in the R&D Department team at Varroc Lighting Systems that specialized in Signal Lighting and my main focus was optical engineering and programming. After that I was working in lighting team at European Technical Center of Hyundai Mobis

I worked at the dream factory at Koenigsegg being responsible for complete development of lighting. Currently I'm part of Scania Visibility Components team.

Lighting Systems Development

Most of my experience comes from development of optical, mechanical and electronics systems for automotive lighting. I was fully responsible for Koenigsegg's Jesko and Jesko Absolut light systems. That includes headlamps, signal lighting and interor lighting. That includes prototypes, homologation and industrialization. During my time at Koenigsegg I managed a small team of 4 other engineers. The team dealt with complete development including manufacturing feasibility or part quotation and sourcing.

Varroc Surface LED

One of the bigger projects I worked on is Varroc Surface LED technology. The goal of this project was to provide a reasonably-priced alternative to OLEDs for exterior automotive lighting. Surface LED is a thin surface light source, with high luminance, multi-color and 3D shaping capability.

This technology uses a combination of several optical films and outcoupling pattern tailored for every design and outperforms OLEDs in luminance and it is also cheaper.

Innovator of the year 2017, Patent of the Year 2018

Working with new technologies and innovative ideas goes hand-in-hand with patents. I am an author or co-author of several patents that are now owned by Varroc Lighting Systems. These patents include lightguiding systems, illumination devices, use of new technologies, optical systems etc. I've been awarded with Innovator of the Year for 2017 award, mostly for Surface LED technology and Patent of the Year 2018 award.

LED Database / Heat dissipation area / Project Results database

LEDs are the most used lightsource in the exterior automotive lighting industry and they all have a little different properties. Using Python and Django I've created modern LED database, where engineers could change the current, see the necessary PCB area to dissipate the heat and compare different LEDs, so they can always choose the best one for their needs. Later on this tool was improved to have database of simulation results from projects along with the LED selection and respective LED current.

Photometry Optimization Tools, Catia macros

Catia is the most widely used CAD software in the automotive industry, but it isn't often used to its' full potential. I have worked extensively with Catia and I've created several useful macros as well as external tools using Python.

I've also developed a tool that was integrated into Catia, that changed certain parameters of a model, preformed ray-tracing of the system and adjusted the parameters according to the results.

Technical Requirements and Documentation Preparation

It is extremely important to be familiar with the legal requirements and test standards that concern lighting systems. I've co-written several requirements for suppliers of components to guarantee that parts would be of the highest quality and perform as expected. The requirements are usually mix of regulations and good practices I've gained during my career. It is also important to make sure the requirements can be verified with measurements or by calculations. I'm familiar with the typical requirements for lighting systems in terms of durability, light performance, manufacturability, and cost. I've also preformed a lot of light and color measurements so I know what are realistic expectations.

Customer Projects Optical Support

One of my tasks team was to support other teams with work on several pre-development and development projects for customers including Škoda, Volkswagen, PSA, Tesla, Ford and others.

This work includes designing of new innovative optical systems but also frequently used optical systems like reflectors, collimators, lightguides etc. using Catia V5. These systems need to be efficient and well-designed to fulfill all the necessary specifications. A lot of attention must be put into making sure that the elements will be possible to manufacture by injection molding or any other cost-effective way.

After the optical parts are manufactured, all the necessary measurements need to be made. These include measurement of luminous intensity distribution with goniophotometer and other important properties like color, efficiency etc.

Prototype Development

Customer demand for new products is always high and they are looking for the best things that market has to offer. Therefore our team always needed to prepare prototypes for customer tech-shows and other events like ISAL or CES. I've worked on several samples and I've been part of the team that presented them directly to customers.

Working on prototype samples doesn't only include design in CAD but also a lot of hands-on experience with prototyping technologies like milling of optical parts also with SPDT technology, 3D printing, Laser marking/cutting etc. I enjoy those technologies so much, that I have a 3D printer of my own at home.

Optical Measurements

Optical engineer has to make sure that his designs and simulations correspond with reality. Only way to do that is to measure manufactured products. Work with measuring devices is therefore necessary.

In automotive lighting the critical physical quantity is luminous intensity. That is measured with goniophotometer. Strict regulations as described in ECE, SAE, CCC and other regulatory standards need to be followed. Other measurements like EPLLA, color shift or luminance for appearance purposes need to be made as well.

Renderings

Microoptics design

Microoptics is a big topic for the newest products in the industry. Customers are focused or the best possible performance of the systems without any distracting visible elements.

I've designed several microoptics structures which can be manufactured with photolitography or SPDT technology. Results were published at the ISAL 2019 conference.

Luminous Intensity Data Analysis Software Development

Ability to work with luminous intensity and luminance data is extremely helpful for any business that deals with lighting. There are commercial alternatives on the market, but having in-house developed tool creates much more freedom in data analysis. I've written a tool that is able to analyze luminous intensity and luminance data using C++. This tool is able to check the legal requirements and present the data in understandable format.

Optical Surfaces Computation, Continuous improvements

When developing new innovative technologies, it is often important to calculate optical surfaces with certain properties. This can be a tedious task if performed manually, so more often than not new modules need to be prepared. I've prepared several solutions with optical surface creation tool using C++ and these solutions can also be integrated into Catia V5 for easier use.

In certain situations, the optical surfaces need to be optimized with raytracing and evaluation. Lightguide with extracting elements is a typical example where the light hits the surfaces at different angles. For these kinds of situations, software that optimized parameters and evaluated performance was developed using Python.

Another part of core team support was continuous improvement of typically used optical systems (lightguides, lightpipes, reflectors, TIR Lenses, Fresnel Lenses etc.). Several of those attempts resulted in better efficiency and luminous intensity in critical measuring points.

RFQs and Predevelopment

Trying to win new project is always a target for any company. I've been supporting RFQs and Predevelopment projects with both standard and innovative optical designs to fulfill customer wishes and legal requirements. Most of my experience is with Signal functions but I'm also capable of designing headlamps.

Varroc Lighting Portal / Project Storage Development

When I first arrived at company I had trouble finding a reliable source of information and system for bug reporting or discussing ideas. That became a bigger project later on when Varroc Lighting Portal was developed using Python and Django Framework.

Website is used for sharing news, software updates and other important information throughout the company. It also includes several tools like CIE color space plotting utility, material database, bug reporting system and new features request system.

Other web projects came along. One of them was file-sharing system that is used internally for our team and is tailored to our needs.

LED Electronics Programming, Android App Development

For CES 2019 my former company wanted to showcase new technologies including personalization and controls via smartphone. It was my task to set up the LED electronics and make sure the anyone can control it with their phones.

I have developed an Android app using Kotlin and firmware controlling the LEDs using C.