“No one has done this before, no one knows what our chip can and cannot do.” This is how Rohan Shetty, Test and Optomechanical Engineer at MantiSpectra, describes the reality of his daily work. Alongside Benji van den Brand, an R&D Optoelectronics Engineer, Rohan is part of a team tasked with doing something unprecedented: developing spectroscopy on a chip. For both engineers, it’s exactly the territory that makes their work compelling.
Bridging optics and electronics
At MantiSpectra, the core mission is to take complex, traditionally bulky technology of spectroscopy and bring it directly to the industry in a highly miniaturized format. The applications span a broad range: from industrial quality and process control to clinical diagnostics, personal health, and domestic appliances. To make that happen, engineers have to bridge different physical worlds. As Benji explains, his role as an Optoelectronics Engineer means he works with both the electronic and the optical side of things. His days often begin by checking the results of experiments that ran overnight, ensuring everything is on track before planning out further characterizations and tests for the week.
Testing the real-world applications
When you’re building a product with no existing baseline, testing is everything. Rohan’s primary focus is designing the complex test setups required to understand exactly how their product behaves in the real world. One of the commercial devices they have developed is called the Nibble: a small device housing their revolutionary chip alongside an optical system.
It’s the practical application that is fascinating. You can place a material, such as a medicinal pill, directly on top of the device. A lamp source shines light onto the pill, and the chip detects the light that is reflected back. “Using that fingerprint, we can detect what type of pill it is,” Rohan explains. The chip is able to characterize different materials, telling users exactly what kind of substance they have and how much of it is present.
Making daily breakthroughs
Working on cutting-edge integrated photonics means there is no textbook to follow. The constant experimentation and the thrill of uncovering new data are core to the culture at MantiSpectra. For Benji, the continuous cycle of hands-on testing and discovery is exactly why he chose to work there. As Rohan puts it, navigating these unknowns is the best part of the job: “It really feels like you’re making breakthroughs at work, which is inspiring.”
