Niels Vonk is a PhD. candidate in the Mechanics of Materials group at TU/e. His current research is focused on understanding the physics behind the hygro-expansion of paper at differebt length-scales: single pulp fibers, inter-fiber bonded pulp networks or paper sheets. Niels Vonk combines high-resolution observation techniques such as Light Microscopy, Optical Height Profilometry and Computed Tomography with dedicated Digital Image Correlation algorithms to understand the occurring hygroscopic phenomena at all length-scales.

During his masters, Niels Vonk did an internship at MIT (Cambridge, USA) where he, under supervision of Cem Tasan, developed a device which allows multi-axial testing of thin sheet steel with high-quality Scanning Electron Microscopy characterization. Afterwards, he finished his master project on the development of a novel multi-purpose device for in-situ X-ray Computed Tomography testing, resulting in him obtaining the master's degree (Cum Laude).