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People come here for a reason – and you can feel it

Brightlands news

What attracts international students to Limburg? And what does the Brightlands ecosystem mean for their education, research and future? In this series, we speak with students from all over the world who are shaping their careers at or through Brightlands. Lazar Barta is one of these students.

Lazar Barta (24) is a master’s student in Artificial Intelligence at Maastricht University and is doing his graduation internship at chemical company Envalior at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus. He previously collaborated on developing an AI model that identifies molecules using mass spectrometry, and his paper on this topic is now being published.

Mass spectrometry: what is it?


“Before starting at Envalior, I had never heard of mass spectrometry,” Lazar says. As an intern, he developed an AI model that predicts molecular structures based on mass spectra, a substance’s measurable “fingerprint”. “While this spectrum does provide information about a certain material, you still don’t know what molecules make up the material when you look at it. My model tries to predict this. The spectrum’s pattern tells you which molecule belongs to it, similar to how fingerprint software can predict whom a fingerprint belongs to.” The project was concluded with a paper that is now being published.

Viewing it from another perspective


Lazar is currently working on his master’s thesis at Envalior. He’s developing a color formula builder that can use AI to determine how much of which pigment is needed for a particular color. This is all he’s allowed to say about it for now; the research is so new that the risk of the experiment being copied by competitors is too high.

Lazar’s partnership with Envalior began during a semester project at the university. “Our client was someone in the analytics department who was curious about AI. After the project, I asked if I could do an internship. This was possible and that’s how I ended up here. I’m not a chemist, but that’s what makes it so interesting. They view data from a different perspective.”

Portrait Lazar Barta

Why this area?


Born in Hungary, Lazar grew up in Switzerland and now lives in Maastricht. “I came here once as a child when my father worked here temporarily. We visited him from time to time,” he says. “That’s why I had a good feeling about the city.” But what was the real reason he chose Maastricht in the end? “I like the fact that Maastricht is quieter than larger cities, and this also applies to my study program. It’s small-scale and open-minded, and you don’t have the feeling that you’re sitting in an auditorium with 300 people. The students who are here made the conscious choice for Maastricht. You can tell they’re motivated and this makes the vibe so nice.”

The Brightlands ecosystem


His feelings about Brightlands are positive even though he’s only familiar with a small part of the campus. “I’m in building 170, near Center Court. I don’t really see as much of what else is going on, but I do know that they organize a lot here: presentations, meetings and community events.” He attended a lecture on AI as a transformative power in the chemical industry and this tied in with his future project. “My manager at Envalior and my supervisor at the university presented during the lecture. They talked about how AI is being applied in the chemical industry. This was interesting for me particularly since the theme was related to what I’m currently working on.”

In November, he and his supervisor attended a conference in Amsterdam on AI and chemistry. “I had never been to an event like that before. It was interesting to see how chemists and AI experts interact. As a computer scientist, it was informative for me to hear their perspective.”

“The students who are here made the conscious choice for Maastricht. You can tell they’re motivated and this makes the vibe so nice.”

Lazar Barta

A future in Europe?


Lazar expects to graduate in August but doesn’t yet know where he’ll end up after that. “If an opportunity arises for me here, I would definitely consider it. I’m used to moving by now; I don’t want to limit myself to one place. It really depends on what kinds of opportunities arise.” He’s leaving the door open, whether this is in the Netherlands, Switzerland or somewhere else.

His favorite place to work for the time being? “A spot by the window in our office at Envalior, with a view of Center Court.”


Source: Brightlands newsletter

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