Lea Marie Bohne receives regional prize for the best master's thesis

Jena / November 27, 2025

Lea Marie Bohne won the Stadtwerke Energie Jena-Pößneck prize for the best master's thesis in the field of electrical engineering. In her thesis, which she wrote as part of the CubEniK project at Fraunhofer IOF, she showed how a laser beam can be specifically deflected with the help of two prisms.

At the ceremonial start to the new academic year at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, the recognition of special academic and scientific achievements is a highlight every year. This year, Lea Marie Bohne, researcher in the Laser and Fiber Technology Department at Fraunhofer IOF and graduate of the “Electrical Engineering and Information Technology” course, received the Stadtwerke Energie Jena-Pößneck prize for the best master's thesis in the field of electrical engineering.

Novel approaches for CubeSat communication

The master's thesis was written as part of the CubEniK (CubeSat Demonstration of Entangled Photon Pair Key Distribution) project at Fraunhofer IOF.
The project pursues the goal of demonstrating a quantum key distribution from a small satellite, a so-called CubeSat, to two ground stations. In order to achieve this goal, a line of sight between the satellite and the ground stations must be realized during the entire overflight. Due to the space and weight restrictions of these small satellites, a particularly compact optical terminal is to be developed, which consists of two rotating prisms, among other things. These enable a large deflection of the laser beam in a small design. In her work, Lea Marie Bohne has developed and tested various algorithms to calculate the exact rotation of prisms. This is done to steer a laser beam precisely in a certain direction. These calculations are part of a larger control system that ensures that the laser beam always goes exactly where it is supposed to.

From master's thesis to scientific practice

After successfully completing her master's degree, Lea Marie Bohne is now continuing her research at the Thuringian State Observatory Tautenburg (TLS) in the “FREEFIB” research group, a cooperation between the TLS and Fraunhofer IOF. Together with her colleagues, she is now researching the development of a key technology that can be used for astronomical measurements on stars and in modern devices for transmitting encrypted data. The project focuses on the development of compact adaptive optics for the efficient injection of light into a single-mode optical fiber.

Fraunhofer IOF congratulates Lea Marie Bohne on this outstanding achievement and wishes her continued success!