Will Pepi (Ph.D. Architectural Sciences '24) is a native New Yorker who received his PhD in Built Ecologies from CASE in 2024. Prior to joining, he attended Colby College where he received a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and a minor concentration in environmental science. His research focuses on using plants in HVAC integrated biomechanical systems to generate clean air from within building envelopes, allowing for recirculation of conditioned air without compromising indoor air quality. He is the founder of BIOM and a Postdoc Entrepreneural Fellow at RPI.

Constantina Varsami (Ph.D. Architectural Sciences '23) studied Human Building Interaction as part of the SCULPT project. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of architecture, engineering, and ecology. After graduating, Varsami joined Corgan NYC as a Sustainability Analyst.
Thesis Title: "Human-building collaboration: a case study on lighting enabled collaborative system design"

Xing Tong (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '23) studied the the next-generation IC for time-domain signal processing and data conversion. After graduating, he joined NVIDIA as a Mixed Signal Design Engineer.
Thesis Title: "Low-power time-to-digital converters for high-precision measurement"

Asif Chowdhury (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '20) developed, tested, and characterized advanced CMOS-based sensor and optical receiver circuits, including APD-based interfaces and LiDAR front ends, for high-precision distance sensing and optical wireless communication. After graduating he became a Senior Device Engineer at GLOBALFOUNDRIES and then a Process Technology Design Engineer at Intel in 2022.
Thesis Title: "CMOS Receivers for LiDAR and 3D Time of Flight Sensors"

Tianna-Kaye Woodstock (Ph.D. Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering '20) researched the ability of low resolution, cost-effective color sensors to perform occupancy detection and activity recognition in a smart room. He is an Electrical Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Thesis Title: "Multisensor fusion for occupancy detection and activity recognition in a smart room"

Indrani Bhattacharya (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '19) created a fusion of artificial intelligence with social psychology to study group interaction patterns for her doctoral study at LESA. After completing her degree, she held a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Biomedical Data Science and the Center for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence at Dartmouth College.
Thesis Title: "Unobtrusive analysis of human behavior in task-based group interactions"

Harikrishnan Vijayamohanan (Ph.D. Materials Engineering '19) developed a spirothiopyran-based photochromic material for super-resolution optical lithography, achieving sub-70 nm resolution, enhanced photoswitching, and novel photopatterning techniques, along with designing a high-resolution microscopy setup for advanced material characterization. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT, he joined Intel as a Litho Module Engineer.
Thesis Title: "Spirothiopyran based super-resolution interference lithography"

M. H. Toufiq Imam (Ph.D. Electrical and Electronics Engineering '19) is a Staff Design (Algorithm) Engineer at ASML. 
Thesis Title: "Indoor Environmental Control in the Indoor Built Environment: An Integrated Approach"

Zhibo Guo (Ph.D. Electrical and Electronics Engineering '19) studied GaN integrated UMOSFET/LED pairs at LESA. Guo is a Staff Design Engineer at Alpha & Omega Semiconductor.
Thesis Title: “Monolithic Optoelectronic Integration of Vertical UMOSFET/LED in GaN”

Michael Deagen (Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering '18) explored advanced additive manufacturing techniques for 3-D layer-by-layer stamping of structures that can be integrated as compact secondary optics for color-tunable LED systems. He was funded under the Graduate Research Fellowship Program of the National Science Foundation. After graduating, he completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Vermont and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 
Thesis Title: "Soft lithographic printing of mesoscale periodic structures"

Prachi Sharma (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '18) studied the design and characterization of composite nanomaterial based photodetectors for smart lighting applications. She is a Semiconductor Process Engineer.
Thesis Title: "Metal oxide nanostructure based ultraviolet photodetectors for smart lighting applications"

Marissa Giovino (Ph.D. Materials Engineering '18) examined how grafted brush-matrix interactions, matrix molecular weight, and nanoparticle surface modifications influence the mechanical properties, fracture behavior, and strength-toughness balance of polymer nanocomposites, revealing critical dependencies on polymer-nanoparticle interactions and loading conditions. She has worked for the Air Force Research Laboratory and ASML, and is now a Research And Development Engineer at Coherent Corp.
Thesis Title: "The effect of grafted brush MW and matrix MW on viscoelastic and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites"

Dave Elsaesser (Ph.D. Physics '17) worked on the integration of LED sources research to a multi-university collaboration in a bottom up approach for revolutionary intelligent lighting systems. After graduating, he became an engineer for Intel and is now a Global Yield Integration Development Engineer. 
Thesis Title: "Simulation of light emitting diodes under piezoelectric polarization"

Brian Frey (Ph.D. Physics '17, Post-Doc '18) developed advanced fabrication processes and characterized new mechanisms for enhancing light absorption and thermal radiation in photonic crystals, achieving significant improvements for solar energy and light-trapping applications. He is a Plasma Etch Process Development Engineer at Cree LED.
Thesis Title: "Optical characterization of light-bending mechanisms in photonic crystals with simple cubic symmetry"

Mark Durniak (Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering '16) studied MOCVD of Cubic GaN/GaInN on micro patterned Silicon. He has worked for SelfArray, Current (GE), Excelitas Technologies Corp., and Geost. In 2018, he founded Durniak Consulting which works with startups on proposals, technical marketing, and business development. 
Thesis Title: "Epitaxy and characterization of cubic GaN and Ga₁₋ₓInₓN on micropatterned Si (001)"

Sina Afshari (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '15, Post-Doc '16) researched the design and validation of feedback controllers for advanced color-tunable lighting systems while he was a PhD student and post-doctoral researcher at LESA. He is a research scientist at Korrus.
Thesis Title: "Feedback Control of Smart Lighting Systems Based on Color Science"

Richard Hutchison (M.S. Electrical Engineering '15) studied increasing LED efficiency using silicone zirconia nanocomposites using bimodally grafted nanoparticles. He is the Co-Founder of From The Land LLC, an AgriTech automation and innovations company.
Thesis Title: "Novel high refractive index, thermally conductive additives for high brightness white LEDs"

Fengyuan Lai (Ph.D. Materials Engineering '15) enhanced the thermal and electrical properties of polymer nanocomposites by integrating silver and gold nanoparticles through innovative self-assembly and sintering techniques for improved conductivity and structural optimization. He is a Senior Process Engineer at Lam Research. 
Thesis Title: "Controlling directed self-assembly and sintering of gold nanorods in patterned block copolymer thin films"

Anqing Liu (Ph.D. Physics '15) conducted psychophysical experiments on the Human Vision System. After graduating, he became a Research Scientist at Philips Lighting. In 2017, he founded Prolycht Lighting known for its development and engineering of image-based lighting systems for Hollywood virtual productions.
Thesis Title: "LED illuminant based on statistical color quality metrics"

Kumar Modepalli (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '15) designed and demonstrated high-frequency, high-gain isolated DC-DC converters with soft switching, including a three-phase ZCS converter, and proposed a power conversion architecture for integrating offshore wind farms with the grid via HVDC links. He has worked for FINsix Corporation and Apple, and he is currently a Power Electronics Engineer at SpaceX.
Thesis Title: "LED drivers for combined illumination and visible light communications"

Sagar Ray (Ph.D. Electrical and Electronics Engineering '15) studied analog front end (AFE) components for high speed optical receiver such as inductorless 10Gbps transimpedance amplifier (TIA), limiting amplifier (LA), automatic gain control (AGC) circuit, 10Gbps adaptive equalizer with data rate adaptation, high speed large area avalanche photodetection. He has worked as an engineer for Finisar Corporation, Intel, and Inphi Corporation, and he is currently a Principal Engineer at Marvell Technology.
Thesis Title: "High linearity CMOS GBPS receivers for emerging optical communication systems"

Tanuj Saxena (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '15) studied semiconductors for opto electronic applications. He has worked as an engineer for Freescale Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Renesas Electronics, and he is currently a Device Engineer at onsemi.
Thesis Title: "Study of dispersion and carrier dynamics in semiconductors for optoelectronic applications"

Anton Tkachenko (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '15) has worked for Qorvo, Intel, Astranis, and Micron Technology, and he is currently a Sr. Software Engineer at Ossium Health.
Thesis Title: "Directed self-assembly of mesoscopic components for LED applications"

Zhen "Jackson" Zhang (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering '15) is a Deputy General Manager at Tongji University Science and Technology Park. 
Thesis Title: "Dynamic beam shaping using electrowetting effects"

Juan Borja (Ph.D. Chemical and Biological Engineering '14) investigated chip-interconnect reliability for his PhD research at LESA. He is a Lead Investigator in Materials and Process Modeling at GE Global Research.
Thesis Title: "Dielectric breakdown in nano-porous thin films"

Li Jia (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '14) studied SAR imaging and human tracking with event cameras. She is a R&D Engineering Manager at Apple. 
Thesis Title: "Range sensing and environmental simulation for smart lighting applications"

Aloka Khanna (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '14) developed a Crystal Structure based Approach to Engineering Novel Narrow Line-width Phosphors for White Light Emitting Diodes (US Patent No. 9109162) leading to a 15% light output improvement for warm-white LEDs. She is a Engineering Director (Device, Product, Integration, and Yield) at Intel.
Thesis Title: "Narrow line-width phosphors for phosphor-converted white light emitting diodes"

Quan Wang (Ph.D. Computer and Systems Engineering '14) researched computer vision, medical image analysis, and pattern recognition. After graduating, he joined Amazon as a Machine Learning Scientist before joining Google in 2015 where he is now a Senior Staff Software Engineer and Tech Lead Manager.
Thesis Title: "Exploiting geometric and spatial constraints for vision and lighting applications"

Hafez Fard (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering '13) studied Electronic packaging Thermal Management specifically for HB LED, Electronic Packaging Analysis, Thermal Interface Materials, and Phase Change Materials. He is a Global Engineering Manager (Data Center Engineering) at Amazon Web Services (AWS). 
Thesis Title: "Effect of patterned surfaces on thermal impedance reduction"

Liang Zhao (Ph.D. Physics '13) developed GaN-based LEDs and solar cells on various substrates, utilizing advanced epitaxial techniques, cryogenic and optical testing, and monolithic integration with HEMT structures to enhance efficiency, quantum performance, and suitability for high-temperature applications. He is a LED/MicroLED & Micro-Display Technologist at OmniVision Technologies.
Thesis Title: "Spectroscopy on the efficiency in GaInN LEDs and solar cells"

Zhongda Li (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '13) developed high-performance GaN power transistors and MOS interfaces with positive threshold voltage, achieving advanced integration of LED/HEMT ICs capable of high-temperature operation up to 225°C. He is a Senior Staff R&D Engineer at United Silicon Carbide.
Thesis Title: "High-voltage gallium nitride MOS-channel HEMTs"

Dali Shao (Ph.D. Electrical and Electronics Engineering '13, Post-Doc '15) developed advanced UV photodiodes, ultra-sensitive photodetectors, and SPR-enhanced solar cells, achieving significant improvements in UV sensing, photoresponsivity, and emission efficiency for applications in biohazard detection and solar energy. He is a Member of the Technical Staff (Epitaxy) at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
Thesis Title: "Development and characterization of novel optoelectronic devices based on composite nanomaterials"

Wenting Hou (Ph.D. Physics '13) studied LED nano-patterning processes. She is now a Process Engineer at Applied Materials.
Thesis Title: "Contact formation and patterning approaches for group-III nitride light emitters"

An Mao (Ph.D. Electrical and Electronics Engineering '13) has worked as an engineer for Ketra Inc. and Acuity Brands. Mao is currently a Senior Optical Sensing Engineer at ASML.
Thesis Title: Surface patterning of ceramic phosphor plate for light extraction

Jiaxiang Zhang (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '13) developed innovative circadian rhythm modeling and control strategies that significantly reduce jet lag recovery time and enhance alertness, obsoleting the need for complex system knowledge, and enabled advanced experimental research with award-winning circadian rhythm testbeds. He is a Machine Vision Engineering Manager at Tesla.
Thesis Title: "Circadian rhythm modeling, estimation and control based on dynamic lighting"

Rohan Dayal (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '12) conducted independent research in a number of areas of power electronics - including low power energy harvesting and electronics related to LED drivers and was first author of around 15 IEEE/IET papers including 6 Journal papers while at LESA. He has been a Senior Engineer at OSRAM and Universal Lighting Technologies, and he is currently an Engineering Manager at Apple.
Thesis Title: "Vibration based electromagnetic energy harvesting - microgenerator, power conversion and control"

John Waldron (M.S. Electrical Engineering '12) researched Power Semiconductor Physics and Monolithic integration of GaN HEMTs with LEDs for smart lighting. He spent 20 years at Silicon Power Corporation before becoming the Director, Pulsed Power Products Director of Excelitas Technologies in 2020.
Thesis Title: "Modeling and experimental characterization of a high-voltage bidirectional switching transistor in GaN"

Christoph Stark (Ph.D. Physics '12) is a Technology Development Engineer at Carl Zeiss AG.
Thesis Title: "Micro and nano-structured green GaInN/GaN light-emitting diodes"

Shi You (Ph.D. Physics '12) studied epitaxial growth and characterizations on GaN/GaInN based Green LED and Laser Diode. He is a SMTS Process Integration Engineer at Applied Materials.
Thesis Title: "Optical polarization study and dislocation reduction in GaN-based light-emitting diodes"

Sruthi Muralidharan (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '12) studied the characterization and design of Light Emitting Diodes, Drivers, and Spatial Multiplexing Architectures for Visible Light Communication systems
Synthesis of Crystalline Phosphors for down-conversion thin-film Phosphor LEDs. She has worked as an engineer for GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Maxim Integrated. She is a Physics teacher at Ida B. Wells High School in Portland, Oregon. 
Thesis Title: "Light emitting diode designs and modulation schemes for dual illumination and visible light communication applications"

Behrooz Nakhkoob (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '12, Post-Doc '13) designed, implemented and successfully measured several fully integrated high sensitivity, wideband optical receivers. He is a Senior Principal IC Design Engineer at Broadcom Inc.
Thesis Title: "Fully integrated CMOS multi-Gbps free space optical communication receivers"

Fangxu Dong (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '12) developed adaptive nonparametric regression and smart sampling algorithms to enhance sensor network accuracy for environmental monitoring and occupant tracking in smart buildings. Dong is a Principal Engineer at Lutron Electronics.
Thesis Title: "Dynamic adaptive sampling for environmental and smart lighting distributed sensor applications"

Michael Riley (Ph.D. Chemical Engineering '12) designed and crafted experimental sculptured optical films for photocatalysis and enhanced light transmission. He is now a business development manager for semiconductor metrology and process control at ASML.
Thesis Title: "The design and growth of sculptured thin films for optical and photocatalytic applications"

Juan Catano (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering '11) studied advanced techniques in modeling and controlling vapor compression systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in electronics cooling applications. He has worked for Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions and Mojave Energy Systems, and is currently a HVAC&R Senior Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Thesis Title: "Dynamic modeling and advanced control of vapor compression cycles for electronics cooling"

Adam Gennett (Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering '11) studied processes and conditions for bulk crystal growth of GaInP from a quaternary Ga-In-P-Sb melt system for photovoltaic and LED applications. He is now a Plasma Etch R&D Engineer at IBM.
Thesis Title: "Alloy phase diagrams for III-P semiconductor crystal growth"

Mei-Ling Kuo (Ph.D. Applied Physics '11) developed and optimized nanostructured anti-reflection coatings and GaN-based LED designs to significantly enhance light extraction and solar collection efficiency through optical mode engineering and multi-layer nanostructures. Kuo is a Sr. Integration Lead at Apple.
Thesis Title: "Control of light propagation by optical index-modulation for energy applications"

John Wason (Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering '11) is an engineer specializing in robotics, automation, software development, embedded systems, control, and dynamics. His company Wason Technology, LLC provides engineering consulting services and develops Robot Raconteur®, a powerful communication library for robotics applications.
Thesis Title: "Visually-guided multi-probe microassembly of spatial microeletromechanical systems"

Venkata Chivukula (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '10) studied High Electron Mobility Transistors, Surface Acoustic Wave, and Thin Film Transistors. While at LESA, he was the vice chair of NSF's Smart Lighting Student Leadership Council and an IEEE Sensors Council GOLD Award representative. He has worked for Intel, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Bosch, and Qualcomm. He is currently a Senior Hardware Systems Reliability Engineer at Google. 
Thesis Title: "Novel wide-bandgap semiconductor and graphene based surface acoustic wave structures for sensing applications"

Martin Schubert (Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '09, Post-Doc '10) studied quantum transport simulations of large-bandgap tunnel junctions for UV light emitters. Since graduating, he has worked at Micron Technology, Glo-USA, X (the moonshot factory), and Meta. In 2023, he founded invrs.io, which aims to advance AI-guided design.
Thesis Title: "Overcoming the efficiency droop in GaInN light-emitting diodes and novel technologies for c-plane GaInN polarized emitters"