Kellan P. Arnold
Kellen P. (KP) Arnold received the Bachelor’s degree in Nanoscale Engineering and Applied Mathematics from the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering, Albany, New York, USA, in 2020. He currently attends Vanderbilt University, where he is a candidate for the Ph.D. degree in Interdisciplinary Materials Science. At Vanderbilt, he joined the Sharon Weiss group, where his research focuses on the study of nanoscale design and physical mechanisms of radiation-induced degradation for integrated photonics devices and circuits. Kellen’s dissertation defense, titled “Integrated photonics for intense light-matter interaction and applications in aerospace,” is scheduled for May 20, 2025. Kellen is a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) Fellow ’23 and Russell G. Hamilton Scholar ’20. Kellen is a student member of IEEE, the IEEE Photonics Society, and the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society.
Degree: Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Materials Science, summer 2025
Hannah Dattilo
Hannah M. Dattilo received the B.S in physics from Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA in 2020 and the M.S. in physics from Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. She is expected to graduate in May 2026.
She works in the Radiation Effects and Reliability group, advised and mentored by Dr. Robert Reed. Her research focuses on the effects of extreme radiation on thin-film lithium niobate and silicon photonic devices and material properties.
Shahebul Hasan
Shahebul Hasan received the B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh, in 2009, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University in 2018. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in optics and photonics at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida. His research at the Ultrafast Photonics group at CREOL focuses on developing on-chip frequency comb sources from mode-locked semiconductor lasers and optical injection locking in high-speed optical communications and space applications. He is a student member of IEEE and Optica and is expected to graduate in fall 2027.
Jacob M. Hiesener
Jacob M. Hiesener hails from Annapolis, Maryland. Completing his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland in 2022, he gained a strong background in electromagnatics. Now attending the Georgia Institute of Technology, he explores topology optimization, combining physics, mathematics, and computational design to engineer advanced optical devices. With one foot in each field, his work focuses on developing novel optimization strategies and seeding photonic structures to improve device performance and expand the capabilities of modern optical systems. He is tentatively scheduled to graduate in 2026.
Mozhgan Hosseinzadeh
Mozhgan Hosseinzadeh is a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she began her doctoral studies in fall 2021 under the advisement of Dr. John D. Cressler. She received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2021, and the M.S. degree in ECE from the Georgia Tech in 2023. She is currently a Graduate Research Assistant in the SiGe Devices and Circuits Laboratory. Her research focuses on integrated silicon photonics for space-based optical communication, radiation effects in optoelectronic devices, photodetector design for free-space optical links, and device operation at cryogenic temperatures. She was a research intern at PsiQuantum Corp., during the summer and fall of 2024. She is a graduate student member of IEEE and a recipient of the ECE Chaddick Fellowship. She is expected to graduate in spring 2026.
Di Huang
Di Huang (Student Member, OSA) received the B.Sc. degree in Optical Information Science and Technology from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2015, the M.S. degree in Photonics from Boston University, in 2017, and is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in Optics and Photonics at CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida with an anticipated graduation date of Fall 2025. His research focus on the design and fabrication of III-V mode-locked laser diodes for optical frequency comb generation, with additional focus on their applications in space environments. He has also interned at IMRA America, Inc.
He is a student member of the OSA and has been recognized with the ORC Fellowship at CREOL in fall 2017.
Degree: Ph.D. in Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Expected fall 2025
Farzaneh Arab Juneghani
Farzaneh Arab Juneghani received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran, in 2015 and 2017, respectively. She received a second M.S. degree in Optics and Photonics from CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida in 2021, followed by a Ph.D. degree in Optics and Photonics from CREOL in 2024. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at CREOL. Her research interests include the development of high-speed electro-optic modulators and microwave-to-optical converters on the thin-film lithium niobate platform.
Fatemeh Karami
Fatemeh Karami is a Ph.D. student in Optics and Laser Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where she has been awarded the ORCGS Doctoral Fellowship. Her anticipated graduation is in fall 2027. She received her M.Sc. in Photonics from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, in 2018, and her B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from the Science and Research University, Tehran, in 2014. Her background includes research on fiber optic sensors and optrodes. She is currently a Graduate Research Assistant in the CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics at UCF, where her work focuses on the design and optimization of integrated photonic devices, including electro-optic modulators and nonlinear photonic structures. Prior to joining UCF, she gained hands-on experience as a Laboratory Technician in the Neurophotonics Laboratory at Shahid Beheshti University. Her research interests include integrated photonics, electro-optics, nonlinear optics, inverse design, fiber optic sensors, and biophotonics. Ms. Karami is a student member of IEEE and has received several academic honors, including second place among top M.Sc. Photonics students and ranking 31st in the national entrance exam for the master’s program in Iran.
Nathaniel J. Karom
Nathaniel J. Karom received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Allegheny College in 2023. He is currently working towards the Ph.D. degree in Physics at Vanderbilt University. His main research interests are studying the effects of radiation on discrete photonic components and photonic integrated circuits using detailed TCAD studies.
Degree: Ph.D. in Physics, spring 2028
C. Alex Kaylor
Alex Kaylor was born in Huntsville, Alabama. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University in 2020, where he worked on a quantum key distribution satellite under Prof. Mark Adams. He has been a member of Dr. Stephen Ralph’s ultrafast optical communications laboratory for two years and is currently studying novel integrated microwave photonic devices with improved spurious free dynamic range. He also has background in long haul optical communications, where he published his first conference paper.
Robert Pesch
Robert (Bobby) Pesch received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in May 2024. He is currently a graduate researcher pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology under the advisement of Dr. Stephen Ralph. His research interests include the design of ultra-wideband CMOS optical transceivers and RF and microwave photonic systems. Robert is a current NSF graduate research fellow and IEEE graduate student member.
Degree: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, spring 2028
Joel Slaby
Joel Slaby was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2022 and 2021, respectively, where he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He has been a member of Dr. Stephen Ralph’s ultrafast optical communications laboratory for three years and is currently developing novel methods for designing foundry compatible integrated silicon photonic components and systems. He is currently investigating and designing integrated circuits robust to harsh environments through the NSF IUCRC Electronic and Photonic Integrated Circuits for Aerospace (EPICA). He has co-authored several journals related to density-based topology optimization and presented at several conferences for similar work.
Joshua Wong
Joshua Joseph Wong received the B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in spring 2023 and received his M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in fall 2024. He is currently pursuing in Ph.D. in ECE at Georgia Tech under the advisement of Dr. Stephen E. Ralph.
He began his academic journey with dual enrollment at Point University during high school, followed by two years of undergraduate study at the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University before transferring to Georgia Tech.
Joshua has held multiple research and engineering positions. Since August 2022, he has been an Undergraduate-Graduate Researcher working on Integrated Nanophotonic Devices at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He previously interned as a full stack software engineer with the Intelligent Transportation Systems SunGuide Team at Southwest Research Institute in summer 2022. From September 2021 to May 2022, he served as a research assistant with the ECE Opportunity Research Scholars Program at Georgia Tech. In summer 2021, he was an REU Researcher at Oakland University, and in 2020–2021, he worked as a research assistant and engineering tutor (TA) at Georgia Southern University. He also served as an Engineering TA at Georgia Tech in early 2022.
His research interests include integrated photonics, inverse design, solid-state physics, and electromagnetics.
Joshua is a graduate student member of the IEEE and a recipient of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship.
Degree: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, summer 2027
