Danilo Spadoti Danilo received his B.Sc in electrical engineering from Federal University of Itajuba (2002), the M.Sc. (2004) degree and Ph.D. (2008) degree from School of Electrical Engineering of Sao Carlos (EESC), University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil. Danilo worked in the Cornell Nanophotonics Group as a postdoctoral researcher. His research interests are in photonic crystal fiber, optical telecommunication systems and nanophotonic devices.

Alexander Gondarenko Sasha graduated from the University of Rochester with degrees with honors in Optics, Computer Science, and Math. He previously worked in a quantum optics research group, acquired experience in organic light emitting diode fabrication, software development and laser synchronization analysis. Sasha was a PhD student in Applied Physics and was studying design and optimization methods for novel integrated photonic structures.

Long Chen Long completed his B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering of Zhejiang University, China, where he worked on the electromagnetic simulations of metamaterials like photonic crystals and negative index media. Long pursued his PhD in the nanophotonics group at Cornell, working on microcavities, metallic nanocomponents in photonics and integrated Ge detectors, among other interests.

Jacob Robinson Jacob obtained his PhD at Cornell in 2008. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of California Los Angeles with a B.S. degree in Physics. As an undergraduate he spent some time at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, performed research on 2D electron gas systems, and published work on Evolutionary Optimization algorithms. As a member of the Cornell Nanophotonics group he was working toward his MS/PhD degrees in Applied Physics. Jacob studied, among other things, sub-wavelength confinement of light in dielectric nanocavities, light confinement in integrated disordered structures, and high resolution near-field imaging. Jacob also applied Evolutionary Optimization algorithms to help design these structures. A native of Southern California, Jacob enjoys all things competitive and sports-related as well as instigating minor amounts of trouble.

Bradley Schmidt Brad completed his B.S. degree in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell, followed by one year of Masters work, also in AEP. His M. Eng project was with the group of Prof. Harold G. Craighead, and involved the development of polymer microfluidic channels for biological applications. Brad spent a year working for an optical MEMS startup before joining the Cornell Nanophotonics group as a PhD student with an interest in using photonic crystals for integrated biosensor applications. Brad is from Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Po Dong Po Dong left Cornell Nanophotonics Group in Feb. 2008 after working as a postdoc for two years in this group. He then started his job as a senior research engineer at Kotura Inc., a worldwide leader in silicon photonics, which designs, manufactures and markets CMOS optical components that enable optics to migrate throughout the communications industry. He is currently working on design, fabrication, and test of passive and active silicon photonic components.

Qianfan Xu QianFan Xu comes from Sichuan Province of China, which is famous for delicious and spicy food. He received his B.E. and M.E. degrees from the Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University (Beijing), major in physical electronics and optoelectronics. He was honored as one of the 16 outstanding graduate student in Tsinghua University in year 2001. He spent one year in Purdue University taking courses in Communications. He is now a PhD student in School of ECE at Cornell University.

Jeffrey Kauffman Jeffrey graduated with honors from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2007. As a research undergraduate, his experience included work on SONOS NVSM Devices and in clean room laboratory fabrication techniques. His interest in nanophotonics brought him to Cornell and the Nanophotonics Group to pursue his MEng in Electrical Engineering. Jeffrey is from Colorado and enjoys photography, skiing, and traveling.

Stefan Preble Stefan Preble is an assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. He is continuing to research silicon nanophotonic devices.

Linnell Martinez Linnell graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida Institute of Technology with degrees in Computer and Electrical Engineering. Throughout the course of his studies, he acquired experience in software development and network engineering by working at various companies including GE Transportation Systems & Global Signaling. As an undergraduate, Linnell designed and fabricated, among other things, a portable STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope). Now in the Nanophotonics Group at Cornell, he is working on designing and building an NSOM (Near Field Scanning Optimal Microscope), and testing and optimizing MOS and PIN electro-optic modulators.

Morgan Winer Morgan worked in our group on various aspects of photonics such as computer simulations and coupling, and showed strong interests in both computer architecture and photonics. He is from upstate New York, and plans to follow up his education with graduate school.

Jagat Shakya I did my BSc and MSc in Physics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 1996. I worked as an assistant lecturer at the Central Department of Physics, Tribhuvan University from 1996 to 1999. I spent 6 months at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India as a visitor in 1998. I completed my PhD in Physics from Kansas State University working on micro/nano-structures and devices of III-nitride semiconductors. My PhD work included photonic crystal blue/ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs), InGaN/GaN QW submicron waveguides, NSOM, picosecond time-resolved electroluminescence/photoluminescence studies. I joined the nanophotonics group at Cornell on January 2005 as a postdoctoral associate. My research work here included nanofabrication and characterization of photonic devices. I am currently working at Logic Technology Development (LTD), Intel Corporation, Hillsboro Oregon as Senior Process Engineer. I left Cornell Nanophotonics Group on Dec 2005 to join Intel. We had second baby on July 2006. Our son's name is Abiral. My website is http://www.jagat.com.np.

Sam Schrauth Sam is currently a Senior at the University of Rochester majoring in Optics. Sam was part of the Cornell Center for Material Science REU over the Summer of 2005. His project was "Partially Self-Assembled Planar Photonic Structures". In his free time Sam enjoys swimming for the UR Swim Team, as well as reading, riding his bike, travelling, and Japanese Culture. After graduation he plans to pursue a Graduate degree in either Optics or Applied Physics.

Robert John Meyers Robert John (RJ) is a senior at Cornell University, studying Applied Physics. RJ plans on pursuing an MEng in ECE at Cornell. His interests lie in nanotechnology and lasers/optics (nanophotonics!). His hobbies include reading, music, computers, rollerblading, and digital video creation. RJ is from Warwick, Rhode Island.

Vilson Almeida Vilson Almeida is a native of Brazil. He received his B.S. (Magna Cum Laude) and M.S., both in Electrical Engineering, from Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica (ITA), Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, in 1997 and 1998, respectively. From 1998 until 2000, he conducted research on optical fiber sensors at Instituto de Estudos Avancados (IEAv-CTA), Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. In 2000, he joined Cornell University in pursuit of his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His research interest areas are nanophotonic devices, optical fiber sensors and photonic crystals.

Sameer Pradhan, Postdoctorate Associate Sameer received the Bachelor of Engineering (1998) degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Bombay, India, and the Master of Science (2001) and Ph.D. degree (2003) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. His dissertation work involved the design, fabrication and characterization of GaAs and InP based high-speed optoelectronic devices and circuits such as high-speed photoreceivers, phototransceiver imaging arrays, quantum-dot lasers/VCSELs and photonic crystal light emitters. He is currently a Post-doctoral Associate in the Cornell Nanophotonics Group. His work includes the design and fabrication of optical switching and modulation devices on SOI platform.

Richard Brown Rick is currently finishing his senior year in the Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests include photonic devices, and creation of substrates for the growth of GaN LEDs. After his undergraduate work, Rick plans to pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering in the area of photonics. Rick is a native of Western Massachusetts.

Jonathan Sterk Jon is a Senior at Cornell University, studying Electrical Engineering with a minor in Applied Mathematics. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, reading, dancing, and hiking. After graduation, he plans to pursue a graduate degree in either Electrical Engineering or Physics.

Heather McKnight Heather is a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in Physics and minoring in Chemistry. She attended Carnegie Mellon University for 2 1/2 years and has done physics research at St. Lawrence Univ., Clarkson Univ., and Brigham Young. Outside of school she enjoys hiking, dancing, cooking and reading. She is excited to be studying polymer waveguides with the group as part of the CNF REU program.

Roberto Panepucci Roberto Panepucci has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UIUC with research emphasis in optical properties of III-V nanofabricated structures. After a post-doc at the University of Campinas he joined CNF as a senior research staff were he managed the high resolution ebeam system and developed nanofabrication techniques. He later spent 2 years in a photonic start up company as MEMS team leader. Roberto has also extensive teaching experience both as teaching assistant at USP-Brazil, Caltech, UNICAMP-Brazil and as a Professor at the University of Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil. He is now a Senior Research Associate with the Nanophotonics group at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University.

Carlos Angulo Barrios Carlos Angulo Barrios received the degree of Telecommunications Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain, in 1998, and the Ph.D degree from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, in 2002. His dissertation focused on the fabrication, performance and analysis of GaAs-based buried-heterostructure VCSELs and In-plane lasers with Al-free semi-insulating materials regrowth by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Associate with the Nanophotonics group at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University. His work includes fabrication, characterization and design of Si-based nanophotonic devices. At present Carlos is a tenured Associate Professor at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (www.upm.es), Spain, where he leads research in Silicon-based Integrated Photonics at the Instituto de Sistemas Optoelectrónicos y Microtecnología (www.isom.upm.es).

Tameem Albash I am currently concluding my senior year in ECE at Cornell University. I am a native of Bahrain, a little island located in the Arabian Gulf. After my undergraduate studies are over, I hope to enroll into graduate school and pursue a graduate degree in physics. Spring 2006: Tameem is currently pursuing a PhD in fundamental physics at USC.

Praveen Anumolu Praveen is from Smithtown, New York. He also did his undergraduate studies at Cornell majoring in both Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Although he had previously participated in space and ionospheric physics research, the lure of integrated optics was irresistible. He currently does numerical simulations of modulated media in the design of optical memory. Outside academia, his interests include classical and jazz music performance, sports, and aviation. Email Praveen Anumolu.