Team
Principle Investigator
Assistant Professor
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
University of Florida
PD, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA 2023
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, USA 2021
M.Sc., Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan 2014
Elham Heidari, PhD - Google Scholar
Email: el (dot) heidari (at) ufl (dot) edu
Dr. Elham Heidari is an Assistant Professor, specializing in the design and implementation of integrated resonators for nonlinear and quantum optics, with a specific focus on all-optical frequency conversion applications and the development of compact and robust photonic platforms. During her academic career, she has accrued nearly six years of work experience in cross-functional teams and experimental design and process development of the photonic interconnect devices such as high-speed short-wavelength semiconductors, plasmonic switches, low dimensional electro-optical modulators, chip-based wideband electromagnetic wave sensing, spectroscopy in Near-IR and MID-IR regions. Her work in this field has been published in leading journals such as Nature SR, Optica, IEEE JLT, and Nanophotonics.
She has also successfully collaborated with various agencies to obtain research funding, including DOD, AFOSR, SRC, and NASA, serving as PI/Co-PI. Dr. Heidari earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.Eng. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Graduate Students
Qian Cai
MSc., The George Washington University, USA 2023
BSc., Penn State University, USA 2021
Qian is an Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) doctoral student at the University of Florida. Qian possesses a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer engineering, with an emphasis on computer architecture, FPGA programming, high-performance computing, secure computing, neural network (NN) training, and quantum technology. His main objective is to investigate the physics and design of photonics chips in optical computing. He is a student member of IEEE and OSA/Optica.
Tongyao Wu
MSc. in Physics, University of Florida, USA 2024
BSc., Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China 2021
Tongyao is an Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) doctoral student who earned a bachelor's and master's degree in physics. He has a strong background in Photonics, quantum mechanics and semiconducting material. Tongyao is interested in quantum optics, optical nonlinear effects and optical angular momentum. He is currently working on the simulation and measurement of the Kerr nonlinearity and quantum photonic entanglement in the microring modulator. He is a student member of IEEE and OSA/Optica.
Brayden Monson
BSc., Uta State University (2025)
Brayden is a ECE doctoral student with a background in mechanical engineering, material science, and MEMS devices which gives him a unique perspective on the field of photonics. He is pioneering photonic device design for Vertical Cavity Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) with an emphasis on applied photonic devices. His work started in Utah and has taken him to many prestigious institutions in the country such as Idaho National Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and now the University of Florida. He is a member of IEEE, the American Nuclear Society, and Engineers Without Borders.
In his spare time, Brayden enjoys spending time with his wife and dog, engaging in creative writing, and experimenting with 3D printing.
Incoming Graduate Student
Benjamin Hayden
BSc., University of Florida
Benjamin is an incoming Ph.D. student at the University of Florida (co-advised with Prof. Dalir), focusing on advanced ADC/DAC design for AI accelerators. He is passionate about emerging technologies, particularly quantum computing and integrated photonics. Beyond academics, Benjamin enjoys drawing, playing volleyball, and lifting weights. He aspires to contribute to the advancement of quantum and photonic technologies in the years to come.
Undergraduate Students
James M. Gast
BSc., University of Florida
Mathias is a fourth-year Mechanical, Aerospace, and Electrical Engineering student at the University of Florida. Upon obtaining his bachelor’s, he seeks to pursue a master’s and PH.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) also at the University of Florida. Research interests are exploratory and include but are not limited to purpose-built artificial intelligence hardware and photonics integrated circuits.
Tyler Tucker
BSc., University of Florida
Tyler is a third-year Electrical Engineering student at the University of Florida pursuing a minor in Chemistry. His academic interests include electromagnetics, photonics, and semiconductor device physics. He is working on the characterization of VCSELs and is continuing to deepen his understanding of photonic device physics in Snowmass Lab. Outside of academics, he enjoys listening to music and going to the gym.
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Kasra Karkheiran
BSc., University of Florida
Kasra is working on image processing for the FPGA. So far, he has developed an IEEE Binary Converter. This tool reads convolution pairs from a text file, converts the values into IEEE binary format, and writes the results to an output text file. Currently, we are working with the CIFAR-10 dataset. He is importing the images and using the converter to transform the RGB values of each pixel into IEEE binary format. The processed values are then stored in a text file.
Alan Daniel
Alan is a first-year Electrical Engineering student at the University of Florida. He recently joined the Snowmass Lab, with current interests in electromagnetics and applied photonics. He is excited to develop his research skills and contribute to the lab's work. Outside of academics, he enjoys cooking and experimenting with his pizza-making process.
Alumni
Mengze Qi: Ms., University of Florida 2024