David Murrell
David Murrell graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 2007 with a B.S. in Engineering Physics and a minor in International Affairs from the McBride Honors Program. He continued at the same institution and received his M.S. (Applied Physics) in 2009. His thesis topic dealt with the electrical examination of Deep Electronic States in fully depleted
CdTe solar cells. He has an extensive interest in optics and integrated devices developed when working at the Air Force Research Laboratory during two consecutive summer internships starting in 2006. His projects at that time involved device characterization of passively modelocked semiconductor lasers. Side projects during his time at the Colorado
School of Mines focused on educational research and outreach in the field of Physics. David now works primarily on the integration of optoelectronic devices for high speed communication and on other projects. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Blue Key, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars honor societies as well as IEEE and APS.

dmurrell at unm dot edu

Ravi Raghunathan
Ravi Raghunathan received the Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons.) degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Windsor (Windsor, ON, Canada) in 2003,the Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (Electrophysics) from the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA) in 2006, the Master of Science degree in Optical Science and Engineering from the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) in 2010, and the Doctoral degree in Optical Science and Engineering from the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) in 2013. Dr. Raghunathan's PhD studies comprised in-depth theoretical and experimental studies of the nonlinear dynamics exhibited by passively mode-locked quantum dot lasers, wherein the objective was to understand, control and potentially exploit the dynamical trends that impact device performance. The theoretical studies involved the adaptation of a Delay Differential Equation modeling-scheme for passive mode-Locking into a formalism wherein the model parameters can be extracted from measurements on the device under study. On the experimental side, his work involved pulse characterization studies of mode-locked quantum dot lasers using diagnostic techniques such as High Speed Oscilloscope measurements, RF and Optical spectral characterization and Frequency Resolved Optical Gating (FROG) measurements.
His research interests include studying the nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor laser systems, ultrafast pulse characterization techniques, various aspects of the device physics and characterization of semiconductor lasers, such as jitter reduction and noise performance improvement using techniques such as injection-locking and external optical feedback, and the nonlinear and quantum optics of optoelectronic devices.

raghunat at vt dot edu

Nassim Rahimi
Nassim Rahimi graduated from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2005 with a B.S degree in Atomic and Molecular Physics. Her undergraduate research included synthesis methods of Carbon nanotubes and their properties and Crystallography. In 2009, she received her M.Sc. degree in Photonics from the Laser and Plasma Institute of Shahid Beheshti University (Formerly, National University of Iran). Her Master¡'s thesis was on theoretical and experimental studies of the effect of shape and size on the optical properties of silver nanoparticles. She also synthesized silver and gold nanoparticles by wet chemical methods. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Optical Sciences and Engineering at the Center for High Technology Materials. Her research focus is on issues of carrier transport and photocurrent generation in nanostructured solar cells including quantum dot devices with innovative extraction techniques. The objective is to improve the efficiency of these cells at 1 sun and higher solar concentrations. She is also socially active and involved in some extracurricular activities such as rock climbing, hiking, yoga, and reading classical novels and poems.

nrahimi at vt dot edu

Frederic Grillot - Associate Professor, INSA de Rennes, France.
Frederic Grillot was born in Versailles (France), on August 22, 1974. He received the M.Sc. degree in Physics from Dijon University in 1999 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Besançon University in 2003. His doctoral research activities were conducted within the optical component research department in Alcatel. During his PhD, Dr. Grillot studied the effects of the optical feedback in semiconductor lasers, and the impact this phenomenon has on optical communication systems for high bite rate transmissions. From May 2003 to August 2004, he was working with the Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale (University of Paris-Sud) where he focused on integrated optics modelling and on Si-based passive devices for optical interconnects and telecommunications. Since September 1st 2004, he has been appointed to the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Rennes (INSA) where he is currently working as an Associate Professor within the Materials and Nanotechnologies (MNT) department. His main research activities are on advanced laser diodes emitting at 1.55-µm using new materials like quantum dots for low-cost applications. Since beginning of 2008 he is also a Visiting Research Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico, where he is leading research in optical science and optoelectronics at the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM). Dr. Grillot is a Member of IEEE-LEOS and La Societe Française d'Optique

fgrillot at chtm dot unm dot edu

Antonio Hurtado
Antonio Hurtado was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1976. He received the M.Sc. degree in Telecommunications Engineering and the PhD degree in Photonic Technology from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain in 2001 and 2006 respectively. His PhD focusing on the study of optical bistability in semiconductor laser amplifiers was awarded with the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize from the UPM, Spain. Since 2007 he has been with the Optoelectronics Research Group of the University of Essex (UK). During this time his research work has focused on the analysis of optical injection in long-wavelength Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (VCSOAs). In this topic, he has described novel physical effects including the polarization switching and bistability, injection locking and nonlinear dynamics that can be induced in these devices under different polarized optical injection. Antonio has been awarded in 2007 with a Post-Doctoral Fellowship by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and with two Marie Curie Fellowships by the European Commision: Calls IEF 2007 (project ISLAS) and IOF 2010 (project NINFA). He currently works as a Marie Curie Fellow in Prof. Lester¿s group in a collaborative project with the Optoelectronics Research Group of the University of Essex (UK). His present research work concentrates on the analysis of optically-injected nanostructure semiconductor lasers and their potentials for high-frequency applications. Antonio has published over 80 papers in international scientific journals and conferences.

ahurta01 at unm dot edu

Dr. Kai Yang, Aerius Photonics, LLC

Professor Mike Pochet, Air Force Institute of Technology

Tingyi Gu, Columbia University PhD student

Furqan L. Chiragh, Sigma Space Corp.

Dan Chumney, Emore Corp.

Mohamed A. El-Emawy, Intel Corp.

Therese Saiz,  Intel Corp.

Juan Aranda, Intel Corp.

Carlos Ozuna, Intel Corp.

Dr. Ronghua Wang, Intel Corp.

Dr. Chang-Yi Lin, Intel Corp.

Dr. Yong-Chun Xin, IBM Corp.

Dr. Petros Varangis, Nanocrystal, LLC

Dr. Lei Zhang, Nanocrystal, LLC

Dr. Allen Gray, Phononic Devices, Inc.

Dr. Edwin Pease, Phononic Devices, Inc.

Dr. Sylvia Dorato, Air Force Research Lab

Dr. Leslie Vaughn, Air Force Research Lab

Dr. Yan Li, APIC

Dr. Nader A. Naderi , Air Force Research Lab

Dr. William Zortman, Sandia National Laboratories

Dr. Jesse Mee, Air Force Research Lab

Dr. Ravi Raghunathan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Nassim Rahimi, Virginia Polytechnic Institute