Executive Committee 2016-2017

Here, we introduce the executive committee for the 2016-2017 school year:

President - Xingyu Zhang

Xingyu Zhang is a PhD student in Prof. Evelyn Hu's group and the president of the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. His research focuses on using photonic nanostructures to study optically-active defects in diamond and silicon carbide with applications in quantum sensing and information science.

 

Vice President - Andy Greenspon 
Andrew Greenspon is an applied physics PhD candidate at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His work in Prof. Evelyn Hu's lab focuses on characterizing lanthanide emitters in nanostructures for applications in optical cavities, waveguides, and luminescent probes.  Prior to that, he worked in the Space Division at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for a year. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, and received a B.A. in physics from Amherst College. His broader interests include science communication and public policy. He enjoys hiking, aikido, and swing and blues dancing.
 
Secretary - Sören Brandt
Sören Brandt is a graduate student in Joanna Aizenberg’s research group and secretary for the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. His research looks at the structural wetting of self-assembled, inverse opal thin films. This type of photonic crystals displays angle-dependent vibrant colors that depend on the underlying structure relating optical properties to surface wetting.
 
Treasurer - Boran Han
 
 
 
Co-advisor - Ida Pavlichenko
Ida Pavlichenko is a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Joanna Aizenberg at the Harvard SEAS and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. She earned her MSc degree in physics from the Lomonosov Moscow State University. She then pursued her doctoral studies in the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. Ida’s PhD research was focused on the development of an innovative integrated optoelectronic sensing platform based on bio-inspired “smart” stimuli-responsive photonic crystals. Currently, in her research she applies the principles of bio-inspired engineering for the assembly of novel photonic materials and devices. 
 
Co-advisor - Anna Shneidman

Anna Shneidman is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Joanna Aizenberg and a co-advisor to the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. Her current research involves self-assembled and nanofabricated photonic structures for lasing and catalytic applications, and she is interested in the role of disorder in such structures. Her PhD research was conducted in the laboratory of Marko Lončar at Harvard University on the topics of polymer photonics and magnetic field sensing with nitrogen-vacancy centers.
 
Events and Outreach Co-coordinator - Sarah Griesse-Nascimento
Sarah Griesse-Nascimento is an Applied Physics PhD candidate at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and outreach coordinator for the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. Her work in Prof. Eric Mazur's lab focuses on characterizing the material and optical properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures for integrated photonic devices. She is interested in developing TiO2 as a material platform for telecommunications and quantum information sciences. Prior to Harvard, Sarah received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. She grew up in Brazil, Germany and Washington State. She enjoys traveling, learning new sports and performing music from other countries in the World Music Ensemble at Harvard.
 
Events and Outreach Co-coordinator - Victoria Hwang

Victoria Hwang is a graduate student in Vinny Manoharan’s group and outreach board member for the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. Her research is on understanding the light scattering that occurs in a particular class of disordered colloidal assemblies that exhibit structural color. This type of material exhibits angle-independent color that arises due to the internal structure of the material, as opposed to pigments, opening up applications in paints, coatings, and cosmetics, among others.
 
Industry Outreach Coordinator - Pawel Latawiec

Pawel Latawiec is a graduate student in Marko Lončar’s research group and heads industry outreach for the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. His PhD research concerns developing new fabrication techniques and devices for emerging optical materials, namely diamond. Pawel’s interests lie in the application of advanced technologies to nascent industries.
 
Webmaster - Cleaven Chia
Cleaven Chia is a graduate student in Marko Lončar’s research group and webmaster for the Harvard SEAS Photonics Club. His research is on diamond nanophotonic structures for optomechanics and quantum optics, with a view of enabling quantum communication networks.