Current Position: Experimental Plasma Physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

I am conducting experiments using high-intensity lasers. My areas of interest include the generation of novel sources of electrons, x rays, and gamma rays through laser-plasma interaction, Compton scattering, and laser-wakefield acceleration. I am currently leading an effort to develop these sources for applications in high-energy density sciences at LLNL and the Linac Coherent Light source, in addition to doing experiments for the National Ignition Facility.

Current Position: Senior Scientist at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, Germany

I am currently working on the development of high energy and high repetition rate pulsed lasers to drive strong-field experiments, THz generation experiments and ultimately enable laser driven electron acceleration.

How an Education from the College of Optics and Photonics has helped his career:

On top of the great time I had doing research at CREOL in Martin Richardson's group, I have acquired a good number of connections during my PhD that are now crucially important for my career. This is of course without mentioning the technical skills I gained during my PhD that make me a rather suitable candidate for a great variety of jobs, either in academia or industry. While the choice of a PhD advisor is always a bit of a Russian roulette game (after all, you come to grad school with little academic experience as a grad student and make a choice of advisor that can really influence the rest of your career within a few weeks with little objective information), I think I have been quite lucky to end up in a group with a management that suited exactly both my interest and the way I enjoy working. Good way to get a career started...

Advice for Graduate students:

Choose a research area that is promising and offer a lot of career opportunities, ideally in both industry and academia and stick to it (changing research topic is like hitting a reset button that takes you back a couple of years). You don't want to become a world expert in a field that will lose interest/funding/perspectives in the next 5 years. I have chosen laser engineering and design as my research area because it is quite clear that lasers will be around and in demand for the next 40-50 years.
When you leave grad school for your first job, already have in mind that you will be leaving this job some day and ask yourself the added value you will be able to sell.

Current Position: Regents’ Researcher, Associate Vice President Research, Faculty Integration, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Gisele Bennett is a Regents’ Researcher, an Associate Vice President for Research, Faculty Integration, and a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). She is the Glenn Robinson Chair in Electro-Optics at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). She founded the Logistics and Maintenance Applied Research Center (LandMARC), a multi-disciplinary center at the Georgia Tech.  As the former director of the Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL), she managed a group of up to 168 researchers, scientists, and students in a diverse applied research environment. EOSL has up to a $50M diverse research portfolio with an operating budget of $4.5 M.
Dr. Bennett is a member of the Army Science Board. She is a Fellow in the Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE (International Society for Optics and Photonics), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). She holds officer positions in OSA and IEEE and serves in a variety of professional activities involving optical engineering research. She has been a topical and is a feature editor for Applied Optics.  She is one of the first ten fellows chosen for Georgia Tech’s University Leadership program. She has over 130 publications in books or book chapters, refereed journals, technical reports, and workshops.

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, Materials Science and Engineering Dept.

My research interests include nano-optics, plasmonics, metamaterials, optical force manipulation of molecules and single molecular imaging.

I work as product engineer in Coherent | Nufern. Primarily working on pulsed fiber lasers & single frequency fiber amplifiers. I have to integrate with manufacturing, planning, R & D etc. departments and work towards making my team and company a success.

While in CREOL, you get all the technical know how one needs to work in any industry, but i also got lot of exposure to leadership roles and opportunities to serve which helps me grow as an individual.

My advice to grad students would be enjoy your time in CREOL; interact with as many proffesors and students you can, make connections with your peers. You will not get what you wish, if you don't ask for it. 

Current Position: Chief Technology Officer and Director of Holography at OptiGrate Corp.

In 1999 OptiGrate Corp pioneered commercial volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) from photo-thermo-refractive glass. VBG technologies were developed in the late 1990’s at the University of Central Florida with the US government funding and then licensed to OptiGrate for commercialization. 

In 2017 OptiGrate Corp was acquired by IPG Photonics. IPG Photonics Corporation is the world leader in high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers. Founded in 1990, IPG pioneered the development and commercialization of optical fiber-based lasers for use in diverse applications, primarily materials processing. Fiber lasers have revolutionized the industry by delivering superior performance, reliability and usability at a lower total cost of ownership compared with conventional lasers, allowing end users to increase productivity and decrease operating costs. IPG has its headquarters in Oxford, Massachusetts, and has additional plants and offices throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.ipgphotonics.com.

Current Position-Research and Development Optics Technician at Adecco Engineering on site at Google Inc.

My work includes: Custom optical application testing, data acquisition and analysis. Image quality testing. Optical metrology support. Photonics systems/component assembly, calibration and characterization.

Current Position: Product Engineer III at Research Electro-Optics, Inc. (REO) –

I am the primary technical interface for any of our customers, who has an idea that exceeds the standard of what we do here at REO.  In my short time here at REO I have worked development opportunities for the defense, semiconductor, and entertainment industries.  Before working at REO, I spent seven years with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, FL, as a Optical Engineer for the Apache Fire Control Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS).  While at Lockheed, I was able to develop my skills as an optical designer and EO system integrator.  During my tenure at Lockheed, I was able to complete my master’s degree at CREOL, graduating in 2012.  My introduction to the optical world started at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, graduating in 2007 with my bachelor’s degree in 2007. 

Current Position: Sr. Researcher at IMEC.

A PhD from Prof. Delfyett’s group opened up several opportunities for me, including working as a post-doctoral researcher at different Ivy League schools. But the prospect of becoming a part of Orlando's exciting, upcoming tech-startup environment led me to stay in research park as the first employee of a European startup. We grew to 30+ employees in just two years, before I co-founded my own startup that is currently utilizing CREOL's novel fiber technology for sensing applications. Later, my laser radar experience during my PhD proved extremely useful when I joined Luminar Technologies (Orlando) to develop self-driving cars. And now, I am working at Imec (Kissimmee) where I am leading an effort to develop semiconductor based imaging & sensing technologies (including self driving cars), in collaboration with UCF/CREOL and BRIDG. The knowledge, skills, (and friends!) I made at Creol, along with the sincere mentorship and guidance of Prof. Peter Delfyett have been crucial in helping me achieve my dreams!