Our Team
Group leader
Principal investigator
Prof. Chen-Ting Liao
(Pronoun: he/him)
Dr. Liao is Associate Professor of Physics at Indiana University Bloomington.
Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Liao received his BS degree in Space Science and MSc in Physics at National Central University in Taiwan. After working in the semiconductor and imaging industry as an engineer for two years, he came to the US to study optics. He received his PhD in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona in 2017, and he then became a postdoc researcher at JILA, a joint research institute at the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). In 2021, he became a research scientist at JILA Institute and also served as Assistant Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer at STROBE, an NSF Science & Technology Center. Dr. Liao is the Finalist of two PhD thesis awards, including the 2018 WAGS-ProQuest Innovation in Technology Award and the 2019 American Physical Society (APS) Carl E. Anderson Division of Laser Science Dissertation Award. He was selected as the 2022-2023 APS Career Mentoring Fellow. Also, Dr. Liao received the 2023 Air Force Young Investigator Award. Prof. Liao joined the Department of Physics at Indiana University Bloomington in late 2023.
Education:
2017 | PhD in Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
2013 | MS in Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
2007 | MS in Physics, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
2005 | BS in Space Science, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Professional Experience:
2023-now | Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
2021-2023 | Research scientist, JILA, University of Colorado Boulder and NIST, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
2021-2023 | Assistant Director of Research & KT, STROBE, NSF Science and Technology Center, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
2017-2021 | Postdoctoral Associate, JILA, University of Colorado Boulder and NIST, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
2012-2017 | Graduate research associate, Dept. of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
2011-2012 | Graduate research assistant, Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A.
2009-2010 | Project engineer, Biomed Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
2008-2009 | Semiconductor process engineer, United Microelectronics Corporation, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Honors & Awards (selected):
2023 Air Force Young Investigator Award (2023 AFOSR YIP), U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research
2022 APS Career Mentoring Fellow 2022-2023, American Physical Society.
2019 R&D 100 Award (international team award): QM Quantum Microscope–Next Generation Microscopy & Analysis. Co-developed by KM Labs Inc. and the JILA team through joint grants.
2019 Finalist (top 4), APS Carl E. Anderson Division of Laser Science Dissertation Award.
2018 Finalist (top3), WAGS-ProQuest Innovation in Technology Award.
Group members - Scientists/postdocs
Dr. Hsiao-Chih Huang
Postdoctoral researcher
(Joint between Prof. Liao (physics) and Prof. Leung's group (ISE)
Email: hh34 [at] IU.edu | Office: SI 047H
Dr. Huang has devoted himself to two research topics of optical orbital angular momentum and photon quantum entanglement since his PhD career at National Taiwan University. After receiving his PdD certificate, he spent 13 years of his academic careers in Taiwan, South Africa and the Czech Republic, working on several projects in the fields of quantum optics, nonlinear optics, ultrafast optics, optical microscopy, and quantum sensing. Additionally, during these academic careers, he held various short-term senior optical engineer positions in the photonics and laser industries. He is currently working on a multidisciplinary project, integrating his previous research topics, at Indiana University Bloomington.
Group members - Grad students
Kashaf Toheed
PhD student in physics (coming 2024 Fall)
Email: xxx [at] IU.edu | Office: SW xxx
Details are coming soon.
Elvin Cordero Figueroa
MS student in physics.
Email: elvcord [at] IU.edu | Office: SW 340
Elvin Cordero grew up in Humacao, Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao cum laude with a B.S in Applied Physics to Electronics. As an undergraduate student he worked as a research assistant, studying materials science and participated in different undergraduate research internships at various universities. He began his graduate studies at IU Bloomington in fall 2023 in the physics department's Bridge program. He joined the Liao Lab in the winter of 2023. Outside of the lab and his academic activities he enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy novels and likes board games (he currently wants to learn how to play Go). He also enjoys contact sports and fishing.
Put your name here!
We are hiring graduate students.
Please contact the PI.
Group members - Undergrad students
Bryce Jobe
Undergraduate student in physics, IU Bloomington.
Email: jobeb [at] iu.edu
Bryce Jobe grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduating high school, he began his studies at Indiana University Bloomington, where he is currently completing a B.S. in physics. He joined the Liao lab in the beginning of May 2024. Aside from school, Bryce spends a lot of time developing his Catholic faith and training for his cycling team.
Kyle Schauer
(he/him)
Undergraduate student in applied physics, Wheaton College (Illinois).
Email: kschauer [at] iu.edu
Kyle Schauer grew up in Wheaton, Illinois before attending college at Wheaton College (IL.) and pursuing a B.S. in Applied Physics. He joined the Liao Lab as a part of the Summer 2024 Undergraduate Research Program (REU).
Maxwell Woehler
(he/him)
Undergraduate student in physics, IU Bloomington.
Email: mwoehler [at] iu.edu
Maxwell Woehler is a rising second-year undergraduate studying math and physics. He joined the Liao Lab for the summer of 2024, and this will be his first time working in a lab. In his free time, he enjoys writing music and skateboarding.
Collaborators
(On jointly funded projects)
Prof. Hui Min Leung
(she/her)
Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington.
Dr. Leung is an expert in imaging science and biomedical imaging technologies. She continues to advance the frontiers of imaging technologies through innovative optical engineering. Leung research group website: https://sites.google.com/view/leunggroup/
She is the co-PI of the DOE-funded project on "Exploring quantum mimicry via classically entangled light for enhanced bioimaging."