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Principle Investigator
Principle Investigator
Wei-Chuan Shih
Wei-Chuan Shih earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. from National Taiwan U, National Chiao Tung U, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. His Ph.D. work was conducted at MIT Spectroscopy Laboratory/NIH Laser Biomedical Research Center under the tautelage of late laser physicist Dr. Michael S. Feld, studying novel optical spectroscopy techniques for non-invasive chemical/biomedical sensing and disease diagnosis. He also worked extensively on MEMS design and nanofabrication at MIT Mechanical Engineering under Drs. George Barbastathis and Sang-Gook Kim. Prior to joining the U. of Houston, he was Schlumberger research fellow, studying optical analysis of hydrocarbon and offshore oil spill monitoring.
Dr. Shih is tenured Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering and Chemistry at the U. of Houston. He holds the Cullen College of Engineering Professorship. He was MIT Martin Fellow of Sustainability, and received NSF CAREER Award in Biophotonics, inaugural NASA Early CAREER Faculty Award, UH Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship, UH Cullen College of Engineering Faculty Research Excellence Award, ans Cullen College of Engineering Rising Innovator Award (Inaugural). Besides NSF and NASA, his research has also supported by NIH, US Air Force, DoI, GoMRI, and multiple foundations. Dr. Shih has served as Associate Editor for Optica Optics Express (2020-), SPIE Journal of Nanophotonics (2020-), and Optica Applied Optics (2017-2020). He is an elected SPIE Fellow, and Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Optica, and IEEE.
Dr. Shih has published more than 83 journal papers, 66 conference papers, and 18 issued US patents. His research has been featured on Optica Optics & Photonics News (OPN), CNBC, Forbes, ScienceDaily, Phys.org, SpectroscopyNOW, Houston PBS, UH Moment and numerous other media outlets. Dr. Shih has delivered 83 seminars at famed institutions such as MIT, Columbia, Duke, Rice, NC State, U Minnesota, UT Health, UC Davis, TAMU, Johns Hopkins, U Iowa, Vanderbilt, RPI, NCTU, NTU, CUHK, HKU, NIH, Schlumberger, Halliburton and etc. He has also delivered 83 talks at conferences such as SPIE Photonics West, SPIE Optics & Photonics, SPIE Defense & Commercial Sensing, ACS meetings, ECI Advances in Optics, IEEE Photonics Conference, IEEE NANOMED, PittCon, SciX/FACSS, META, and etc. He has actively engaged in serving the scientific community by the following participation: IEEE NANOMED (general program co-chair), IEEE Optical MEMS & Nanophotonics (Steering and technical committee member), SPIE Photonics West (technical committee member), IEEE Biosensors (technical committee) and numerous session chairing.
Research Assistant Professor
Research Assistant Professor
Abhay Kotnala
M.Tech in Microwave Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras Hindu University
PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Victoria, Canada
Postdoctoral Research at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and The University of Texas at Austin
Specialist: Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Research Interest: Optical Tweezers, Single molecule sensors, Optofluidics, Biophotonics, Biomedical Optics, Droplet microfluidics
Post Docs
Post Docs
Saswat Mohapatra
Saswat Mohapatra completed his undergraduate studies in Physics Hons. from Utkal University, India, in 2010. In 2012, he pursued his Master's degree in Applied Physics and Ballistics from Fakir Mohan University. In 2021, he successfully completed his Ph.D. in Physics from IIT Dhanbad.
Currently, Saswat serves as a Research Associate II at the NanoBioPhotonics Group at the University of Houston. His research interests revolve around the design and fabrication of various nanostructures in photonics, with a particular focus on their applications in biological and chemical sensing.
Apart from his academic pursuits, Saswat enjoys engaging in various hobbies and activities. He has a passion for watching movies, traveling, connecting with people, and cooking Indian cuisine.
Email address: smohapa2@cougarnet.uh.edu
Ph.D. Students
Ph.D. Students
Omid Mohsen Daraei
Omid Mohsen Daraei completed his MSc degree in Electrical Engineering-Optical Communications from the University of Tabriz in July 2020. His master's thesis focused on the design and simulation of graphene-based absorbers in the terahertz (THz) regime. Following this, he served as a research assistant at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea from March 2021 to August 2022.
In August 2022, Omid joined the NanoBioPhotonics group at the University of Houston to pursue his Ph.D. degree. His current research interests encompass a range of areas, including lithography, nano/microfabrication, biosensing, surface plasmon polaritons, cancer detection using bio-plasmonic sensors, and Raman spectroscopy. Through his research, he aims to contribute to advancements in these fields.
Email address: omohsend@cougarnet.uh.edu
Sakib Mahmud
Sakib completed his B.Sc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology, Bangladesh, in 2022. Following this accomplishment, he ventured into the realm of education as a lecturer at Dhaka International University. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston, starting Fall'23. His research focuses on biosensing and nanophotonics.
Email: smahmud@cougarnet.uh.edu
Mayank Maurya
Mayank Maurya completed his undergraduate studies in Engineering Physics (Honours) from IIT Dhanbad, India, in 2019. In 2020, he completed his Master’s degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the NanoBioPhotonics Group at the University of Houston, Texas, U.S.A. His research interests lies in the study, design, and fabrication of various photonics and plasmonic nanostructures for biosensing application.
A B M Arafat Hossain
A B M Arafat Hossain is a Ph.D. student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at the University of Houston. He earned his B.Sc. degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Bangladesh, in 2022. Following his graduation, he worked as a research assistant at RUET, focusing on metamaterial absorber and perovskite solar cell-based projects within the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. His primary research interests include nanophotonics and plasmonics, where he aims to contribute to cutting-edge innovations in the field.
Ahmad Jarif Yeasir
Ahmad Jarif Yeasir
Ahmad is pursuing his Ph.D. studies in the Nanobiophotonics group at the University of Houston from Fall’ 24. He completed his B.Sc. from the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in May, 2022. Abhishek is interested in exploring the theoretical and experimental investigation of optical biosensors, Lab-on-a-Chip, & novel nanoplasmonic sensors that have potential to revolutionize various fields, with groundbreaking applications in healthcare, sensing, and computation.These advancements promise to open new possibilities in early diagnosis of cancer. In his free time, Ahmad loves photography, watching the Red Devils and exploring new cities.
Group Photos
Group Photos
Mohsen's Graduation, Dec 2022
Dr. Shih's Birthday, 2022
Summer 2022
Year-end Potluck 2022
Sadman's Graduation, Dec 2024
Dr. Shih's Birthday, 2023
Dr. Shih's Birthday, 2024
Alumni
Alumni
Ph.D Students
Ji Qi,* PhD student, 2010–2014 (Schlumberger, USAA, META, USA).
Pratik Motwani, PhD student, 2010–2015 (Intel). (Co-advisor; Primary advisor: Jack Wolfe)
Lanchao Liu, PhD student, 2011-2015 (Cisco, Facebook). (Co-advisor; Primary advisor: Zhu Han)
Mufaddal Gheewala, PhD student, 2009–2013 (Intel). (Co-advisor: Primary advisor Jack Wolfe)
Fusheng Zhao, PhD student, 2012–2017 (Chinese Academy of Sciences).
Jingting Li,* PhD student, 2012–2017 (Chinese data mining industry).
Yulung Sung, PhD student, 2013–2018 (Intel).
Masud Arnob, PhD student, 2013–2017 (Intel).
Hoang Nguyen, PhD student, 2015–2019 (AOI).
Ibrahim Misbah, PhD student, 2016-2020 (Intel).
Nareg Ohannesian, PhD student, 2018-2022 (Physical Science Inc.).
Mohsen Rakhshandehroo, PhD student, 2018-2022 (Boeing).
Mohammad Sadman Mallick, PhD student, 2020-2024 (Seek Diagnostics Inc.).
Postdocs
Dr. Avinash Kumar Singh (8/1/2022–5/30/2024)
Dr. Krishnendu Samanta (3/15/2023-3/14/2024)
Dr. Bijesh Kafle, Postdoc (8/1/2019-7/31/2020)
Dr. Camille Artur,* Postdoc (9/2016-4/2018)
Dr. Jianbo Zeng, Postdoc (12/2012-3/2015) (Clariant).
Dr. Greggy Santos, Postdoc (6/2013-6/2016).
Dr. Oussama Zenasni, Postdoc (1/2015-8/2016).
Dr. Suyan Qiu,* Postdoc (1/2015-8/2016).
Dr. Yuankai Yue, Postdoc (7/2015-7/2016).
Dr. Siva Kund, Postdoc (9/2015-11/2015).
Dr. Gauri Bhave,* Postdoc (1/2015-6/2015).
Dr. Ming Li,* Postdoc (9/2013-11/2014).
Dr. Po Sun, Postdoc (12/2012-5/2013).
Dr. Jinwei Li, Postdoc (12/2012-5/2013).
Visiting Scholars
Dr. Siming Li, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (8/2017-8/2018)
Prof. Zhicheng Zhong, Jilin University (2/2015-2/2016).
MS Students
Abhishek-Reddy Pamu (9/2009-2/2010).
Radhika Gupta* (9/2015-6/2016).
Undergraduate Researchers
Xiaosi Zhang,* Summer intern (HUST), 7/2017-10/2017.
Ryan San Miguel,* NSF REU, summer 2017.
William Payne, NSF REU, summer 2017.
Ashita Bhojwani,* NSF REU, summer 2017.
Mariam Malik,* Intern student (University of Houston), 2016.
Zhenyu Hu, SURF/PURS scholar, 2015-2016.
Fernando Campa,* NSF REU (UT Arlington), 2016.
Kelly O’Shaughnessy,* NSF REU (University of Cincinnati), 2016
Ze Wang, Summer intern (HUST), 2015.
Ming Do,* NSF REU (University of Houston), 2015.
Ali Tejani, NSF REU (UT Austin), 2015.
Jake Goran, Summer intern (U of Arizona), 2015.
Cesar Figueroa,* SURF/PURS scholar, (University of Houston), 2010-2013.
Emery Annis, PURS scholar (University of Houston), 2012-2013
Shivali Narang,* UG researcher (University of Houston), 2012-2013.
Molly McCarthy,* NSF REU (Trinity U) 2012.
Gustavo Chamusca,* PURS scholar (University of Houston), 2011-2012.
Chris Brannan, NSF REU (UMass) 2011.
Anushimita Kulshik,* UH-India summer program (IIT), 2010.
Melissa Young,* STAR Program (University of Houston), 2009.
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