Group Members
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Will Schmid
Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Rice University, Houston, TX, working on the development of fully decentralized solar thermal desalination technologies. B.S. in Physics Case Western Reserve University 2020, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering Rice University 2023.
Department: ECE
Office: BRK 322
Email: ws33@rice.edu
Qian Ye
My research examines computational nanophononics and thermal transport in plasmonic nanostructures.
Department: PHYS
Office: BRK 322
Email: qy19@rice.edu
Kunal Lakhanpal
I am a fifth year graduate student in the Applied Physics Program at Rice University. I am currently working on thermal emission control through metasurface design under Prof. Alessandro Alabastri. I have prior experience in inverse design and optimization algorithms under Prof. Peter Nordlander.
Department: APP
Office: BRK 322
Email: kl89@rice.edu
Giuseppe Giorgio
Applied Physics Ph.D. student at Rice University (Houston, TX), working on nanophotonics and plasmonic metasurfaces for THz generation. B.S. in Physics, University of Bari, 2021; M.S. in Condensed Matter Physics and Photonics, University of Bari, 2024.
Department: APP
Office: DH 3060
Email: gg57@rice.edu
Umar Arshad
Applied Physics Ph.D. student at Rice University, Houston, TX, focusing on hot-carrier–driven photocatalysis. His research integrates theory, computation, and materials design to advance sustainable energy conversion and chemical transformation technologies.
Department: APP
Office: DH 3027
Email: umar.arshad@rice.edu
Hang Qian
Applied Physics Ph.D. student at Rice University, Houston, TX, working on using metasurfaces for deep brain stimulation. Received a master’s degree in physics from Zhejiang University, China.
Department: APP
Office: BRK 322
Email: hq16@rice.edu
Elijah Kritzell
NRT fellow co-advised with Prof. Kono.
Elijah Kritzell is a PhD candidate in the Applied Physics Program at Rice University. He received his B.S. in both Physics and Astronomy from The Ohio State University in 2021. He is now pursuing his PhD in the Junichiro Kono Lab, where his research focuses on ultrastrong light-matter coupling. He designs photonic cavities to couple vacuum photons to magnetic materials for applications within quantum information, spintronics, and novel cavity-enabled technologies.
Department: APP/ECE
Office:
Email: Kritzell@rice.edu
Alan Covarrubias
NRT fellow co-advised with Prof. Kono.
Alan earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Physics from BUAP in Mexico in 2023. His research is focused on computational physics and model simulation of both quantum and classical systems, in particular, engineering optical cavities to control the properties of quantum materials.
Department: APP/ECE
Office: OES 220
Email: ac227@rice.edu
VISITING RESEARCHERS
Andrea Schirato
Andrea Schirato is Junior Assistant Professor at the Physics Department of Politecnico di Milano since May 2023, and currently Marie Curie Fellow at Rice University – Houston (TX), U.S. – with the project PATHWAYS. Working on Theoretical Nanophotonics with particular focus on the theoretical study and numerical modelling of the ultrafast light-matter interaction at the nanoscale in nonlinear optical nanostructures and metasurfaces.
Department: Physics Department of Politecnico di Milano
Office: BRK 322
Email: andrea.schirato@polimi.it
Zhuofei Li
Zhuofei Li is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Currently, he is a visiting student working with Giuseppe on computational studies of THz emission spectra from split-ring resonator.
Department: ECE
Office: BRK 322
Email: zl220@rice.edu
Marlene Fuhr
Bioengineering exchange student at Rice University (Spring–Fall 2025) from Argentina. Senior in the 5-year program at Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, graduating Dec 2025, working on a brain connectivity modeling thesis in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine.
Department: ECE
Office:
Email: mf88@rice.edu
Jim Shi
I am a visiting undergraduate student from University of Cambridge for the summer of 2025, with an interest in nanophotonics and optical metasurface design. I am working on designing a metasurface system for brain stimulation with the group. I am also an aviation and Formula 1 fan.
Department: ECE
Office:
Email: js511@rice.edu
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Anthony Iturbe
Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate at Rice University, Houston, TX, working on optimizing numerical methods for the generation of Brain Conductivity maps.
Department: ECE
Office: BRK 322
Email: ai36@rice.edu
ALUMNI
| Name | Role | Following Position |
|---|---|---|
| GRADUATE STUDENTS | ||
| Narmada Naidu | (2020-2024), PhD in Applied Physics | Postdoctoral Fellow at EPFL, Switzerland |
| Bryant Jerome | (2020-2023), MSc in Applied Physics | IT sector |
| POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS | ||
| Keith Sanders | Rice Academy of Fellows (2021-2023) | Research Scientist, Army Research Laboratory |
| VISITING RESEARCHERS | Zheng Bi | Visiting Student (2024-2025) |
| Aubin Touraquet | Master’s student (2023-2024) | PhD student, Institut d’Optique, France |
| Maria Crespo | IMFAHE Fellow (2022-2023) | Research Assistant, Baylor College of Medicine |
| Maria Basanez | IMFAHE Fellow (2022-2023) | PhD applicant |
| UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS | ||
| Alessandro Bordone | Undergraduate Research intern (2023) | Tandon School of Engineering, NYU |
| Isabella Chiodi | Undergraduate Research intern (2021) | Chemical Engineering sophomore, Rice University |
| Joao Cunha | Visiting Scholar (2020) | Research Fellow, INL |
GROUP PHOTOS ARCHIVE
