ESP Biography

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I grew up in a Russian research town – called Akadem-gorodok, that was built in 1950’s near a major city of Novosibirsk to start a scientific center in Siberia. Growing up there in a family of researchers (in physics and chemistry), I learned to like science. My family moved to the Chicago Area, when I was starting high school. I studied Electrical Engineering with a minor in Physics at University of IL (UIUC). For my undergraduate research project I got to see dimers of hydrogen atoms on a silicon surface in Prof. Lyding's group. Currently I am finishing up my PhD at Stanford is quantum optics and nanophotonics group of Prof. Jelena Vuckovic. I am studying some approaches to make a silicon laser, so that the silicon computer chips could also send optical signals for communication.

In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, kayaking, and skiing. More recently, I spend most of my time playing with my almost a year-old daughter.

Past Classes