Current members
Email: mkats [at] wisc [dot] edu
Phone: 608 890 3984
1415 Engineering Drive, Room 3537, Madison, WI 53706
Prof. Mikhail Kats
Jack St. Clair Kilby Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Also, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics, the Wisconsin Energy Institute, the Wisconsin Quantum Institute, and the McPherson Eye Research Institute.
B.S. (Engineering Physics), Cornell University
Ph.D. (Applied Physics), Harvard University
Awards and Recognition
Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher (2018-2023, most yrs)
ECE Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award (2023)
IEEE Nanotechnology Council Early Career Award (2020)
IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award (2019)
ASEE Prism "20 Under 40" List (2018)
NSF CAREER Award (2018)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award (2017)
Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2016)
Email: cho252 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Dr. Jin-Woo Cho
Research Associate (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Ph. D. and M.S. (Physics), Kyung Hee University
B.S. (Advanced Materials Engineering), Kyung Hee University
Awards and Recognition
MRS Fall Meeting Best Poster Award; the 2019 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit, USA, 2019
2021 Best Poster Presentation Award; the 12th International Conference on Advanced and Devices, South Korea, 2021
Jin-Woo's research interests are focused on manipulating thermal emission spectra for mid-infrared photonics, which includes radiative cooling, energy-harvesting, and directional thermal beaming.
Email: jin269 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Dr. Yeonghoon Jin
Postdoctoral Scholar (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Ph. D. and M.S. (Electrical Engineering), KAIST
B.S. (Information Display), Kyung Hee University
Awards and Recognition
College of Engineering Ph.D. Dissertation Award, KAIST, 2023
Yeonghoon’s research interests are in the areas of nanophotonics including optoelectronic devices and thermal-radiation engineering.
Hongyan (May) Mei
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.S. (Optical Science and Engineering), Zhejiang University
M.S. (ECE), University of Wisconsin–Madison
Awards and Recognition
OSA Best Student Paper Award Winner; 2021 OSA Advanced Photonics Congress
May's broad research interests are in the areas of optical materials and nanophotonic structures.
Email: jlking2 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Jonathan King
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.S. (Nuclear Engineering), University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S. (Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics), University of Wisconsin-Madison
Awards and Recognition
Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship (2019)
Jon's research interests are in the area of thermal-radiation engineering and measurement.
Email: dfeng24 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Demeng Feng
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.Eng. (Materials Science and Engineering), Harbin Institute of Technology
M.S. (Materials Science and Engineering), Stanford University
Demeng's research interests are in the areas of optical forces and vision engineering.
Sanket Deshpande
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.E. (Electrical Engineering), BITS Pilani
M.S. (Physics), BITS Pilani
M.S. (ECE), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Sanket's research is in the area of photonic engineering for quantum technologies. He serves as a student leader for the NSF Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks (HQAN) project.
Email: rhamid2 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Rabeeya Hamid
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.S. (Electrical and Electronics Engineering), Lahore University of Management Sciences
Awards and Recognition
Chancellor's Opportunity Fellowship (2021)
Rabeeya's research interests span the areas of photonics, machine learning, and signal processing, with particular interest in applications in the fields of biosensing, imaging, and optical neural networks.
Tanuj Kumar
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.E. (Electrical & Electronics Engineering), BITS Pilani
M.S. (Chemistry), BITS Pilani
Awards and Recognition
Graduate Student Service Award (2024)
Marie Christine Kohler Fellowship (2023)
Student Research Grants Competition (SRGC) Research Travel Award (2022)
Chancellor's Opportunity Fellowship (2021)
Tanuj's interests lie in nanofabrication, light-semiconductor interactions and optical forces.
Email: cfang58 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Chengyu Fang
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.S. (Physics), ShanghaiTech University
M.Eng. (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Oregon State University
Chengyu's research interests are in the area of nanophotonics including device fabrication, device testing and material characterization.
Email: mkim725 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Minjeong Kim
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B.S. (Electrical Engineering), Pusan National University
Minjeong's research interests are in nanophotonics and device fabrication.
Email: syin39 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Shenwei (Erick) Yin
Ph.D. Student (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
B. S. (Applied Math, Engineering, and Physics), University of Wisconsin-Madison
Shenwei’s research is focusing on the characterization of optical materials using spectroscopic ellipsometry.
Email: jedwards9 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Justin Edwards
Ph.D. Student (Physics)
B.S. (Physics), Texas Tech University
Justin’s research interests are in the areas of nanophotonics, vision engineering, and the optical and thermal properties of materials.
Email: fuwase [at] wisc [dot] edu
Fiona Evelyne Uwase
Undergraduate Student (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
Fiona’s research is focusing on using hyperspectral Specimen IQ cameras to gather, process, and visualize classification results in a single integrated unit.
Email: xia73 [at] wisc [dot] edu
Yu Xia
Undergraduate Student (Computer Engineering and Computer Science)
Yu’s research is focusing on the simulation of magneto-optical trapping (MOT).
Email: nninan [at] wisc [dot] edu
Natasha Rachel Ninan
Visiting Undergraduate Student (Electrical Engineering at the University of Akron)
Natasha’s research interest are in quantum sensing and photonics.
Kats Group Student Office:
Engineering Hall,1415 Engineering Drive, Room 3553, Madison, WI 53706.