Ashley Tittelbaugh, who is an undergraduate student on one of CQN-associated projects – the US-Ireland NSF project on classical control for quantum networks – won the Outstanding Senior in ECE Award. Please join us in congratulating her on this honor – this is a BIG deal! Ashley will be staying at UArizona for a Master’s in ECE, and will be writing a Master’s thesis under direction of Prof. Boulat Bash.
Students are at the heart of all four thrusts of the CQN program. We have welcomed a wide variety of students from across STEM fields at the PhD, Masters, and undergraduate levels. Through formal and informal training, we are preparing a quantum-savvy generation for careers in academia, industry, entrepreneurship, and government service.
Below, we have spotlighted some individual students, their accomplishments, and their goals.
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Ashley Tittelbaugh wins Outstanding Senior in ECE Award!
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Rohan Mehta
One of our researchers is undergraduate Rohan Mehta, a research assistant in Dr. Liang Jiang’s group in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. We asked Rohan to tell us a little about his research:
“We are a theory group that explores a variety of quantum applications, such as error correction, communications, sensing, and more,” he explains. “I am still exploring subfields, but my current research focuses on quantum random access memory, which is the “working memory” for quantum computers.”
Rohan came to college already intrigued by quantum. “In my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to study and actually understand quantum computing. I had always been interested in physics, but I wanted to work interdisciplinarily with the engineering and computer science disciplines. UChicago has a quantum engineering program that was apt for my interest.”
Indeed, since being at Chicago, Rohan’s interest in quantum has grown. He leads the Quantum Society on campus and hopes to attend graduate school. That said, he doesn’t spend all his time in the lab. “With theory research, the lab is wherever you are, so I spend a lot of time at random points throughout the day thinking about my research problem. However, I try to also clear my mind by staying active, whether it is in the gym, dancing, or most recently, bouldering.”
(Rohan and Liang Jiang’s team do research in Thrust 2 of CQN.)
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Danny Watkins
I am Danny Watkins. I joined CQN through the ¿Quantum Que? program at Pima Community College. After a summer working with Karl Berggren and Will Oliver in the lab at MIT, I’m now an undergraduate at the University of Arizona.
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Abby Gookin
Hello! My name is Abby Gookin (she/hers), and I’m an undergraduate engineering student at the University of Arizona, involved in Saikat Guha’s group.
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Jake Navas
Hi, I’m Jake Navas. I’m a 2nd-year graduate student working under Inès Montaño at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. I was born and raised in Gilbert, AZ, but made my way up north to Flagstaff for my undergraduate degree, and currently my graduate degree.
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Mohammad Mobayenjarihani
Hi, I am Mohammad Mobayenjarihani, I’m a 4th year PhD student in Network group led by Don Towsley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I am Iranian. I did my bachelors in computer science at Sharif University of Technology, and I did my masters at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
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Stefan Krastanov
My name is Stefan Krastanov, a postdoc at Dirk Englund’s group at MIT. I graduated from Liang Jiang’s group a couple of years ago. I am from Bulgaria (the city of Burgas on the coast of the Black Sea), but I have spent some of my time as an undergrad in France and elsewhere in Europe.
Since submitting this spotlight, Stefan has joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts as an Assistant Professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences, where he will remain associated with CQN.
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Narayanan Rengaswamy
I am Narayanan Rengaswamy and I am currently a postdoctoral research associate with Bane Vasic at the University of Arizona. Prior to this, I completed my PhD in May 2020 at Duke University, my MS in Dec 2015 at Texas A&M University, and my B.Tech. in May 2013 at Amrita University, Coimbatore, India. I was born and raised in the coastal city of Chennai, India.
Since submitting this spotlight, Narayanan has joined the faculty of the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering, where he will remain associated with CQN.