Team

Faculty

Zihe Gao

Leader, Auburn Photonics Lab

I’m an Assistant Professor at Auburn University from August 2023. Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Penn, and prior to that, I served as a postdoctoral research scientist at Meta.

Broun Hall , 341 War Eagle Way, Auburn, AL 36849

PhD Students

Jake Dunham

PhD student in ECE, Jan 2024 - present

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, Auburn University, 2023

Ohidul Islam

PhD student in ECE, Jan 2024 - present

B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh, 2021

Master’s Students

Dhimitri Petro Electrical Engineering, Auburn University, 2024 Summer and 2025 Spring - present; starting as thesis master’s student in Fall 2026
(Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program and 2025-2026 Undergraduate Research Fellowship Award)

Nathan Plourde Auburn University, 2026 Spring - present; starting as thesis master’s student in Fall 2026

Undergraduate Researchers

Current Members

Charlotte Brown Physics, Auburn University, 2023 - present

Luke Giers Auburn University, 2025 Fall - present

Dania Davis Auburn University, 2025 Fall - present

Nathan Dechachutinan Undergraduate Research Fellow, Auburn University, 2026 Spring - present

Prem Patel Auburn University, 2026 Summer - present

David Gunasekaran Auburn University, 2026 Summer (Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program)

Harrison Rudd Tennessee Tech University, 2026 Summer (Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program)

Past Members

Benson Jiang ECE, Auburn University, 2025 Spring

Alejandro Matlalcuatzi ECE, Auburn University, 2025 Summer (Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program)

Beau Blackburn ECE, Auburn University, 2025 Summer

Ethan Wilson Computer Engineering, Cedarville University, 2025 Summer (Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program)

Alex Brown Electrical Engineering, Auburn University, 2024 Summer and Fall
(Supported by the Undergraduate Research Early Start Award)

Beth Dawe Computer Engineering, Auburn University, 2024 Summer
(Supported by the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program)

Group photos

2025 July

From left to right: Zihe Gao, Jake Dunham, Ohidul Islam, Dhimitri Petro, Alejandro Matlalcuatzi, Beau Blackburn, Ethan Wilson

2024 July

From left to right: Jake Dunham, Alex Brown, Beth Dawe, Dhimitri Petro, Ohidul Islam, Zihe Gao. (Charlotte is doing a summer internship in Oak Ridge and missed all the fun.)