Principle Investigator
Hanyu Zhu, Ph. D.
William Marsh Rice Trustee Chair Assistant Professor, Materials Science and NanoEngineering
B.S. Mathematics and Physics, Tsinghua University
Ph.D. Applied Science and Technology, University of California at Berkeley
Research interest: Lattice dynamics in quantum materials; Ultrafast opto-electronics and electro-mechanics; Low-dimensional structures and interfaces; NanoElectroMechanical sensors and actuators.
Current Group Members
RuiiXu
Ph.D. student in MSNE
Rui joined EQUAL in Fall 2020 after receiving his B.S degree in electronics science & Technology in Dalian University of Technology, China. His current research interest is to design a photonic microcavity to enhance the peak intensity of Terahertz light source, which will enable the observation of novel nonlinear carrier-lattice dynamics in quantum materials. He is also working on using second-order nonlinear effects to understand the properties of solids. Besides academics, Rui is also an amateur athlete in 100-meter dash. He used to be a National second-grade athlete in China. Rui also likes traveling and photography.
Tong Lin
Ph.D. student in MSNE
Tong graduated from Peking University in 2020 and with a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and joined EQUAL to study ultrafast phonon-engineered quantum materials.
Jiaming Luo
Ph.D. student in Applied Physics
Jiaming is a native Shanghainese with Bs in Fudan Physics. He is a big fan of Dragon Ball and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, an individual investor, and lover of sports, cooking, violin and travelling.
William Smith
Ph.D. student in MSNE(co-advised by Dr. Junichiro Kono)
Will is a Houston local who has returned for PhD studies after completing an undergraduate degree at Duke University. where he was first introduced to the study of quantum materials. He joins the team in collaboration with the development of RAMBO-II, and hopes to apply his skills to industry or public sector research after completion of his studies.
Aparna Jayakumar
Ph.D. student in Physics(co-advised by Dr. Emilia Morosan)
Aparna came to Rice after graduating from UT Austin with a BS in Physics, and works jointly with Dr. Morosan’s group to synthesize novel materials and explore their optical and electronic properties. Outside of research, Aparna enjoys playing violin and viola, making art and various DIY projects, gardening, cooking, and spending time out in nature.
Shung-An Koh
Ph.D. student in Applied Physics
Shung-An Koh is a Materials Science and Engineering enthusiast from Taiwan. He holds both a BS and an MS from National Tsing Hua University, with a focus on perovskite quantum dots and their photophysics. He also spent six months at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, working on quantum computer apparatus setup. Starting in the fall of 2023, he will be exploring photonics and light-matter interaction. Outside of academic pursuits, Shung-An is passionate about photography, travel, fitness, and cooking.
Selin Sayiner
Ph.D. student in MSNE
Selin graduated from Rice University in 2022, as a joint Masters/ Undergraduate student in MSNE and returned to join the EQUAL Group in 2024. She is currently studying light matter interactions in 2D materials with specific work in photonic cavity enhanced phonon interactions, Selin also enjoys being in nature, skateboarding and basketball.
T.A.M Ragib Shahriar
Ph.D. student in Applied Physics
Ragib earned a B.S. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Bangladesh, with a focus on photonics simulation. He started studying light-matter interaction for his Ph.D. in Rice University’s EQUAL lab in the fall of 2023, with a specialization in terahertz spectroscopy. In addition to working on his PhD, Ragib likes to travel, cook, read books, and watch movies.
Bharadwaj Peela
Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
Bharadwaj graduated from Indian Institute of Technology in Hyderabad with a Bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering, after which he joined the ECE department at Rice for his PhD. His current project involves studying Optical characterization techniques of 2D Ferromagnets. Outside of research, he enjoys playing badminton, watching a variety of sports, playing video games, reading One Piece, and cooking.
Frank Ran
Master’s Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
Frank graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in ECE, with research interests in computing systems and machine learning. Outside of research, he enjoys cooking, watching movies, and traveling.
Group Pictures
Group picture, Aug 2022
Group picture, Sept 2021
Group picture, Sept 2019
Group picture, Oct 2018
Previous Group Members
Yi Zheng, 2018 Master of Engineering in MSNE
Ali Khater, 2018 Ph.D. rotation, current Ph.D. student in MSNE, Current senior technical project manager at NASA
Alex Ho, 2018-2019 undergraduate researcher, current product engineer at Boeing
Yuxuan Guan, 2018-2019 Master of Engineering in MSNE, senior researcher at Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation
Xiangyi Cheng, 2018-2019 Master of Engineering in MSNE, sales engineer at Huawei
Liu Liu, 2018-2019 Master of Engineering in MSNE, product engineer at Huawei
Yijie Xu, 2019 visiting undergraduate student from Tsinghua University, current PhD student at Yale University
Yanzhen Li, 2019 visiting undergraduate student from Nanjing University, current PhD student at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Mingxing Yao, 2019 visiting undergraduate student from Peking University, current PhD student at the University of Chicago
Junhao Zhang, 2019-2020 visiting undergraduate student from Nanjing University, current Master student at Max Planck School of Photonics, Germany
Kaijun Shen, 2019-2020 Master of Engineering in MSNE, current PhD student at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Mochong Tian, 2019-2020 Master of Engineering in MSNE, researcher at Huatai Securities, China
Sijie Ma, 2020-2021 Master student in MSNE, current PhD student in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
Yidian Liu, 2020-2021 Master student in MSNE, sales manager in BYD Company, China
Alyssa Moon, 2021 summer undergraduate researcher, current undergraduate student at Texas A&M
Phoebe Scaccia, 2020-2021 undergraduate researcher, current undergraduate student in Computer Science and Astronomy
Khalil JeBailey, 2021-2022 undergraduate researcher, current undergraduate student in MSNE
Ariel Delos Reyes, 2022 participant of research experience for teachers (video of the Terahertz Materials project), science teacher in Pasadena Independent School District
Edwin Lebrón, 2022 undergraduate researcher, current PhD student in Carnegie Mellon University
Zifan Lu, 2021-2022 Master student in MSNE
Xiaotong Chen, Ph.D., 2020-2023, Postdoctoral Fellow, current postdoc fellow in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Elizabeth Blackert, Ph.D., 2019-2024, Doctoral student, Technical Specialist at the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership