SUMMARY
  • Interdisciplinary background and skill set including optics, photonics, optical materials, hologarphy, liquid crystals, optical and electronic design, and LCDs
  • Extensive hands-on experience of laser optics (holography), device/coating process (liquid crystals, polymers), and various optical systems (optical communications, beam-steering, projection displays, fiber optics)
  • Inventor of revolutionary light-efficient LCDs and beam steering devices based on novel diffraction gratings (polarization holograms)
  • Author or co-author on 5 journal articles (including submitted), 5 US patent applications, and 15 conference proceedings

EDUCATION

  • PhD, Electrical & Computer Eng., North Carolina State University, Raleigh/NC, 2011
  • MS, Electrical & Computer Eng., North Carolina State University, Raleigh/NC, 2007
  • BS, Electrical & Computer Eng., SungKyunKwan University, Republic of Korea, 2005

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

RESEARCH INTERESTS
  • Polarization holography and advanced lithography
  • Optical beamsteering / Directed energy
  • Optical imaging / Hyper-spectral polarimetry
  • Liquid crystal displays and projection systems
  • Numerical modeling and computations

SPECIALTIES

  • Hands-on Experience: UV holography, optical system design, projection system design, liquid crystal pixel design, polymer material chemistry, optical coatings, optical characterization, numerical modeling, photo-lithography, and clean room experience
  • Scientific Tools: UV/VIS/IR lasers, optical tables, spin-coating processors, polarizing microscopes, spectrophotometers, portable spectrometers, stylus and optical profilometers, wavefront sensors, and integrating spheres
HONORS AND LEADERSHIP
  • President of SPIE Student Chapter, North Carolina State University (2011)
  • Special Awards judge for SPIE Optics and Photonics Awards, North Carolina Science Fair (2010)
  • SPIE (international society for optics and photonics) Scholarship in Optical Science and Engineering (2010)
  • Organizing committee for Young Generation and Professional Forum at US-Korea Conference (2009)
  • Science Instructor of Photonics Leaders/ Photonics Xplorers Programs, The Science House (2009)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
  • Polarization Holography for generating Polarization Holograms performing as novel diffractive optics with excellent optical quality (nearly 100% efficiency), polarization-sensitive behavior, and fast electro-optical switching (Funded by National Science Foundation)
  • Wide-angle Nonmechanical Beam Steering development (Funded by US Air Force Research Laboratories with Boulder Nonlinear Systems); Designed and developed nonmechanical beam steering systems using novel diffractive elements (e.g., polarization gratings) and demonstrated ±40˚ coarse-angle beam steering at visible and near-infrared wavelength (1064 nm and 1550 nm) 
  • Designed and demonstrated Hyper-spectral Imaging Polarimeter for use at VIS/NIR and demonstrated the estimation of both spectral and polarization information of a scene by using the unique optical properties of polarization gratings and computed tomography algorithms
  • Designed and demonstrated new Polarization Conversion Systems that can produce polarized light from unpolarized light with high efficiency (85%~92%)
  • Demonstrated a novel arrangement of diffractive elements with standard LCOS microdisplays for a prototype Pico-projector that is more compact, energy efficient, and cheaper than other conventional approaches (Funded by ImagineOptix Corp) 
  • Developed new Lithographic Techniques for fabricating polarization sensitive diffractive elements using rotating grating masks. These new approaches have significant impact on robust and easy fabrication of the elements
  • Liquid Crystal Polarization Gratings for photonics applications (Funded by National Science Foundation); Explored the polarization gratings (PGs) and their use in various photonics applications and Developed feasible fabrication methods for high-quality PGs using UV holography
  • Supervised and assisted an international team for a mass production of new diffractive elements and for a commercialization of the pico-projector coordinated with GreenLight Optics, USA., Cordic Technology, Taiwan, ColorLink, Japan, etc.

PEER-REVIEW ACTIVITIES

  • Journal reviewer for Optics Letters
  • Journal reviewer for Optics Express
  • Journal reviewer for Applied Optics
  • Journal reviewer for IEEE Photonics Journal
  • Journal reviewer for IEEE Photonics Technology Letters
  • Journal reviewer for IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology
  • Journal reviewer for Optical Materials
  • Journal reviewer for Optical Engineering
  • Journal reviewer for Optics Communications
  • Journal reviewer for Mathematical Problems in Engineering
  • Journal reviewer for Journal of Applied Mathematics

TEACHING ASSISTANT EXPERIENCES

  • Introduction to Signals, Circuits, and Systems (ECE200, ECE, NCSU)
    Topics include circuits with resistors, photocells, diodes and LEDs, periodic signals in time and frequency domains, and analog signal processing systems including amplification, clipping, filtering, multiplication, AM modulation sampling and reconstruction.
  • Photonics and Optical Communications (ECE492, ECE, NCSU)
    Topics include planar and cylindrical optical waveguides, LEDs, lasers, optical amplifiers, integrated optical and photodetectors, design tradeoffs for optical systems, passive optical networks, and wavelength division multiplexed systems.
GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS
  • SPIE - Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers
  • OSA - Optical Society of America
  • SID - Society for Information Display
  • IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • ILCS - International Liquid Crystal Society
  • KSEA - Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association