Dia'aaldin Bisharat, Ph.D.

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Photonics Initiative at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, and a member of the Metamaterials & Plasmonics Research Laboratory led by Prof. Andrea Alù. Broadly, my scientific interest lies in applied electromagnetics and at the crossroad of microwave engineering, optics and solid state physics as I ultimately conduct research that takes inspiration from these different scientific domains. My current research work is focused on realizing efficient broadband antenna with extreme small-form factors, defect-immune integrated photonic circuit components (lasers, detectors, delay lines, etc..) using dielectric, plasmonic and 2D materials, and non-reciprocal devices based on magnetized periodic plasma structures for RF and high energy applications. In addition, I explore metasurface designs that fashion an interplay between symmetry, duality, and topology concepts in attempt to bring about new phenomena in wave-matter interactions and new device functionalities. Foremost, I aim at developing novel approaches for enabling next-generation communication and sensing applications. I also have special passion for wearable devices and futuristic electronic gadgets.

I am an IEEE H. A. Wheeler (Antenna) Applications Prize Paper of the year awardee (2016), a Hong Kong PhD Scheme fellow, a Sigma Pi Sigma National (USA) Physics Honor Society member, and a United World College alumnus. I received my B.Sc. degree in physics-engineering from Washington and Lee University, Virginia, US, in 2013 and my Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, in 2018. From Sep 2011 to Aug 2012, I was an affiliate research student at University College London, UK, and from Feb 2016 to Feb 2017, I was a visiting graduate student at University of California San Diego.

A bit on my research journey: During my undergrad studies at a liberal-arts college, I explored mini-projects in mechanical and civil engineering (the bulk part of my major), robotics, and statistical physics, which I supplemented with independent research study on antenna and microwave transmission lines design during my year abroad in London. The latter became a stepping-stone to my PhD research topic, which concerned millimeter-wave antennas for 5G applications. During a visiting graduate student position at Prof. Dan Sievenpiper's lab at UC San Diego, I extended my research to wave steering on metasurfaces and creating, for the first time, a waveguide of the edges of such structures. I later returned to the same group as a Postdoc to extend my discovery to the optical regime and implement structures known as photonic topological insulators using flat metasurfaces in effort to make these more practical. Since October 2020, I have been with the ASRC's photonic initiative working under Prof. Alù trying to produce new technological advances and build consumer-level microwave and optical devices.