Principle Investigator

Prof. Pai-Yen Chen [Bio; CV in PDF; Google Scholar]
Office: Room 1101, Sciences and Engineering Offices (SEO)

Dr. Pai-Yen Chen is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013. He has been involved in multidisciplinary research on electromagnetics, high-frequency electronics, wireless sensors and systems, plasmonics, metamaterials, nanophononics and nano-optics. He has published a great number of papers, including Nature, Nature Electronics, Nature Nanotechnology,  and 9 US patents in these fields. He received several awards and professorships, including IEEE Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award, IEEE Sensors Council Distinguished Lecturer (2024-2026), IEEE Sensors Council Young Professional Award, IEEE AP-S Raj Mittra Travel Grant (RMTG) Award, NSF CAREER Award, SPIE Rising Researcher Award, University of Illinois Scholar, UIC Researcher of the Year, UIC Proof-of-Concept Award, UIC College of Engineering Research Excellence Award, UAAT International Young Visiting Scholar, AFRL Faculty Fellowship, ACES Early Career Award, PIERS Young Scientist Award, URSI Young Scientist Award, Donald Harrington Fellowship, University of Texas Professional Development Award, and URSI Ernest K. Smith Student Paper Prize, among others. He currently serves as Track Editor for IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Topical Editor of IEEE Sensors Journal, Senior Editor for IEEE Journal of Selected Areas in Sensors, and Associate Editor for Optics Express, Advanced Photonics Nexus, and IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. He was an Associate Editor for and IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology (IEEE-JERM), IEEE Journal of Radio Frequency Identification, and Applied Electromagnetics. He is a Fellow of IEEE and Optica (formerly OSA). 

Postdoctoral Fellows

Duc Anh Pham [web]
Postdoctoral Fellow – August 2024 to present
PhD, Chung-Ang University, Korea
MS, Chung-Ang University, Korea
BS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Vietnam
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Graduate Students

Xuecong Nie [web] (part-time)
PhD student – August 2019 to present
MS, University of Michigan
BS, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Saad Alshahrani
PhD student – August 2022 to present
MS, University of Michigan
BS, University of Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Yichong Ren [web]
PhD student – August 2022 to present
MS, University of Essex, UK
BS, Northwest University, China
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Nga Vu [web]
PhD student – August 2023 to present
MS, École normale supérieure (ENS) Paris-Saclay, France
BS, Hanoi University of Science & Technology, Vietnam
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Nanshu Wu [web]
PhD student – August 2023 to present
MS, Jiling University, China
BS, Jiling University, China
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Zong-Ru Lee [web]
PhD student – August 2024 to present
Former PhD student, UCLA
MS, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
Office: Room 4210, Science and Engineering Laboratories West

Lab Alumni

Thank you so much, my past and current coworkers for your hard work and dedication, and for maintaining a productive and inspiring work environment. I am grateful beyond measure to work with you!

Dr. Trung Dũng Hà [web]
RF/EM Design Engineer, Skyworks Solutions, Inc., USA
PhD student, 2020 – January 2025

Dr. Chia-Heng Sun
Process Engineer, Micron Technology, Inc., USA
PhD student, 2022- January 2025

Prof. Asim Mohammed Alkhaibari [web]
Assistant Professor, University of Umm Al-Qura, Saudi Arabia
PhD student, 2020 – 2024

Prof. Nabeel A. Alsaab
Assistant Professor, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
PhD student, 2019 – February 2024

Prof. Zhilu Ye
Assistant Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
PhD student, 2019 -2023

Prof. Minye Yang
Assistant Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
PhD student, 2019 – 2023

Dr. Yi-Huan Chen
Senior Engineer, Advanced Electromagnetics Technical Division, ASUS, Taiwan
PhD student, 2016- 2022
(under supervision of Prof. Rashid Ansari from 2016 to 2020)

Dr. Liang Zhu
Research Scientist, Maxtena, USA
PhD student, 2016 – May 2021

Dr. Maryam Sakhdari
Principle Technologist, Blue Origin, USA
PhD student,  2015 – 2019

Dr. Mehdi Hajizadegan
Technology Lead, Avantech Law LLP, USA
PhD student,  2015 – 2019

Prof. Nasser Alkhaldi
Assistant Professor, Jubail Industrial College, Saudi Arabia
PhD student,  2015 – 2019

Prof. Qingsong Cui
Assistant Professor, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, USA
Postdoctoral fellow, 2015 – 2017

Dr. Mohamed Hussein Ahmed
Researcher, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Germany
Visiting Scholar, January 2017 – July 2017

Haysam Kadry
Engineer, Ford Motor Company
PhD student,  2016 – 2018

Mohit Manhas
MS student/Educational outreach assistant
2016 – 2018

Samin Sohrabi
Graduate Research Assistant, University of Illinois Chicago
PhD student,  2023- 2024

Parham Heidarzadeh
Graduate Research Assistant, University of Toledo
2023- 2025

Saman Sheikh-Ahmadi
MS student
2024 – 2026