I did my bachelors here at Heriot-Watt, and in 2023, I graduated with an Integrated Masters in Physics. My 4th and 5th year project were both computational in nature, with the 4th year one focusing on solving for the Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation in MATLAB in an attempt to discover novel nonlinear effects. My 5th year project focused on designing Hollow-core revolver fibres with broadband properties for nonlinear guiding.
After I graduated, I went onto work as an R&D Laser Engineer at Skylark Lasers, where I spent a bit more than 2 years working on building Single Frequency UV and NIR lasers, where I spent a good amount of time working on optical bonding and UV contamination of optics. In addition, I also obtained experience in practical engineering (electronics, mechanical engineering, optical design).
I will be primarily working on laser writing and selective etching of exotic materials and plan to focus specifically on photonic circuits. However, a lot of what I do will also be focused on 3D beam shaping using 2 SLMs and I am also currently designing (and will eventually build) a 2 SLM writing/welding system which should allow us to do more advanced stuff from a point of manufacturing.