Leah Espenhahn
Education
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Thesis: Heterogeneous Integration of III-V Epitaxial Material for Photonic Devices
August 2020 – Present (expected graduation May 2025), Urbana, IL
GPA 3.85/4.00
Minor in College Teaching – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
August 2022 – Present (expected completion May 2024), Urbana, IL
B.S. in Electrical Engineering — North Carolina State University
August 2016 – May 2020, Raleigh, NC
GPA 4.00/4.00, Summa Cum Laude
Minor in Nano-Science and Technology – North Carolina State University
August 2018 – May 2020, Raleigh, NC
Study Abroad Semester – Adam Mickiewicz University
August 2017 – September 2017, Poznan, Poland
Research Experience
Graduate Research Assistant — Advanced Semiconductor Device and Integration Group
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
July 2020 – Present
- Researching the heterogeneous integration of III-V material with silicon via epitaxial transfer and the fabrication of photonic devices into this integrated material.
Graduate Research Assistant — MAINTLET
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
July 2022 – Present
- Interfacing between computer science graduate students and cleanroom facilities and staff to make a “smart” cleanroom
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
August 2019 – April 2020
- Calibrated and ran metal deposition tools (ex. e-beam evaporators, DC sputter)
- Analyzed metal films (ex. profilometer, reflectometer)
Undergraduate Research Assistant — Nano-, Bio-, and Quantum Photonics REU
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
May 2019 – July 2019
- Developed program to automate analysis of photonic data
- Performed optical characterization, testing & analysis of photonic structures
Undergraduate Research Assistant — Applied Research Experience in ECE
Oakland University, Rochester, MI
May 2018 – July 2018
- Designed custom hardware via FPGA to optimize convolutional neural networks
Publications & Presentations
Factors Influencing Researcher Identities in Minority Gender Students in Electrical Engineering
Conference Paper [First author]
October 2024, IEEE FIE
Silicon Anti-Phase Optical Coatings for High-Power, Single-Mode Operation in Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers
Conference Paper [Co-author]
May 2024, CS MANTECH
VCSELs on Silicon
Invited Talk
April 2023, Compound Semiconductor (CS) International Conference
Heterogeneous Integration via Epitaxial Transfer of GaAs-VCSEL
Poster Presentation
April 2022, Center for Aggressive Scaling by Advanced Processes (ASAP)
Heterogeneously Integrated VCSELs on Silicon
Conference Paper [First author]
January 2022, SPIE Photonics West
Heterogeneous Integration for Silicon Photonic Systems: Challenges and Approaches
Conference Paper [Co-author]
April 2021, IEEE Electron Devices Technology and Manufacturing Conference
Using Microring Resonators for Biological Detection
Poster Presentation
July 2019, Kearns Summer Research Symposium
Hardware Implementation of Convolutional Neural Networks
Poster Presentation
July 2018, Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experience
Teaching Experience
Guest Lecturer — Introduction to Digital Materials (MSE 598)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
Spring 2023, Spring 2024
- Lectured on use of digital notebooks for scientific research
- Lectured on use of digital notebooks for scientific research
Graduate Teaching Assistant — Compound Semiconductors and Devices (ECE 488)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
Fall 2023
- Developed homeworks, maintained website, ran weekly office hours
Graduate Teaching Assistant — Semiconductor Devices (ECE 340)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
Fall 2021, Spring 2023
- Developed homeworks and ran semiweekly office hours
Graduate Teaching Assistant — Fields and Waves I (ECE 329)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
Spring 2022
- Head online TA
- Updated online resources, provided semiweekly office hours
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant — Intro. to Signals, Circuits and Systems (ECE 200)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Fall 2018
- Instructed students in introductory hands-on circuits labs
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant — Computer Systems Programming (ECE 209)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Spring 2018
- Assisted students with their C programming projects & answered questions
Service
Historically Underrepresented Genders (HUG) Mentor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
January 2023 – Present
- Mentoring undergraduate, underrepresented ECE students on their academic and career goals
Mentor for Nithiyassri Vivagandan – UIUC Undergraduate Student
Fall 2022 – Spring 2023
Current status: Senior in Materials Science and Engineering at UIUC
Awards
IDEA Institute GIANT Student Diversity Leadership Award – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
Promise of Excellence Fellowship – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 – 2021
Dean’s List – North Carolina State University, 2016 – 2020
University Scholar – North Carolina State University, 2016 – 2020
Dean’s Citation – University of Rochester, 2019