Faculty & Staff

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In my 25 plus years at WPI, I have been actively engaged in teaching and research at a variety of levels. Our Projects Program is the place where these two activities naturally come together, and the Major Qualifying Projects (or senior theses) I have guided over the years have been among my most rewarding experiences. In the mid 1990s, I became interested in the field of Quantum Information Science, whose goal is to store information in quantum objects, such as single atoms or photons, and explore ways in which it can be harnessed to perform tasks beyond the scope of today’s computers. ...

Dr. Sathwik Bharadwaj is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Previously, he was a Research Scientist at the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Elmore School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Hyderabad, India. Dr. ...

Nancy Burnham graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1987 with a Ph.D. in Physics. Her dissertation concerned the surface analysis of photovoltaic materials. As a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory, she became interested in scanning probe microscopy, in particular its application to detecting material properties at the nanoscale. ...

Germano Iannacchione is a Professor in the Physics Department at WPI, joining the faculty in August 1998, with an area of expertise in thermo-physical property experimental research on order-disorder phenomena in condensed matter, with a focus on soft-matter materials, colloids/composites, and emergence far-from-equilibrium.  To date, there have been 11 Ph.D., 14 M.Sc., and 121 B.Sc. (senior thesis or MQP) physics students who have matured and graduated at WPI under his mentorship.  ...

My goal as teacher is to bridge diverse disciplines such as Physical and Biological Sciences. Learning and teaching bears no geographical obstacle and my academic career has taken me across three different continents, from Asia through Europe to United States of America. This experience has taught me the virtues of adaptability, which I encourage my students to learn. ...

One rewarding and exciting aspect of an academic position is the opportunity to teach and mentor students. My teaching experience started in my native country, Albania; although the two countries and systems are different, my interaction with the students is very much the same. I want to teach my students how to use physics in analyzing facts. The emphasis is on the understanding of the underlying ideas and concepts rather than the memorization and usage of formulas. At WPI, I have also been actively involved in research. ...

Research Interests:

• Plasma Physics
• Fusion Energy
• Medical Imaging

Bio:

My lab investigates research topics in Plasma Physics, Nuclear Fusion, and SPECT Imaging. In the area of plasma physics, I have extensive experience working with Tokamak magnetic confinement fusion devices from my time at MIT with a focus in plasma diagnostics and plasma turbulence. Currently, my lab is developing a helicon plasma source to investigate helicon wave heating in fusion plasmas and for use in deep space plasma thrusters. ...

I perform experimental and computational (Monte Carlo) research in the field of applied nuclear physics with a focus on Medical and Health Physics. Presently my research group is investigating: 1) developing a unique technique to enable ultrahigh-resolution in-vivo functional imaging using neutrons,

2) adapting Gen. IV micro-reactors as the core of a next generation research nuclear reactor which also can supply carbon-free energy to a campus, 

3) developing a 169Yb brachytherapy source to enable localized intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and, ...

Romain Murenzi joined Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) as a full professor of Physics in January 2024. His research interests include Wavelets, Groups, Phase Space Representations, Coherent States: Links Between Quantum Physics; and Signal Processing in One and More Dimensions. 

In addition to STEM, Murenzi is interested in expanding his research to social science and policy. This includes areas such as Science, Technology, and Innovation policy for sustainable development, science for society, science diplomacy, and providing scientific advice to governments. ...

I am delighted to collaborate with students and colleagues to enhance WPI’s global impact. WPI offers a vibrant and dynamic environment that emphasizes experiential learning and interdisciplinary research, with near-peer mentorship spanning the undergraduate and graduate programs and external stakeholders. ...

Dr. Pollard’s research focuses on teaching and learning in physics laboratory courses. ...

For me, Physics is like a sandbox. It gives me the opportunity to play and discover, test, be creative, learn something new. At the same time, I am passionate about passing the thrill of discovery to my students. Teaching is a two-way street in which both parties get enriched from each other. I welcome and embrace the partnership. I also believe that college is the biggest and best opportunity in one’s life to discover one’s calling and do something about it and I invite students to take full advantage of it. ...

Professor Trubko is an experimental quantum physicist who leads the WPI Quantum Sensing group. Her group uses ensembles of Nitrogen-vacancy quantum defects in diamond to image magnetic fields with high spatial resolution. We work both to develop state-of-the-art quantum instruments and to use them to study biomagnetism and magnetic properties of novel materials. ...

Professor Wen is an experimental biophysicist who is interested in applying physical methods to understand biological phenomena. By measuring the mechanical properties of living cells and the mechanical interaction between cells and ECM, he aims to understand how cells convert external mechanical signals to internal biochemical signals that govern cellular function, including cell morphology, migration, and differentiation. His research will help to design novel materials for wound healing, tissue engineering, and tumor treatment. ...

Dr. Wu is an active researcher with a focus on soft matter and biophysics, which is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses physics, biology, and engineering. His work centers on the study of active fluids, which are a class of soft materials that comprise self-propelling particles capable of generating their own motion without the need for external forces or energy sources. Dr. ...

Seyed A. (Reza) Zekavat received his PhD from Colorado State University in 2002. He is the Author of the textbook "Electrical Engineering: Concepts and Applications" published by Pearson, and the editor of the book “Handbook of Position Location: Theory, Practice and Advances,” published by Wiley/IEEE. He holds a patent on an active Wireless Remote Positioning System. ...

I am an applied mathematician working in the fields of small-scale fluid mechanics and microfluidics. My research includes both mathematical modeling and physical experiments. In particular, I am interested in particle and solute transport in small-scale systems, such as municipal water filtration facilities. I am the PI of the FMNTS Lab - Small-scale Fluid Mechanics and Transport Lab hosted at LEAP. ...

Students here at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have a lot of enthusiasm and ambition, and it certainly is contagious. Teaching brings a lot of joy because of this, and I find myself often trying just to keep up with the students! I love to collaborate with people from many different backgrounds and technical interests. For my research, I work in the area of molecular modeling: trying to understand and solve energy and environmental problems using high-powered computer simulations. I am also involved in supporting, educating, and empowering introverted students. ...

The overarching theme of my research is light-matter interactions and their applications in microscale and nanoscale. Particularly, my research interests include optical trapping, optofluidics, nanophotonics, cavity optomechanics, and fiber optic sensing systems, with an emphasis on optical actuation, damping, and sensing of mechanics in micro-/nano-scale structures and biological specimens. The potential applications of my research include on-chip disease diagnosis, in vivo disease treatments, motion detection in consumer electronics, health monitoring, and biomechanics. ...

Applied Mathematics is a broad subdiscipline within mathematics, and the theme of my work over the past two decades has been the application and practice of mathematics to fields in engineering and science.  In particular, my  ...

I use physical principles at the molecular scale to solve macroscopic problems in biology, e.g. How do a molecule’s mechanical properties influence the behavior of a cell?  How do single molecule measurements relate to muscle function?  To answer such questions, I use a combination of computer simulations and mathematical analysis.  This theoretical work is complemented by experiments performed by my collaborators.  In my teaching, I enjoy emphasizing connections between math and other disciplines.