New Photonics Course Wins Spot in UCSB Summer Research Academy
Advancing NASA QPI's mission to train the quantum technology workforce
Graduate students from across all departments at UCSB were invited to develop curriculum for a 4-week course centered on their field of research. A new course on photonics, with a strong emphasis on quantum technologies, was selected as one of the winners and will be offered in Summer 2026.
Developed by OCAQPI graduate student Abby Shull, the course introduces students to how photonic integrated circuits can be used to manipulate light to enable applications ranging from communications to quantum sensing. As Instructor of Record, Abby will guide students through the photonics design workflow - from physical intuition to simulation to chip-scale photonic layouts.
This effort directly supports the outreach goals of the NASA Quantum Pathways Institute, a NASA/STMD Space Technology Research Institute in which UCSB’s OCAQPI collaborates with partners at UT Austin, CU Boulder, and Caltech to advance next generation climate science using quantum advantage for measurement of mass change from space.
