Alkesh Sumant

Alkesh was raised in the Chicago area and completed his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in ECE at UC Santa Barbara. Prior to joining UCSB, Alkesh was an Assistant Technical Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory from 2022-2026, where he co-developed fabrication processes for 200-mm photonic integrated circuit platforms. Alkesh’s current research interests focus on developing novel hybrid material platforms for integrated nonlinear and quantum photonics. Outside of research, he enjoys hiking, rowing, and learning new board games.

Recommended Reading: The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin is a fascinating sci-fi read for exploring humanity’s technological and philosophical struggle in the face of a distant extraterrestrial threat.