Galan Moody

Professor

Electrical and Computer Engineering

805.893.6141

Biography

Galan is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCSB. He is a member and thrust co-lead of the UCSB NSF Quantum Foundry. Prior to moving to Santa Barbara, he was a Research Scientist (2015-2019) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado, a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow at NIST (2013-2015), and a postdoctoral associate at the University of Texas Austin (2013). He received his PhD in Physics (2013) and his BSc in Engineering Physics (2008) from the University of Colorado Boulder. His research focuses on the design, fabrication, and testing of integrated quantum photonic devices and semiconductor materials relevant for quantum information processing, communications, and sensing, including III-V materials, 2D materials, and hybrid quantum systems.

Education

2013 - PhD in Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder
2008 - BSc in Engineering Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder

Previous Positions

2023-2025 - Associate Professor, UCSB
2019-2023 - Assistant Professor, UCSB
2015-2019 - Research Scientist, NIST (Group: Richard Mirin and Sae Woo Nam)
2013-2015 - National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, NIST (Group: Richard Mirin and Sae Woo Nam)
2013 - Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Physics, UT-Austin (Group: Xiaoqin Li)

Awards and Honors

2025 - Photonics100 2026 Award Recipient
2024 - ACS Rising Star in Photonics
2024 - UCSB CoE Outstanding Faculty Award in EE (thank you graduating seniors!)
2022 - Optica Senior Member
2022 - IEEE Senior Member
2021 - NSF CAREER Award
2020 - AFOSR Young Investigator Research Award
2018 - NIST Innovations in Measurement Science
2018 - ICSNN Young Scientist Award
2013 - 2015 - NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship

Professional Activities

2025 - Topic Co-Chair, IEEE Summer Topical Meeting, Integrated Quantum Photonics and Signal Processing for Quantum Communications
2024 - Present - Program Committee, IEEE RAPID Meeting, Quantum Photonics
2024 - Present - Editorial Board, PRX Quantum
2024 - Present - Program Chair, CLEO (for 2026 conference)
2024 - Present - Chair, FiOLS, LS2: Quantum Science
2024 - Present - Member, IEEE Photonics West Technical Program Committee
2024 - Present- Member, FOPS Technical Program Committee
2024 - 2025 - Member, IEEE QCE24 Program Committee, Quantum Photonics
2023 - 2025 - Chair, CLEO FS3: Quantum Photonics
2023 - Topic Co-Chair, IEEE Summer Topical Meeting, Quantum and Cryogenic Photonics
2022 - Present - UCSB IEE Faculty Leadership Committee
2022 - Board Member, Bristol Quantum Information Technologies Workshop
2022 - Guest Editor, Journal of Lightwave Technology special issue on Integrated Photonics for Quantum Technologies
2022 - Guest Editor, MRS Bulletin on Materials for Ultra-Efficient, High-Speed Optoelectronics
2021 - Present - NSF and DOE Review Panels
2021 - 2023 - Program Committee, CLEO FS3: Quantum Photonics
2021 - Program Committee, IEEE EDTM Conference
2020 - Present - UCSB NSF Quantum Foundry Thrust 3 Co-Lead
2020 - Present - Editorial Board Member, IOP Journal of Physics: Photonics
2020 - 2023- Program Committee, IEEE RAPID Meeting, 2D and Topological Materials
2020, 2021 - Elings Prize Fellowship Committee
2020 - 2021 - Guest Editor, IOP JPhys Photonics Special Issue on Single Photon Emitters and Detectors
2013 - Present - Reviewer for Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Nature Physics, Nature Communications, Science, Science Advances, PRL, PRX, PRB, PR Applied, APL, APL Photonics, Optica, Optics Letters, Optics Express, Nano Letters

Teaching

Spring 2025 - ECE 136C: Quantum Photonics Learning Lab
Fall 2024 - ECE10C/10CL: Circuits Devices, and Systems
Spring 2024 - ECE 136C: Quantum Photonics Learning Lab
Spring 2023 - ECE 136C: Quantum Photonics Learning Lab
Fall 2023 - ECE 594BB: Toolsets for Quantum Information Science (co-taught)
Spring 2023 - ECE 136C: Quantum Photonics Learning Lab
Winter 2023 - ECE 120A: Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication
Winter 2023 - ECE 594: 2D Material Optoelectronics Lab
Fall 2022 - ECE 10C/10CL: Circuits, Devices, and Systems
Spring 2022 - ECE 594/194: Quantum Photonics Learning Lab
Spring 2022 - ECE 120B: Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication
Winter 2022 - ECE 120A: Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication
Spring 2021 - ECE 594: Advanced Quantum Photonics Teaching Lab
Spring 2021 - PHYS 250: Introduction to Quantum Information (co-taught)
Fall 2020 - ECE10C/10CL: Circuits Devices, and Systems
Winter 2020 - ECE 594: Introduction to Quantum Photonics
Fall 2019 - ECE10C/10CL: Circuits Devices, and Systems

Publications and Presentations

Galan is a co-author on over 75 journal papers, 75 contributed conference presentations, and 100 invited conference presentations, workshops, seminars, and colloquia.