Welcome David!
Meet David, who is starting this week as a micro-opto-electro-mechanical (MOEMS) engineer, who will be working on simulating and experimentally demonstrating the photonic integrated circuit (PIC) side of the technology at the heart of Zero Point Motion.
David has a master’s degree in Physics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in quantum optics from University of Bristol, where his research focused on generating and detecting quantum states of light using silicon photonics chips.
Particularly apparent from his PhD was the potential scalability of silicon photonics. “There’s a lot of focus currently on integrated (i.e. chip-scale) quantum optics which is very exciting, but there are also many big leaps forward using classical technologies and the quality of modern fabrication processes that are being overlooked.”
Immediately after submitting his thesis, David was a consultant for another exciting start-up in the same building (QTIC) as Zero Point Motion, Siloton, where he worked on developing integrated photonics solutions for diagnosing age-related blindness.
It was here that he first met Lia. “It was immediately obvious to me that the company’s scope could be very broad, but what really impressed me was the attention to detail in both the technology and the route-to-market. Coming from the quantum space where world-changing impact is likely still several years away, this was a really exciting opportunity.”
David will be focusing on the opto-electronics aspects of the sensor, developing and improving initial prototypes and later contributing to fully integrated demonstrations of the technology. He’s excited to continue developing his knowledge of photonics and electronics and learn about micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).
In his spare time David enjoys paddle-boarding around Bristol and playing the alto and tenor saxophones. After the Covid pandemic limited his ability to work collaboratively in his PhD, he’s excited to work closely with colleagues once again. “I’m really excited by the team that Lia is assembling: there’s so much expertise in so many different areas. Those are the perfect conditions to learn exciting new science, solve interesting engineering problems, and have fun doing it all.”