Roark Chao

Education

• University of California, Santa Barbara - B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2024)
  • Minor in Physics

Bio

Hey! I'm Roark (pronounced like "dork", but with an 'r' instead of a 'd'), and I'm a graduate student in the BS/MS Electrical and Computer Engineering program here at UCSB. I joined the group in the beginning of 2022 as a 2nd year B.S. student so I've been here for a little while. Right now, I act as the web master of the group and try my best to keep the website up-to-date! I combine optimization techniques (bayesian, evolutionary, adjoint, etc.) with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) simulations to study the fundamental aspects of light-matter interactions.

Light-matter interactions are particularly interesting to me because I'd like to see a world where devices are so thin and light (absolute BANGER of a pun btw) that dropping a phone onto my face when I sleep will NOT wake me up. Outside of science, I tend to be found in the wild doing random things that I find fun, such as reading and watching perhaps what I would refer to as "classics"