Girija Gaur - 2016-17 SPIE Women in Optics Planner
PhD Candidate, Vanderbilt University, USA
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Country of Birth: India LinkedIn: Girija Gaur |
From a very young age I have always been inquisitive about everything around me. As a child I remember being fascinated by the way light reflects off different surfaces differently. Now I realize that the science behind it is in no way trivial! Following my interests, a career in science and engineering just happened naturally.
My current research focuses on developing optical sensors to mitigate CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) threats. This involves the design, fabrication, chemical surface modification, and testing of new micron-scale devices that are capable of transducing the interaction of light with active sensing regions into a measureable output signal. Any presence of a CBRN threat will perturb the light interacting with the active sensing regions causing a change in output signal. Many of these sensing platforms are capable of making in-roads into the emerging field of personalized healthcare through offering portable, low-cost, lab-on-chip sensing solutions for detecting a variety of viruses and disease-specific biomarkers.
Networking at scientific conferences is a great way to socialize with people in related fields and share exciting developments. It can help build collaborations and eventually help with finding the type of job you really want.