Q&A with Shiva Bhutiani

What project are you working on?

I am working on multiple projects, attempting to bring silicon photonics and free space optics (FSO) together, for optical wireless communication applications. One of my current projects is an unorthodox-Mersenne telescope design that enables both transmit and receive paths (bi-directionality) through a single aperture for deployment in terrestrial and outer-space FSO communication scenarios.

What problem(s) are you aiming to address through your research?

As data capacity requirements increase in outer-space, scientists are switching to FSO links that are license-free, extremely power-efficient and support way higher data-rates than conventional RF-based systems. I, as an optical communication engineer, want to bridge the gap between FSO and silicon photonic technologies by developing low-loss Si-components like optical grating couplers, wavelength-selective add/drop filters, etc. and deployable bi-directional FSO telescopes, enabling point-to-point optical communication for both terrestrial and outer-space links.

What inspired you to pursue this program of study?

Having worked as an FSO/Photonics researcher for around 2 years back in India, I just fell in love with optics and photonics during my tenure as a FSO researcher at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Working on advancing optical communication technologies made me realize that this is what I wanted to pursue as my higher studies & career.