This fall, three new tenure-track faculty members will join the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University. The new hires are part of a strategic effort to expand the department’s programs in lasers, photonics, and computer engineering – critical areas of importance in our technological world.
“Given the pervasive and transformative nature of technology, our discipline is evolving rapidly,” said Edwin Chong, ECE department head. “We are thrilled to welcome three emerging leaders to help drive innovation and engage the next generation of electrical and computer engineers.”
The new faculty will bolster teaching and learning, strengthen external collaborations, and expand the ECE research enterprise.
Meet the new ECE faculty members
Reed Hollinger begins his new role as an assistant professor. Hollinger came to CSU 12 years ago as a graduate student studying with University Distinguished Professor Jorge Rocca.
“I remember when I walked into the laser lab, I thought, I have no idea what I’m looking at, but I really want to learn,” said Hollinger. Fueled by that curiosity, Hollinger helped build one of the world’s most powerful lasers developed and housed at CSU.
After earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and physics from CSU in 2018, Hollinger served as a research scientist at CSU’s Center for Advanced Lasers and Extreme Photonics. As an experimental physicist, he studies ultra-high energy density states of matter, including laser nanostructure interactions, x-ray radiography, and x-ray computed tomography.
“Becoming a faculty member is about mentoring students,” said Hollinger. “I want to give students the same meaningful experience Jorge gave me.”
Kaveh (Hassan) Rahbardar Mojaver joins the ECE department as an assistant professor. He comes to CSU from McGill University in Montréal, where he served as a postdoctoral research fellow with the Photonic DataCom team. Mojaver earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Concordia University in 2018. During his studies, he was a teaching assistant for an array of ECE courses and served as a lecturer. “I love teaching as much as research,” he said.
Mojaver’s research focuses on photonic integration for optical computing, quantum computing, and data communications. “Computation is getting crazy these days with machine learning and AI,” said Mojaver. He is developing energy efficient hardware to address the rapidly increasing computational demand of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
“CSU has excellent faculty working in my area. My research will build on the great foundation they’ve built,” he said.
Biswajit Ray joins the department as an associate professor. “CSU was one of my dream choices,” said Ray. Prior to joining CSU, he was an associate professor of ECE at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Ray earned his Ph.D. in ECE from Purdue University in 2013. Before pursuing a career in academia, he was a senior device engineer for SanDisk Corporation, where he developed 3D NAND Flash memory technology.
Ray’s research interests span the boundaries of electronic devices and systems, with a focus on improving security, reliability, non-volatility, and energy efficiency of solid-state storage systems. He received an NSF CAREER award in 2022 for his work to develop resilient, secure, and energy efficient storage systems for extreme conditions such as space.
“First and foremost, the existing faculty members attracted me to CSU,” said Ray. “The location was also a draw. I see many opportunities for collaboration with the local aerospace and semiconductor industries.”
