Uttam Manna has joined the Illinois State faculty as an assistant professor of physics. He holds a Ph.D. in experimental physics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Before arriving at Illinois State, he worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the James Franck Institute at The University of Chicago and the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University.
Manna’s research interests are in the fields of experimental optical physics, and nanophotonics. At Illinois State, he is currently exploring new ways to “artificially” induce magnetic resonance in structures that are inherently nonmagnetic in nature for the purpose of using them in novel optical devices such as invisibility cloak, nano-antenna, etc. He has co-authored more than 25 articles in reputed peer-reviewed journals that include Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev E., Nano Letters, and Applied Physics Letters, and has presented more than 30 presentations at international conferences.
Manna is also active in the scientific community as a peer reviewer for journals including Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics, and Optics Express. In 2009 under the Suas Volunteer Program, he provided cultural and language training to volunteers to work in a community-based school or educational projects in India and Kenya.
