7 graduate and 6 undergraduate researchers, plus the alumni who built what we run on.
Prospective lab members
We are actively looking for postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates to join the lab. Please reach out to Professor Nordin if you are interested in joining or want to learn more about our research.
The open postdoctoral position requires a U.S. person (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident), as a condition of the supporting award.
Faculty
Leland Nordin
Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engineering and CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics
Leland joined UCF in 2023. He earned his PhD and MSE in Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Physics with Honors from Grinnell College, then held a Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Mukherjee Group at Stanford. His work has been recognized with an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award, an Army Research Office Early Career Program award, and a UCF Reach for the Stars Award.
leland.nordin@ucf.edu · Google Scholar · CREOL A235
Graduate Students
Biridiana Rodriguez
Graduate Research Assistant
Physics PhD, Optics specialization
Joined Summer 2024
Climbing, cooking, painting
Francisco Hernandez
Graduate Research Assistant
Optics & Photonics PhD
Joined Summer 2024
Netflix, soccer, and playing with a Flipper Zero
Mark Martino
Graduate Research Assistant
Optics & Photonics PhD
Joined Fall 2024
Vincent Miller
Graduate Research Assistant
Optics & Photonics PhD
Joined Fall 2025
Guitar
Yufei “Sam” Chang
Graduate Research Assistant
Materials Science & Engineering PhD
Joined Fall 2025
Stuart Plaugher
Graduate Research Assistant
Optics & Photonics PhD
Joined Summer 2026
Dalton Spalding
Graduate Research Assistant
Optics & Photonics PhD
Joined Fall 2026
Undergraduate Researchers
John Burritt
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Mechanical Engineering
Joined Fall 2023
Carpentry and woodwork; making and fixing random devices
Brandon Goetz
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Photonic Sciences & Engineering
Joined Spring 2025
Card games, bowling, and skiing
Ben Sprenger
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joined Fall 2025
Brody Yeung
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joined Spring 2026
Mackenzie Coffey
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joined Summer 2026
Tristan Langhorne
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joined Fall 2026
Alumni
Graduate
Undergraduate
- Thang “Timmy” Ly — Summer 2026
- Olivia Gonzalez — Spring 2024 – 2026
- Jacob Melendez — Spring 2025 – 2026
- Luke Tattersall — Spring 2025 – 2026
- Yiwei “Vivien” Yan — Spring 2026
- Henry Park — Summer 2025
- Miguelangel Otero — Spring 2025 – Summer 2025
- Nathan Thomas — Spring 2024 – Spring 2025
- Sam Sirna — NSF REU, Summer 2024
- Dillon Rawlings — Summer 2024
- Jason Ha — Fall 2023 – Fall 2024
- Michael Soto — Fall 2023 – Fall 2024