Noah A. Rubin

About

I am an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California San Diego, where I have been since 2024. Previously, I served as a Research Associate (and earlier, postdoctoral researcher) at Harvard University, where I also earned my Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2020. Throughout my time at Harvard, I was supervised by Prof. Federico Capasso. I completed my undergraduate studies in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015.

My research (so far) is in the field of optics, and in particular the intersection of polarization optics and nanophotonics. Structures with sizes near or at the scale of light’s wavelength exhibit polarization effects that have only recently begun to be understood and exploited for practical gain in optical systems. My work seeks to examine the role of optical polarization, and advanced strategies for control thereof, in optical systems of all kinds.

This work spans fundamental physics-oriented theory to, essentially, optical engineering of real systems for practical applications. My work has led to new theoretical understanding of the role of polarization in diffractive and Fourier optics, which has led to new technologies and optical instrumentation in areas as diverse as astronomy and consumer electronics.

Some keywords (non-exhaustive list) that characterize my work include optical polarization, nanophotonics, diffractive optics, “metasurfaces”, holography, polarization imaging/polarimetry, Mueller matrix polarimetry, astrophotonics, polarization in integrated photonics.

For more detailed information, please take a look at my past publications or better yet, check these on Google Scholar.

Honors

• (2024) Named to “Photonics 100” List by Electro-Optics Magazine.
• (2015) James Mills Pierce Fellowship (Harvard University).
• (2015) National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
• (2015) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship.
• (2014) Vagelos Challenge Award (University of Pennsylvania).

Invited Talks (non-exhaustive)

• (2024) Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech
• (2024) SPIE Optics + Photonics
• (2024) San Diego State University Physics Colloquium
• (2023) University of California San Diego Dept. of ECE Seminar
• (2023) Texas A&M University Quantum Optics Colloquium
• (2020) Henri Poincare Webinar (SPIE)
• (2019) Physics of Quantum Electronics meeting (Snowbird, UT)
• (2018) Google, Inc.

Journal Review Service

• Nature
• Nature Photonics
• Nature Communications
• Science
• Science Advances
• Optica
• Optics Express
• Optics Letters
• ACS Photonics

Conference Panels

• CLEO FS8 (2024-present)
• SPIE Polarization Science & Remote Sensing (2024-present)

Advising Philosophy

Ph.D. Students

I look for Ph.D. students who have a high degree of curiosity, initiative, and drive. The process of Ph.D. study should be a highly independent undertaking, and should culminate in an original direction largely defined and executed by the Ph.D. student. My role in this process is that of a facilitator, providing intellectual and organizational support to what should, in the end, be a highly independent undertaking of the student’s creation. In taking on a new Ph.D. student, it is my goal to define an initial smaller-scale project that, upon completion, should yield a publishable result. My hope is that this serves to launch the student in an independent direction defined in collaboration with me.

Ph.D. study in optics requires a significant drive and love of subject – it is a good option for those who are intensely curious about optics and its role in technology, and who possess strong skills in physics and mathematics.

My colleague Prof. Daniel Sievenpiper has written an excellent summary on expectations for graduate students that I believe Ph.D. students at UCSD should read.

Hobbies

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time outside — most of all on my bicycle. In years past, I have taken a number of long-distance bicycle trips, including one coast-to-coast across the United States in 2015. In recent years, my favorite trip was one taken in the Summer of 2021 traversing the Adirondack Mountains in New York State.