ASCENDS Team
We currently have open positions for PhD and Postdoctoral research positions. Prospective graduate students are encouraged to apply through the university for their application to be reviewed. Admitted students are requested to contact us directly.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Veena Misra
Misra is the Co-Director of the NSF Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST). She received her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. from NC State University in electrical engineering in 1991, 1992, and 1995, respectively. After working at the Advanced Products Research and Development Laboratories, Motorola Inc. in Austin, TX, she joined the North Carolina State University faculty in 1998.
She has authored or co-authored over 150 papers in the areas of state-of-the-art low-power CMOS devices, power devices, alternative high-mobility substrates, nanoscale magnetics, and energy harvesting. Misra received the 2001 NSF CAREER Award, the 2011 Alcoa Foundation Engineering Research Achievement award, and most recently the 2022 Holladay Medal for Excellence. She was also named to serve on the Microsystems Exploratory Council for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2022.
In 2024, Dean Jim Pfaendtner named her as the tenth Department Head for Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State.
In 2026, Provost Jim Pfaendtner named her as the Interim Dean of the College of Engineering
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Bongmook Lee
Dr. Lee’s research interests cover the broad area of device design, materials, fabrication, and characterization with the current focus on wide bandgap SiC, GaN, and Ga2O3 power devices, wide bandgap power integrated circuits, micro/nanoelectronic devices, wearable systems, and advanced semiconductor materials.
His H-index is currently 17 and his I-10 index, publications with 10 or more citations, is 30 with 1330 citations for all years. (42 peer-reviewed journals, 41 peer-reviewed conference proceedings, 37 conference abstracts/poster/talks, and 10 invention disclosures/3 provisional patents/2 patent)
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Neha Chaturvedi
Assistant Professor
Postdoctoral fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia.
Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India
Postdoctoral Researchers
If interested, please submit your C-V and personal statement to be reviewed.
Graduate Students
Anna Leonard
Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. Student
B.S. in MSE (2023) – NC State University
Research Focus: Optimization of organic photodiodes for SWIR imaging applications
Rachel Barker
Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D. Student
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering (2025) – Case Western Reserve University
Research Focus: Sensing, wearable devices for health applications
Undergraduate Students
Emily Kago
Electrical and Computer Engineering Student
Research Focus: Integrating electrospun nanofibers into MEMS gas sensors
Johanna Acosta
Electrical and Computer Engineering Student
Research Focus: Integrating electrospun nanofibers into MEMS gas sensors
Alumni
Post-Doctoral Researchers
Mahaboobbatcha Aleem, Ph.D. (2023-2026), Senior Research Scientist, A*STAR Research
Swati Deswal, Ph.D. (2023-2025), Process Engineer, Meta
Emran Ashik, Ph.D. (2024-2025), Senior Process Engineer, Fab2
Farzad Mohaddes, Ph.D. (2019-2023), Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Lees-McRae College
Ph. D. Students
Shima Arab, Ph.D. (2020-2026)
Yilu Zhou, Ph.D. (2019-2023), Senior Analog Design Engineer, Analog Devices
Akhilesh Tanneeru, Ph.D. (2015-2020), Engineer, Intel Corporation
Faisal Azam, Ph.D. (2014-2018), H-1 Avionics Engineer (GS-12), NAVAIR
Biplab Sarkar, Ph.D. (2012-2015), Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Masters Students
Hyoseon Lee, M.S. (2025-2026), Failure Analysis Engineer, Sandisk
Chloe Hawes, M.S. (2023-2024)
Undergraduate Students
Victor Stoshak, B.S. (2024), Electrical Analyst, Kimley-Horn