Sangeeta Murugkar

Dr. Sangeeta Murugkar is a physicist with wide ranging research experience in areas such as biomedical photonics, optical spectroscopy, fiber optics and semiconductor physics. She is the Laboratory Manager and the Senior Scientist in Professor Robert Boyd’s group at the University of Ottawa. Prior to this she led the development of a unique portable, miniaturized multimodal CARS microscope for biomedical imaging at the University of Ottawa. She has also acquired 5 years of experience in industry while working as a Scientist in the telecommunication and environment industry in Ottawa. In her current research work involving nanophotonics, Dr. Murugkar is excited by the opportunity to develop a miniature spectrometer on a silicon chip. This novel device also referred to as a slow-light spectrometer is based on slowing the velocity of light on the chip. Such a compact device would have numerous applications ranging from the detection of unique molecular signatures from pathogens and toxins used in chemical and biological warfare agents or in the field of health care, for example in the detection of biomarkers for cancer and other diseases.