Trailokya Bhattarai is a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte), where his research focuses on advancing UV LEDs systems for microbial deactivation and integrating solar cell technology with UV LEDs. With a solid educational background, Trailokya earned his M.Sc. in Physics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, before pursuing an MS in Optical Science and Engineering at UNC Charlotte. He researchinterest includes UV LED system design, characterization and testing, solar cell integration and experimentation with microbes. In recognition of his outstanding research and academic achievements, Trailokya has been honored with prestigious awards at UNC Charlotte. In 2023, he was the reciepent of ‘Bharatkumar S. Joshi Memorial Scholarship’ and ‘International Student Scholarship’. In 2024, he has been awarded with ‘Joanna R. Baker Memorial Graduate Fellowship’ for his research contributions.

Abasifreke Ebong is a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also a Senior Member of IEEE. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Port Harcourt in 1984 and 1987, respectively, and earned a Ph.D. from the University of New South Wales in 1995. He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Silicon Solar Cells Samsung Electronics, Suwon (1995–1997). His research interests include Design, modeling, fabrication, characterization, and analysis of solar cells including crystalline, thin films and organic solar cells; Low-cost and high-efficiency solar cells (Silicon, III-V, etc.); Characterization and understanding of solar cell materials-contacts and interfaces; Surface passivation of electron devices; and III-V light emitting diodes for solid-state lighting.

Mohammad Yasin Akhtar Raja is a Professor of Physics and Optical Science and Engineering at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Charlotte, USA. He joined UNC, in Charlotte, in 1990 and served in various faculty positions with leadership roles in program committees. His research in Optical Science and Engineering spans Nanophotonic and Optoelectronic Devices, Components, Integrated Photonics, and Optical Networks, as well as the Internet of Things. He has several patents, over 200 published articles in peer-reviewed journals, and some book chapters and has refereed conference proceedings. He co-edited a book on “Nanotechnology for Telecommunications”, in June 2010. In 1988, he received his Ph.D. in Optoelectronics/Optical Physics from the University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, NM, USA, prior to which he had obtained an M. Phil. (Lasers) and an M.Sc. (Physics) from Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan. He has since conducted pioneering research on semiconductor lasers with “resonant periodic gain” (RPG), now called “VCSELs”, at CHTM, and, at UNC, in Charlotte, he has played a leading role in establishing new graduate degrees, including an MS in Applied Physics and a PhD in Optical Science and Engineering [http://opticscenter.uncc.edu]. He started the Int’l Symposia/Conference series IEEE “HONET-ICT” [http://honet-ict.org], with 5-year seed-funding, co-sponsored by NSF (USA) in 2004. He is a Fellow of SPIE, a Life-Senior Member IEEE, and a Life-Senior Member of Optica (formerly OSA).