Meet our Smart Nano Team Members - Katie Cavanagh

Name:  Katie Cavanagh 

Company: Yelo  

Role: Optical Physicist  

Introduction:
Katie works within Yelo’s Research and Development Team to improve current testing systems and to develop new ones. She also supports sales in helping customers.  

Based in Queen’s University Belfast, Katie has access to the extensive research facilities for her modelling and experimental work.   

Interest in Science 

Katie’s interest in science started in school, “I always liked Science in school, especially Physics and Chemistry. My a-level Physics teacher was incredibly enthusiastic about the subject, and it fuelled my interest.  I decided to study Physics at university. I really enjoyed working in the lab and was particularly interested in semiconductor Physics, which ultimately led me to pursue a PhD in the area”.  

Katie holds a BSc in Physics and a PhD in Electronic Engineering where her PhD work focused on the fabrication and characterization of III-nitride LEDs. “I really enjoyed the fabrication,” explained Katie, “After my PHD, I was a QTEC Fellow which changed my perspective on research and shaped how to think about research and I became more pragmatic”. QTEC is a world leading pre-incubator for innovators and quantum inspired technologies and offers a safe environment to explore the commercial potential of research and discoveries.  

Team member at Yelo 

Katie joined Yelo in September 2022 as an Optical Physicist in the Research and Development Team.  Her role is to improve current testing systems and develop new ones. “I’m excited to be in the lab and testing our ideas. As devices get smaller, testing them becomes more challenging so it’s exciting to be working on overcoming that. I want to achieve good solutions for testing challenges”.  

Personal perspective 

Katie lives in Newry. She is an avid interest in the wild outdoors and her European camping adventure took her to regions such as Slovakia national Park and Czechia. Her bucket list travel ambitions include Arches National Park (Utah), Austin Texas with a passion to go to SXSW festival, Bialowieza Forest in Poland and a visit Brazil.  

Sport consumes much of her personal time with an interest in Brazilian Jiujitsu with a rigorous training commitment of 6-10 sessions per week. Her ambition is to compete in major tournaments in 2023. Katie recently won gold in the open weight division at the Irish BJJ Championship. Over the next 5-10 years she wants to accomplish a black belt in BJJ (it takes a long time) and to have competed in and medalled at the European championships and the World Championships.  

Concluding Katie said, “I am very excited about my future career path in the world of photonics, and I plan to still be working in R&D in the next 5-15 years and see where things go!”