About Me

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Aleks Rakic group (Photonics Engineering Group) at The University of Queensland (UQ), specialising in terahertz (THz) nanophotonics and scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). I completed my Ph.D. at UQ, focusing on SNOM. I’m a lecturer and co-teach a third-year course: ELEC3100 Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Waves and Fields with Prof. Aleksandar D. Rakić since 2024.

Previously, I earned an M.S. from The University of Hong Kong, studying deep learning for image segmentation, and a B.Sc. from Northeastern University, where I researched spin wave dynamics and piezoelectric nanodevices.

Open Educational Resources

My teaching philosophy is application-driven engineering education. I believe students first need to understand why a concept matters before diving into the mathematics behind it. Real-world engineering examples, interactive demonstrations, and computational tools are integrated throughout my teaching to bridge theory and practice.

Fast Fourier Transform for Engineers in the Making

A 25–30-minute introductory FFT lecture designed for undergraduate engineering students, with an optional 5–10-minute matrix-based explanation.

View the full teaching-demo page

Download the FFT lecture slides (.pptx)

Theses

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia [07/2018 - 12/2022]

Supervisor: Prof. Aleksandar D. Rakić (亚历山大·挚爱的·拉基奇) UQ Profile (Super and genuinely supportive: 大好人，物理直觉和基本功扎实，谦虚，不瞎吹牛，很靠谱，做事很有逻辑，不虚伪)
Thesis: Light-matter interactions at the nanoscale: a case for terahertz near-field spectroscopy in semiconductor nanodevices

M.Sc.(Eng) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China [09/2017 - 12/2018]

Supervisor: A/Prof. Yik-Chung WU (胡奕聪) Google Scholar HKU personal web 他数学基本功扎实，最擅长Tensor，做通信的，上课真的是思维体操，但是很接地气。
Thesis: Deep learning in medical image segmentation - prostate cancer localisation

B.Sc. in Applied Physics, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Lianing Province, China [09/2013 - 06/2017]

Thesis Supervisor: Prof. An DU (杜安) (expertise in magnetic film and superconductivity，早期是做超导，后期主要做磁性薄膜设计和计算)
Thesis: Spin wave dynamics in ribbon-shape magnetic materials
Undergraduate Research (year 2 to 3) Supervisor: Prof. Xinyu XUE (薛欣宇)ResearchGate (主要是做压电，现在转做器件搞应用和落地)

Selected Publications

A SNOM chapter on Quantum cascade laser roadmap, Journal of Physics: Photonics arXiv version
A review article on terahertz optical nanoscopy, Applied Physics Review
Optical constants from terahertz s-SNOM and applications on semiconductor quantum devices:
- Applied Physics Letters (Nature Index journal)
- Nanophotonics
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Nature Index journal)

Nanoscale chemical composition and functional group spatial distribution (<50 nm)
- Nanocasle interdiffusion of degradable polymer blended phases: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing

Professional Service

Journal Editorial Board Member (Youth):

PhotoniX Life — As a life science–focused companion to PhotoniX [IF: 19] the journal welcomes cutting-edge research (and reviews) in photonics and its applications to biology and life sciences.

Journal Reviewer (20+ journals):

External Grant Reviewer:

Somewhere in Europe (**)

Conference Service:

Session Chair:
- Interim chair of morning sessions [THz part] for 2024 International Symposium on Ultrafast Phenomena and THz Waves (ISUPTW 2024).
Technical Program Committee Member:
- 4th and 5th International Conference on Advanced Optics & Photonics Research in Engineering.

Conference Reviewer:

Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS),
International Conference on Optical Communication and Optical Information Processing (OCOIP),
International Academic Conference on Optics and Photonics (IACOP), etc.

Dr. Xiao Guo