{ "148612-21904526": { "datetime_modified":"20261026T085802", "datetime_start":"20261105T110000", "datetime_end":"20261105T120000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-11-05", "date_end":"2026-11-05", "time_start":"11:00:00", "time_end":"12:00:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"Quantum Research Institute | Rethinking Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors", "occurrence_title":"", "combined_title":"Quantum Research Institute | Rethinking Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors: Pankaj Jha (Syracuse University)", "event_subtitle":"Pankaj Jha (Syracuse University)", "event_type":"Workshop \/ Seminar", "event_type_id":"21", "description":"Zoom: In the Meeting Invite\nIn-Person: West Hall, Room 411\n\nAbstract:\nSuperconducting nanowire single-photon detectors combine near-perfect efficiency, exceptional timing precision, and almost no false counts, making them a key enabling technology for quantum information science. Yet two long-standing constraints limit their wider use: they must operate at liquid-helium temperatures, and their design imposes a fundamental trade-off. A large active area captures more light, while a small one offers higher speed, lower noise, and sharper timing. In this talk, I will present two complementary approaches to easing these constraints. The first rethinks the material. Exfoliated van der Waals flakes of an iron-based superconductor produce a fast, self-resetting photoresponse well above liquid-helium temperatures. I will discuss what it will take to achieve single-photon sensitivity. Because this approach leads to smaller detectors, efficient light collection becomes even more important. The second approach rethinks optics. Cryogenic dielectric metasurfaces act as flat lenses, allowing a small detector to collect light like a much larger one. They can also add new functions, such as sorting photons by polarization onto neighboring detectors. Together, these approaches point toward single-photon detectors that are warmer, smaller, and more capable, with reduced size, weight, power, cost, and cooling demands. They could open new opportunities across quantum technologies, photonics, and sensing.\n\nBio:\nPankaj K. Jha is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, with an affiliated appointment in Physics, where he leads the Quantum Technology Laboratory. He received his PhD in Physics from Texas A&M University and was a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley and Caltech before joining Syracuse. His research integrates 2D materials, metamaterials, and superconducting devices to advance quantum photonic technologies, focusing on next-generation single-photon detectors. His work has been highlighted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Kavli Foundation, and the Moore Foundation. His honors include a 2023 Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Visiting Faculty Research Program Fellowship and a 2023 Syracuse University Faculty Creative Activities and Research (FCAR) Grant. His research is supported by the NSF, AFRL, DARPA, and Google.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"148612-21904526@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/148612", "building_id":"null", "building_name":"Off Campus Location", "campus_maps_id":"1", "room":"411", "location_name":"West Hall", "has_livestream":1, "livestream_type":"other", "livetream_require_login":0, "livestream_id":"", "livestream_link":"", "cost":"", "tags":["Astronomy","Applied Physics","Quantum Science","Quantum Computing","Quantum","Physics","Materials Science","Electrical Engineering And Computer Science","Electrical And Computer Engineering","Computer Science And Engineering","Chemistry"], "website":"", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Electrical Engineering and Computer Science", "group_id":"3989", "website":"" } ], "image_url":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "styled_images":{ "event_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_large_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_large_lightbox":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_large_lightbox\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "group_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "group_thumb_square":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_thumb_square\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "group_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "group_large_lightbox":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/group_large_lightbox\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_large_crop":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_large_crop\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_list":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_list\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_list_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/event_list_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_grid":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_grid\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_grid_2x":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_grid_2x\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_feature_large":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_feature_large\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg", "event_feature_thumb":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/cache\/resolve\/event_feature_thumb\/media\/attachments\/2026\/10\/event_148612_original-1.jpg" }, "occurrence_count":1, "first_occurrence":21904526 } , "152086-21912972": { "datetime_modified":"20261008T085913", "datetime_start":"20261105T180000", "datetime_end":"20261105T193000", "has_end_time":1, "date_start":"2026-11-05", "date_end":"2026-11-05", "time_start":"18:00:00", "time_end":"19:30:00", "time_zone":"America\/Detroit", "event_title":"Defining the Discipline of Robotics for Excellence and Equity in an AI-driven World", "occurrence_title":"", "combined_title":"Defining the Discipline of Robotics for Excellence and Equity in an AI-driven World: Chad Jenkins", "event_subtitle":"Chad Jenkins", "event_type":"Lecture \/ Discussion", "event_type_id":"13", "description":"Start with a simple question: What is the best major for a student to become a roboticist? In my role leading the creation of the Robotics Undergraduate Major at Michigan, we tackled this question through the curricular challenge of how to both: 1) educate people to put ideas of the robotics discipline into practice and 2) endow them with the intellectual lens for creating new ideas that extend the frontiers of the robotics discipline -- where mobility and dexterity through humanoid robots are poised to have a transformative impact in our increasingly AI-driven world.\n\nIn this talk, I will discuss my work to both advance the state of the art in semantic understanding for robotics and prepare students for possible futures where robotics and AI are abundant and ubiquitous. I will present the design, launch, and innovations for the Michigan Robotics Major for undergraduates, as robotics emerges into its own as a true academic discipline. I will describe highlights from research in semantic 3D perception for mobile manipulation robots (including humanoids) to understand the form and function (or affordances) for a diversity of objects in common environments. I will also share insights from my role as Program Chair of the AAAI-26 Conference (and its roughly 30,000 submissions) and how this role, and my experiences with Amazon AWS Machine Learning University, has reshaped my perspective on AI for teaching at the university level. Finally, I will discuss new efforts in my course this semester to formulate \"mutation assessments\" that gauge student understanding of agentically coded projects.", "occurrence_notes":null, "guid":"152086-21912972@events.umich.edu", "permalink":"http:\/\/events.umich.edu\/event\/152086", "building_id":"1000189", "building_name":"Dana Building", "campus_maps_id":"627", "room":"1040", "location_name":"Dana Building", "has_livestream":0, "cost":"", "tags":["Academic Technology At Michigan","Robotics","Artificial Intelligence","College Of Engineering","Free","Genai","Lecture"], "website":"https:\/\/midas.umich.edu\/events\/how-ai-helps-robots-understand-the-world\/", "sponsors":[ { "group_name":"Electrical Engineering and Computer Science", "group_id":"3989", "website":"" } ], "image_url":"https:\/\/events.umich.edu\/media\/attachments\/2026\/09\/event_152086_original-1.png", "styled_images":{ 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