Students and Supervision

Current students, supervised theses, and the training approach connecting projects across the research program.

Current graduate students

The group spans the complete path from device behaviour to application-level interpretation. The four stages below place every current and confirmed incoming student within that end-to-end research flow.

Physical interfaces

Electronic and photonic interfaces whose physical behaviour establishes system performance.

MASc

Adrian Sibiga

Analog front ends for the MALTA-2 and MALTA-3 monolithic active-pixel sensors at CERN.

PhD

Nick Wicklund

Process-aware microring-resonator modelling with compact local neural predistortion or receiver equalization.

Analog circuits and data conversion

Circuit techniques for generating, conditioning, sampling, and converting high-speed signals.

MASc

Deniz Sulutas

Time-interleaved analog-to-digital converters.

MASc

Ibrahim Kasim

Linearized active inductors for predistortion in RF, broadband, and optical interfaces.

Incoming MASc · Fall 2026

Kevin Hu

High-speed analog-to-digital converters, with an intended time-interleaved SAR focus.

Incoming MASc · Fall 2026

Miles Stillie

ADC sampling kickback and mitigation.

MASc

Morgan Smilde

Time-to-digital converters.

Hardware intelligence and design

Machine intelligence embodied in hardware, and AI used to create and verify that hardware.

PhD

Jonathan Levine

High-performance FPGA accelerators for AI.

MASc

Aaron Yu

FPGA spiking neural networks for event-based gesture processing and SNN Hough transforms.

MASc

Jesse Levine

Efficient activation-function implementations in FPGAs.

Signal intelligence and adaptive systems

Learning and inference applied to measured signals, modulation, and system behaviour.

MASc

Liam McPherson

Language-model and sequence-model interpretation of IMU time-series data for human motion.

Incoming PhD · Fall 2026

Axel Bondelo

AI-mediated signal modulation.

Physical phenomenaAnalog representationDigital implementationSystem interpretation
MOSAIC GroupDetailed member profiles and current project pages

Complete graduate supervision register

This consolidated register presents the named graduate-supervision roster, including completed, active, incoming, and discontinued programs.

Current and incoming

  1. Axel BondeloDoctorate · IncomingAI for Signal Modulation
  2. Miles StillieMaster’s Thesis · IncomingADC Sampling Kickback
  3. Jonathan LevineDoctorate · In ProgressHigh-Performance FPGA Accelerators for AI
  4. Nick WicklundDoctorate · In ProgressNeural Network-Based Predistorters and Channel Equalizers for Optical Communications
  5. Adrian SibigaMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressAnalog Front End for MALTA-2 and MALTA-3 Sensors
  6. Kevin HuMaster’s Thesis · IncomingHigh-Speed Analog-to-Digital Converters
  7. Deniz SulutasMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressTime-Interleaved Analog-to-Digital Converters
  8. Ibrahim KasimMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressLinearization of Active Inductors for Predistortion Circuits
  9. Jesse LevineMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressEfficient Activation Function Implementations in FPGAs
  10. Liam McPhersonMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressLarge Language Model Determination of Human Motion from Inertial Measurement Units
  11. Morgan SmildeMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressTime-to-Digital Converters
  12. Aaron YuMaster’s Thesis · In ProgressSpiking Neural Networks Implemented in Field Programmable Gate Arrays

Earlier supervision

  1. Jonathon LevineMaster’s Thesis · CompletedHardware Implementation of Machine Learning Accelerator
  2. Seth ThompsonMaster’s Thesis · CompletedInterleaved SAR-ADC with Reduced Capacitors
  3. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · Left ProgramEnhanced PSRR for LDO
  4. Ruihang WangMaster’s Thesis · CompletedHough Transform Hardware Implementation Using Spiking Neural Networks
  5. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · WithdrawnHigh Performance Architectures for Machine Learning
  6. Kareem El-GablyMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedSpiking Neural Network Building Blocks
  7. Armin KaramiMaster’s Thesis · All But DegreeTransimpedance Amplifiers in 130nm CMOS
  8. Zach DunniganMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedElectrospinning Analysis
  9. Ashwin MasilamaniMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedStandard Cell library design
  10. Fares ElzoheiryMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedStandard Cell library design
  11. Manoj RamamoorthyMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedStandard Cell library design
  12. Saijagan SaijaganMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedStandard Cell library design
  13. Colin FernandesMaster’s Thesis · CompletedElectrospun PEDOT:PSS Electrolytic Capacitors for Microelectronic Energy Storage
  14. Christopher SchopfMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedAnalog Circuits for fNIR
  15. David BertonMaster’s Thesis · CompletedDesign of a 10-bit SAR ADC in 0.13 µm CMOS
  16. Xinjie WangDoctorate · CompletedReduction of Power Supply Induced Jitter with Applications to DDR Controllers
  17. Ghazaleh VazhbakhtMaster’s Thesis · CompletedFPGA-based Outlier Detection
  18. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · WithdrawnBattery Lifetime Extension Technology
  19. Satyanarayana Shashank BrahmandlapalliMaster’s Thesis · CompletedBioimpedance measurement analog integrated circuits
  20. Ruixue WangMaster’s Thesis · CompletedLow noise and low distortion analog multiplexer
  21. Tianshuo ZhaoMaster’s Thesis · CompletedTime-to-Digital Converters with High Precision and Low Power Operation
  22. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · WithdrawnSmart Textiles
  23. Ahmed AlsaafinMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedBinary Weighted Current Sources Digital-to-Analog Converter
  24. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · WithdrawnRadio Frequency Integrated Circuits
  25. Nick StupichMaster’s Thesis · CompletedLow Power Parallel Rolling Shutter Artifact Removal
  26. Niranjan IyerMaster’s Thesis · CompletedLinearity Improvement In Vernier Delay Chain Based Time Difference Amplifiers
  27. Lik WuMaster’s non-Thesis · CompletedDigital Power Management
  28. Octavian StelescuMaster’s Thesis · CompletedFemto Joule per Conversion 8-Bit Comparator Assisted Binary Search Analog to Digital Converter
  29. Dan LanfranconiMaster’s Thesis · CompletedReduced Capacitor 8-bit SAR ADC
  30. Ziad El-KhatibDoctorate · CompletedCMOS RFIC High-Frequency Broadband Power Amplifier Linearization
  31. Ziad El-KhatibMaster’s Thesis · CompletedFully-integrated fully-differential silicon RF CMOS distributed amplifier based on multi-Tanh linearization principle
  32. Lado FilipovicMaster’s Thesis · CompletedLow Power 10-bit Analog to Digital Converter
  33. Sinisa MilicevicDoctorate · CompletedA frequency synthesizer with frequency divider and frequency multiplier for spur reduction
  34. Sinisa MilicevicMaster’s Thesis · CompletedA Multi-Band Voltage-Controlled Ring Oscillator
  35. Karim AbdelhalimMaster’s Thesis · CompletedAn Ultra Low Power ADC for Biomedical Applications
  36. Ayman MoktarDoctorate · CompletedAnalog Fiber Link Modeling
  37. Ghyslain GagnonDoctorate · CompletedContinuous compensation of binary-weighted DAC nonlinearities in bandpass delta-sigma modulators
  38. Zhan XuDoctorate · CompletedLaser Predistortion in CMOS
  39. Celine FletcherMaster’s Thesis · CompletedNoise Reduction in Analog Circuits
  40. Fiona ShearerMaster’s Thesis · CompletedRadio Frequency Cubing Circuit
  41. Yasser SolimanMaster’s Thesis · CompletedUltrawideband Low Noise Amplifier
  42. Mark HoulgateMaster’s Thesis · CompletedAdaptable MOS current mode logic for multi-band frequency synthesizers
  43. Daniel OlszewskiMaster’s Thesis · CompletedTunable Filter and Receive Signal Strength Indicator for Detecting Whitespace in the Frequency Spectrum
  44. Name withheldMaster’s Thesis · WithdrawnPower Amplifiers in CMOS
  45. Samy GhoniemyDoctorate · CompletedLaser Modeling for Radio over Fiber

What the thesis record shows

The supervision record is an intellectual history of the laboratory. Semiconductor-laser models led to analog predistortion and modern photonic correction; oscillator and delay research led to synthesis, TDCs, jitter analysis, CDR, and VCO-based conversion; low-voltage ADC projects developed into calibrated, reduced-capacitor, and interleaved architectures; FPGA signal processing led into current spiking and quantized AI hardware.

Optical plant → correction

Models that support predistortion

Samy Ghoniemy's 2004 PhD built a physical and system model for the RF/fibre optical interface. Ayman Moktar's 2007 PhD extended the modelling to isolator-free DFB laser operation with optical feedback for analog CATV applications. Fiona Shearer's 2006 MASc implemented CMOS cubic-function circuits for third-order cancellation, while Zhan Xu's 2010 PhD developed adaptive second- and third-order correction for directly modulated lasers. Together they establish a durable model-and-correct lineage.

Conversion → calibration

Low-energy ADCs and timing converters

Karim Abdelhalim's subthreshold biomedical ADCs reported 8.09 and 10.3 pJ per conversion cycle. Lado Filipovic's low-power 10-bit ADC and Octavian Stelescu's femtojoule comparator-assisted binary-search ADC extended that converter lineage. Niranjan Iyer's Vernier time-difference amplifier and Tianshuo Zhao's MCML time-to-digital converter carried the work into precision timing. Later theses developed continuous DAC-mismatch correction, reduced-capacitor SAR arrays, and algorithm-generated SAR switching sequences.

Recent mixed-signal design

Non-Conventional Capacitor SAR-ADCs and CAB ADC

Daniel Lanfranconi's 2014 MASc developed a reduced-capacitor eight-bit SAR ADC. Octavian Stelescu's 2012 MASc developed a femtojoule-per-conversion comparator-assisted binary-search (CAB) ADC. David Berton's 2018 MASc used a backtracking algorithm to generate a 10-bit SAR switching sequence with only 25 unit capacitors. Seth Thompson's 2025 MASc combines a non-standard capacitor array, clock boosting, and a voltage-controlled delay element; schematic studies report approximately 9.5–9.7 effective bits after compensation at 10 kS/s, 1.82 μW, and 226.5 fJ per conversion step.

Recent intelligent hardware

Neuromorphic and binarized accelerators

Ruihang Wang's 2025 MASc develops a fabricated mixed-signal SNN for Hough-transform line detection, reporting 266.1 pJ per frame in 3 mm². Jonathan Levine's 2025 MASc compiles binarized networks to bespoke FPGA hardware, with reported MNIST latencies near 85 ns and a jet-tagging example near 23 ns. These results are thesis-specific and do not imply identical performance in later systems.

Supervised theses

This catalogue presents the graduate theses listed in the supervision record. Repository links are provided where available; entries without links retain the confirmed student, degree, year, and thesis title.

YearStudent and thesisDegreeRecord
2025Seth Thompson
Interleaved SAR-ADC with Reduced Capacitors
MAScUnder embargo
2025Ruihang Wang
Application-Specific Integrated Circuit Spiking Neural Network for Parallel Hough Transform
MAScUnder embargo
2025Jonathan Aaron Levine
Hardware-Accelerated Binarized Neural Networks
MAScUnder embargo
2019Colin Fernandes
Electrospun PEDOT:PSS Electrolytic Capacitor Electrodes for Microelectronic Energy Storage
MAScRecord ↗
2018Ghazaleh Vazhbakht
Configurable FPGA-Based Outlier Detection for Time Series Data
MAScRecord ↗
2018David Berton
Backtracking Algorithm-Aided Design of a 10-Bit SAR ADC
MAScRecord ↗
2017Xinjie Wang
Reduction of Power Supply Induced Jitter with Applications to DDR Controllers
PhDRecord ↗
2017Tianshuo Zhao
A High Resolution of MCML-Based Time-to-Digital Converter Implementation
MAScRecord ↗
2017Satyanarayana Shashank Brahmandlapalli
Determination of Bioimpedance Using Multi-Frequency Bio-electrical Impedance Analysis
MAScRecord ↗
2016Ruixue Wang
A Low Power 8 to 1 Analog Multiplexer for Bio-Signal Acquisition System with a Function of Amplification
MAScRecord ↗
2014Niranjan Iyer
Linearity Improvement in Vernier Delay Chain Based Time Difference Amplifiers
MAScRecord ↗
2014Nick Stupich
Low Power Parallel Rolling Shutter Artifact Removal
MAScRecord ↗
2014Daniel Lanfranconi
Reduced Capacitor Eight Bit SAR ADC
MAScRecord ↗
2012Ziad El-Khatib
Highly-linearized CMOS distributed bidirectional amplifier with cross-coupled compensator for wireless communications
PhDRecord ↗
2012Octavian Stelescu
Femto Joule per conversion 8-bit comparator assisted binary search ADC
MAScRecord ↗
2010Zhan Xu
A predistortion circuit for direct modulated lasers for radio over fiber applications
PhDRecord ↗
2009Lado Filipovic
Low power 10-bit ADC
MAScRecord ↗
2009Ghyslain Gagnon
Continuous compensation of binary-weighted DAC nonlinearities in bandpass delta-sigma modulators
PhDRecord ↗
2008Sinisa Milicevic
A frequency synthesizer with frequency divider and frequency multiplier for spur reduction
PhDRecord ↗
2007Karim Abdelhalim
Ultra low power ADC for biomedical applications
MAScRecord ↗
2007Ayman Moktar
Isolator-free DFB laser for analog CATV applications
PhDRecord ↗
2006Ziad El-Khatib
Fully-integrated fully-differential silicon RF CMOS distributed amplifier based on multi-Tanh linearization principle
MAScRecord ↗
2006Fiona Shearer
CMOS analog cubing circuits for radio-over-fiber predistortion
MAScRecord ↗
2006Daniel Olszewski
Tunable filter and receive signal strength indicator for detecting whitespace in the frequency spectrum
MAScRecord ↗
2006Celine Fletcher
VCO phase noise reduction technique
MAScRecord ↗
2005Yasser Soliman
CMOS LNA for impulse-radio UWB
MAScRecord ↗
2005Sinisa Milicevic
A multi-band voltage-controlled ring oscillator
MAScRecord ↗
2005Mark Houlgate
Adaptable MOS current mode logic for multi-band frequency synthesizers
MAScRecord ↗
2004Samy Ghoniemy
RF/fiber optical interface for microcellular wireless transceivers
PhDRecord ↗

Supervision and training approach

Students work across levels of abstraction: physical plant and measurement, device and circuit models, schematic and layout, digital support logic, FPGA or ASIC mapping, software tooling, and the evidence needed to decide whether a result is valid.