Introduction
Visit our team at UIC Science & Engineering Laboratory East (SELE), Room NE4063
Sriharini Krishnakumar
Sriharini Krishnakumar, skrish47@uic.edu
Vertical Power Delivery in High Performance Computing Systems
BTech in Electronics and Instrumentation, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India, 2019
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Spring 2023
Internships:
- Hardware Technology Group at Apple, CA, Summer 2026
- Advanced Technology Group at Apple, CA, Summer 2025
- CHIPS, UCLA with prof. Subramanian Iyer, Summer 2023
Awards:
- UIC Provost Visiting Scholar Award (PVSA), 2025
- Best Poster, Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI (GLSVLSI), 2024
- Best Theme Poster, JUMP 2.0 CHIMES Annual Review, 2023
Mohammad Aghapour
Mohammad Aghapour, maghap3@uic.edu
Rethinking AI Models and Architectures for Analog and Mixed-Signal Edge Systems
BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, 2016
MSc in Mechatronic Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2019
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Spring 2023
Leonid Popryho
Leonid Popryho, lpopry2@uic.edu
Accelerating Design Space Exploration in Computer Engineering with AI
BA in Applied Math, Institute of Physics and Technology, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine, 2021
MSc in Computer Science, Institute of Mathematics of National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv Academic University, Ukraine, 2023
MSc in Computer Science, Faculty of Computing, Blekinge Institute of Technology Karlskrona, Blekinge County, Sweden, 2023
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Internships:
- Research Assistant, XSD X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Summer 2026
- Apple, NC, Fall 2024
Awards:
- DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2025, 2026
- Kaggle competition, “Where am I?,” 2nd prize winner, 2021
Yaroslav Popryho
Yaroslav Popryho, ypopry2@uic.edu
Machine Learning based Hardware Security in VLSI Systems
BA in Mathematical Methods of Modeling, Pattern Recognition and Data Security, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine, 2021
MSc in Mathematical Methods of Modeling, Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine, 2023
MSc in Computer Science, Faculty of Computing, Blekinge Institute of Technology Karlskrona, Blekinge County, Sweden, 2023
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Awards: DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2025, 2026
Ayoub Sadeghi
Ayoub Sadeghi, asadeg3@uic.edu
Emerging Devices for High Performance Computing Applications
BSc in Electrical Engineering-Electronics, Islamic Azad University – Fars Science and Research Branch (FSRIAU), Shiraz, Iran, 2016
MSc in Electrical Engineering-Electronic Integrated Circuit, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch, Shiraz, Iran, 2019
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Awards: DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2026
Salma Abdelzaher
Salma Abdelzaher, sabdel29@uic.edu
Power Converters for High Performance Computing
BSc in Electronics and Electrical Communication, Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, 2021
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Internships:
- Power Delivery Team, Qualcomm, Summer 2026
- Research Assistant, XSD X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 2025-2026
Awards:
- Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship Finalist, 2026
- Travel Grant (merit-based, 11% of accepted publications), ECTC 2026
- Travel Grant (awarded based on technical quality), EPEPS 2025
- Outstanding Exemplar Paper, ECTC 2025
Mohamed Gharib
Mohamed Gharib, mghari5@uic.edu
Fast and Scalable Simulation Methods for Advanced Packaging in High-Performance Computing Systems
BSc in Electronics and Electrical Communication, Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, 2021
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Internships: Research Assistant, XSD X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 2025-2026
Awards:
- Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship Finalist, 2026
- DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2026
Rami Rasheedi
Rami Rasheedi, ralsae3@uic.edu
Inductor Arrays for Scalable, High-Performance Distributed Power Delivery: From Device to System Level
BSc in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 2021
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Internships: Research Assistant, XSD X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 2025-2026
Awards: Best Theme Poster, JUMP 2.0 CHIMES Annual Review, 2024
Anahita Asadi
Anahita Asadi, aasadi5@uic.edu
Machine Learning-Based Electronic Design Automation of Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design
BSc in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Discipline, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2022
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2023
Internships: Physical AI Intern, Keysight Technologies, Summer 2026
Awards:
- DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2025, 2026
- Best Lightning Talk, JUMP 2.0 CogniSense Annual Review, 2024, 2025
- Best Poster, JUMP 2.0 CogniSense Annual Review, 2024, 2025
Amir Lotfi
Amir Lotfi, alotf@uic.edu
Control and Conversion of Power in High Performance Systems
BSc in Electrical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Iran, 2020
MS in Electrical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Iran, 2023
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2024
Internships: Application Engineering Intern, STMicroelectronics, Summer & Fall 2026
Mehdi Ashayeri
Mehdi Ashayeri, masha5@uic.edu
Analog Integrated Circuits for Resource-Constrained Edge AI.
BSc in Electrical Engineering, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran, 2015
MS in Electrical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran, 2018
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Fall 2024
Hadi Khodaei-Jooshin
Hadi Khodaei-Jooshin, hjoos@uic.edu
Machine Learning-Assisted Design Automation in VLSI Systems
BSc in Electrical Engineering – Telecommunication Systems, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, 2020
MS in Electrical Engineering – Telecommunication Systems, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, 2023
PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Spring 2025
Awards: DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2025, 2026
Adam Haller Ross
Adam Haller Ross, aross50@uic.edu
Radiation Hardening in FPGA Systems
BSc in Computer Science, Hampshire College in Amherst, MA
MS student at the University of Illinois Chicago as of Spring 2023
(Co-Advising with Prof. Debjit Pal)
Awards:
- DAC Young Fellow, Design Automation Conference, 2026
- IDEAL NSF RA Award, Fall of 2024
Graduated HiPerCAS Students
Other Students who Worked with HiPerCAS
Mohammad Zaid, ECE BS, Summer 2021
As part of the Undergraduate GPIP program
Jashan Virdi, ECE BS, Summer 2022
As part of the Undergraduate GPIP program
Kevin Palma, ECE BS, Summer 2022
As part of the Undergraduate GPIP program
Sreenaesh Ramesh, ECE MS, 2019-2021
Sreenaesh received the Masters of Science degree in ECE in 2021. In summer 2019, Sreenaesh completed a research internship at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. His research at HiPerCAS focused on On-Chip Analog ICs for Training and Learning.
Sahil Pandey, ECE MS, 2017-2018
Sahil worked on ML ICs. In Fall 2018, Sahil joined Innergy Systems, Inc, San Jose, California. In 2021, Sahil joined Qualcomm as a Senior Engineer.