Dr. Nina Vaidya

Alumni - Academic Faculty



Dr. Nina Vaidya received her undergraduate degree in Electrical & Information Engineering from University of Cambridge, England, UK and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, CA, USA, for work on design & fabrication of graded-index optical concentrators and 3D printing to create optics with nanometer smooth surfaces.

As a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech, Nina worked on the Space-based Solar Power Project (SSPP) and on advanced optical and material design- simulations, optoelectronic characterization, fabrication techniques, and prototyping. She conceptualized and demonstrated ultra-lightweight & flexible carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) mirrors. Nina also worked on new fabrication techniques and materials like polymer mixtures and perovskite solar cells.

Before her Ph.D., Nina worked as a strategy consultant for international engineering companies & OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Nina was a Stanford DARE (Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence) scholarship fellow and involved in outreach activities as an IEEE industry liaison, a WIE (Women In Engineering) officer, and a member of EWB (Engineers Without Borders).

Dr.Vaidya is an Assistant Professor at Southampton University, UK.

Available Publications


Ultra-lightweight mirrors with high solar reflectivity and high infrared emissivity for sun-facing radiative thermal management in space

Samuel Loke, Ali Naqavi, Emily Warmann, Pilar Espinet-Gonzalez, Nina Vaidya, Michael Kelzenberg, and Harry A. Atwater
Opt. Express 30(10) 17259-17269 (2022) (2022)

An ultralight concentrator photovoltaic system for space solar power harvesting

Emily C. Warmanna, Pilar Espinet-Gonzaleza, Nina Vaidya, Samuel Loke, Ali Naqavi, Tatiana Vinogradova, Michael Kelzenberg, Christophe Leclerc, Eleftherios Gdoutos, Sergio Pellegrino, and Harry A. Atwater
Acta Astronautica (2020) - Photovoltaics Space Solar Power

A flexible phased array system with low areal mass density

Mohammed Reza M. Hashemi, Austin C. Fikes, Matan Gal-Katziri, Behrooz Abiri, Florian Bohn, Amirreza Safaripour, Michael D. Kelzenberg, Emily L. Warmann,
Pilar Espinet, Nina Vaidya, Eleftherios E. Gdoutos, Christophe Leclerc, Fabien Royer, Sergio Pellegrino, Harry A. Atwater and Ali Hajimiri
Nature Electronics (2019)