Professor Nina Vaidya

Nina Vaidya is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Southampton, UK. Nina received her undergraduate degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Cambridge, England, UK and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, CA, USA, for work on design & fabrication of new type of passive lenses that do not need source tracking – Axially Graded Index LEns (AGILE) and 3D printing to create aspheric / freeform optics with nanometer smooth surfaces.

As a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech, Nina worked on the Space-based Solar Power Project (SSPP) and the associated demo gave successful results from space in 2024. - on Nina works on optical and material design, simulations, creating fabrication techniques, characterization of devices, and prototype integration. She conceptualized and demonstrated ultra-lightweight & flexible carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) space mirrors. Nina also works on new fabrication techniques and materials like polymer mixtures and perovskite solar cells, especially for extreme environments like space.

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