School of Engineering

Shayla Maya Sawyer
Assistant Professor
http://www.rpi.edu/~sawyes

Department Affiliation:

Department of Electrical, Computer, & Systems Engineering

Education:

Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Electrical Engineering

B.S., Hampton University
Electrical Engineering

Background:

Dr. Shayla Sawyer received her BS in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) from Hampton University as a student-athlete.   She then pursued her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  She was awarded the Department of Homeland Security fellowship for her investigation of ultraviolet light emitting diodes and terahertz for detection of harmful biological agents.  Her thesis work focused on low frequency noise characterization of deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes for input into material growth methods and determining a light source signal-to-noise ratio for sensitive systems.  She continued with a post doctoral position at Rensselaer in studying degradation of deep ultraviolet LEDs.   

Dr. Sawyer has worked with several industries throughout her education including GE Rail, GE Healthcare, GE Research and Development and National Securities Technologies (NSTec).  She also participated in leadership roles with associations on Rensselaer’s campus including the Minority Graduate Student Association, Walter Lincoln Hawkins’ conference, Nanoscale Science and Engineering Student Symposium, and the Women’s Basketball Team.

Research Interests:

• AlGaN-based light emitters and photodetectors
• Non-line-of-sight covert communication systems
• UV LED fluorescence biological detection
• Low power UV LED fluorescence cell imaging
• Water contamination detection and purification
• Nuclear detection using GaN-photodiodes