Team

Prof Reed is a pioneer in the field of Silicon Photonics worldwide. He founded the Silicon Photonics group in 1989 at the University of Surrey. In 2012 Prof Reed brought his team to the University of Southampton, as Deputy Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC). Prof Reed’s Group have provided a series of world leading results since its inception and are particularly well known for their work on silicon optical modulators.  They were the first to publish the design of a depletion mode silicon modulator, which is now the industry standard device, and they currently hold the world record for the fastest integrated Mach-Zehnder transmitter (112Gb/s OOK, 224 Gb/s PAM 4). Reed currently leads several other EPSRC funded grants, such as a Prosperity Partnership grant with Rockley Photonics, as well as the CORNERSTONE 2 and 2.5 projects and a communications project entitled “Towards a Revolution in Optical communications”.

Prof Reed is currently a member of 6 international conference committees, including serving as co-chair of the Silicon Photonics symposium at the SPIE Photonics West conference. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the SPIE, the IET, Optica and the European Optical Society (EOS). In 2013 he was awarded the IET Crompton medal for achievement in energy, a Royal Society merit award in 2014, the Individual Contributor (to silicon photonics) PIC award in 2019, and the SPIE Gold Medal in 2023.

Professor Callum Littlejohns joined the team as CORNERSTONE Coordinator in 2017 and is responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the team, having previously completed his PhD within the group in 2015. He has a track record of excellence, having received multiple awards throughout his academic life, including being recognised in the 2023 Electro-Optics Photonics100 list of people driving the global photonics industry forwards and being awarded the Information Overload category winner at the 2015 EPSRC ICT Pioneers Awards. Callum has published a book chapter, over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and over 140 international conference papers. He has served as co-chair at the Silicon Photonics conference at SPIE Photonex since 2017. Callum is passionate about supporting our wide-ranging user base to turn their ideas into reality and his proudest professional achievement to date is building the diverse, passionate and talented CORNERSTONE team.

Andy joins CORNERSTONE as Director of Strategy where he will focus on developing and implementing strategies to maximise the commercial application of photonic integrated circuits.

He is co-chair of the Semiconductor Expert Working Group for the UK Telecom Innovation Network (UKTIN) and serves on the Government’s Semiconductor Advisory Panel. He has given expert evidence to Parliamentary inquiries including the National Security and Investment Act, the Telecom Security Act and the select committee on semiconductors. He has advised the OECD Semiconductor Informal Exchange Network, and is an Advisor to Silicon Catalyst.

Andy was the Founder of the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult, securing a £54m investment. He represented the Catapult during roundtable discussions with the Prime Minister and high-level delegations to Hong Kong, India, Taiwan and the US White House.

Andy holds an Executive MBA from Glasgow University, a research doctorate from Strathclyde University and is a Fellow of the IET.

Bilge earned his B.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from Boğaziçi University, Turkey (2018), and his M.Sc. from Bilkent University, Turkey (2021). In 2021, he joined Cardiff University as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, conducting postgraduate research under the co-supervision of Prof. Anthony Bennett and Dr. J.P. Hadden.

His research portfolio includes visible-regime achromatic metalenses, single-photon emitters in III-nitrides, dielectric micropillar antennas, and AlN photonic integrated circuits, with contributions spanning both design and cleanroom fabrication.

Bilge joined CORNERSTONE as a PDK Engineer in March 2025 and is currently contributing to CORNERSTONE’s open-source PDK efforts in design, characterization, and documentation.

Eleni has a Bachelor in Biomedical Sciences from Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, School of Occupational Health and Welfare, Department of Medical Laboratories in Greece. After Working in various hospital labs in Greece and Qatar Eleni relocated in Uk where she worked in studies and testing for Covid. As she always being interested in micro fabrications and engineering, she joined Cornerstone team in May 2022 where she focuses on scanner and CDSEM operation and planning.

Outside work she enjoys photography, yoga, and motherhood.

Emre Kaplan received his MSc degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Bologna in 2016 and his PhD from the University of Ferrara in the field of Integrated Photonics in 2020. Subsequently he was with the University of Bologna as a Research Fellow. In 2021 he won a Research Fellowship from the University of Pavia and worked with the Photonics Group until September 2022. He has over 5 years of experience in the design of photonic integrated circuits in various technology platforms such as Silicon-on-Insulator, Silicon Nitride, and Indium Phosphide. During his doctoral and post-doctoral studies, he was a visiting researcher in European institutes in the Netherlands and France.

Dr. Emre Kaplan joined CORNERSTONE in October 2022, and he is working on Process Design Kit development of CORNERSTONE’s technology platforms.

Eugenio Di Gaetano received his bachelor’s degree in 2012 and master’s degree in 2014 in Physics at the Università di Pavia in Italy. He joined the University of Glasgow in 2015 for a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering with DSTL scholarship on Semiconductor lasers for laser cooling and atomic clock application. He achieved Ph.D. degree in 2019 and started a Research Assistant position in the same year. Eugenio has been involved in integrated photonics, in particular active III/V devices, for the past 8 years. Recently, he moved towards passive SOI and SIN platforms and active-passive on-chip integration. Eugenio’s work and name have been included in grant proposals for multiple UK funds, such as EPSRC Birmingham Quantum Hub, DSTL DASA, and InnovateUK projects. Eugenio started collaborating with CORNERSTONE in late 2021/ early 2022 before formally joining the project in November 2022 where he is currently working as Research Associate.

Outside his work activity, he enjoys traveling with friends and outdoor activities.

Dr Lisinska has a solid expertise in policy influencing, advising senior policymakers, and hosting high-profile events with Members of Parliament. Prior to her current role, she worked as a Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, one of the world’s leading technology think tanks.

She also served as a Policy Research Fellow at King’s College London, where she developed a policy programme for the UK’s largest project on autonomous systems.

Dr Khaled Mohammed is a Photonics Characterisation Engineer at CORNERSTONE, based at the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), University of Southampton. He specialises in high-speed characterisation of silicon photonic devices, with expertise in electro-optic and opto-electronic testing of modulators, high-speed photodetectors and integrated optical links. His work includes frequency response and bandwidth analysis using a Lightwave Component Analyzer (LCA), eye diagram and signal integrity evaluation using Bit Pattern Generator (BPG) and Digital Communication Analyzer (DCA) systems, and wafer-level testing of active and passive photonic devices. Khaled develops automated and standardised measurement workflows to improve test reliability, data traceability and reporting consistency across CORNERSTONE’s photonic characterisation services.

He is currently expanding CORNERSTONE’s high-speed testing capability through method development, laboratory documentation and continuous improvement of photonic measurement processes to support device validation for academic research and industry innovation. His work contributes to advancing scalable and accurate measurement methodologies for next-generation silicon photonics technologies.

Lin had her PhD degree of Condensed Matter Physics from University of Leeds. She has experience on the multilayer magnetic microstructures, spin current and skyrmionics devices. She later joined the Postdoc position in University of Sheffield and worked on magnetic cements. In August 2025, she started her position as nanofabrication technician with CORNERSTONE.

Dr. Ramsey Selim is Business Development Manager at CORNERSTONE in the ORC at the University of Southampton. He joined CORNERSTONE in September 2023, attracted by the core value of the project; collaboration, which has been the cornerstone of his work for the past 15 years.

He has a wide range of experience including multiple patents within the photonics technology sector, having worked with the Centre for Integrated Photonics on silica solutions, on InP PICs for Huawei Research Centre UK, on hybrid integration with Kaiam Corp., and while at Tyndall National Institute he was the director of advanced packaging & system integration for EUROPRACTICE.

In his personal time, he enjoys travel, meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and capturing these moments through photography.

Ruth Churchill is Impact Manager for the CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre. Ruth has over 15 years’ experience working in research funding development, including 9 years with the ORC, where she was coordinator for the Future Photonics Hub. She brings a wide range of experience in managing flexible funds, industry engagement, communications, and reporting, and has held previous roles at the University of Southampton as funder lead for EPSRC and BBSRC, and at the National Centre for Languages.

In her personal time, Ruth teaches strength and balance to older adults in the community and splits her time between three hobbies: endurance running, music and cats.

Weilin joined CORNERSTONE in March 2025 as a Research Technician while completing her PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton.

Her research focuses on CMOS-compatible silicon photonic platforms, with particular interest in optomechanical systems, nanofabrication, and sensor design. She has led the design, simulation, and fabrication of micro-ring resonators and optomechanical oscillators using advanced processes such as E-beam lithography, ICP-RIE, DRIE, and HF vapor etching. Her recent work demonstrated vacuum-enhanced mode localization in integrated optomechanical devices, aimed at ultra-sensitive optical sensing applications.

Prior to her PhD, Weilin obtained an MSc in Electronic Engineering with Distinction from Southampton and completed her undergraduate studies at North University of China and Purdue University Northwest.

Outside of the cleanroom, she enjoys exploring ideas through reading, staying active through badminton, and has a deep affection for animals—particularly in spending time with her dog.

Xingzhao Yan received his B.Eng. in Telecommunication Engineering from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex and M.Sc. in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology from the School of Electronics and Computer Sciences, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton. From 2013 to 2017, he was working towards to his PhD in rare-earth-doped solid-state nanowire waveguide lasers with intensive cleanroom working experience. He joined the CORNERSTONE team in July 2017.

Yadhu Krishna Menon is an Engagement Lead at CORNERSTONE. Yadhu is an experienced communications and marketing professional with several years of experience spanning government, nonprofit, and private sectors. His previous role was with the UK Trade Remedies Authority (an ALB under the Department for Business and Trade) where he led on strategic communications and stakeholder engagement. He holds a Master’s degree in Multimedia Journalism from Bournemouth University and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering.

When not immersed in the diverse field of corporate communications, you can find him either playing football, watching MMA or reading fiction.