Allen Taflove

Faculty Adviser/Professor

Allen Taflove received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northwestern University in 1971, 1972, and 1975, respectively.  Since 1988, he has been a full professor in Northwestern’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  Over the past 48 years, Allen has pioneered theoretical approaches, algorithms, and applications of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) computational solutions of the fundamental Maxwell’s equations of classical electrodynamics.  FDTD has emerged as a primary means to solve the largest and most complex science and engineering problems involving electromagnetic wave phenomena, devices, and systems from ultralow frequencies to visible light.  His major publication, Computational Electrodynamics: The Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method, has been ranked the 7th most-cited book in physics, currently with more 20,000 Google Scholar citations.  Allen is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the recipient of the 2014 IEEE Electromagnetics Award, and a Fellow of The Optical Society (OSA).  Currently, he is conducting petaflops-scale computational microscopy applications of FDTD in support of research at Northwestern led by Biomedical Engineering Professor Vadim Backman dealing with the detection and potential treatment of early-stage human cancers.

Maia Brown

Editor-in-Chief, 2020; Managing Editor, NURJ (Paper Design)

Maia Brown ’21 is a junior double majoring in Journalism and Sociology, and minoring in Gender Studies. She is currently the Managing Editor of Paper Design and an incoming Editor-in-Chief for the 2020-21 year. Through working with NURJ for the past two years, she has vastly expanded her view of what research can be, as well as her understanding and appreciation of the research process. She hopes to attend graduate school after she finishes at Northwestern, before building a career in the advocacy/nonprofit sector.

Shreya Sriram

Editor-in-Chief, 2020; Managing Director, Development

Shreya Sriram ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Economics and Communication Sciences and Disorders on the Pre-Medicine track. As an incoming co-Editor-in-Chief of the NURJ, Shreya believes that promoting student research on all platforms is imperative to growth and is looking forward to adding more facets to the NURJ publications. Shreya pursues her professional interests through her individual research in the Hearing and Language Lab. She will also be joining the Auditory Research Laboratory to spearhead development of optical cochlear implants through the Summer Undergraduate Research Grant and the Central Auditory Physiology Laboratory to research auditory brainstem function. Shreya hopes to develop her research experience in medical school. Outside of research, Shreya loves to be on stage making people laugh, then off stage, eating food with them.

Leslie Bonilla

Managing Editor, NURJ (Paper), 2018, 2019, 2020

Leslie Bonilla (’21) is a junior majoring in Journalism and Political science. Leslie has been a managing editor for the NURJ since her sophomore year. She has also written for North by Northwestern, The Daily Q and the Medill News Service. Last summer, she interned for VOA News, where she reported on enterprise stories and wrote for the publication’s internal wire. She plans to pursue a career in media and journalism.

Niva Razin

Managing Editor, NURJ (Paper), 2020; Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Online), 2019

Niva Razin ’22 is studying computer science and applied mathematics in McCormick. She enjoys studying languages and hopes to pursue a career that combines her passions for science, engineering, and languages.

Lydia Rivers

Managing Editor, NURJ Online, 2019, 2020

Lydia Rivers ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Journalism and Global Health. She began doing ChemE research in high school studying effective and environmentally friendly ways to purify groundwater. Lydia then continued this research at Northwestern over the last summer and fall quarter doing engineering research studying how to convert enzymes into other useful products more efficiently for use in pharmaceuticals and fuel production. After graduation, she plans on working toward a masters in public health to be qualified to work as an epidemiologist, but would like to pursue a career in media. Lydia also runs a music blog and enjoys cross-stitching.

Sarah Tani

Managing Editor, NURJ (Design), 2020; Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Paper Design, Online Design), 2019

Sarah Tani ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Linguistics. She is the incoming Managing Editor of the NURJ (Design) and previously served as the Associate Managing Editor of the NURJ (Paper Design, Online Design) in 2019. Last summer, she completed a URAP with Prof. Jillana Enteen, studying changes to websites related to Transgender-related medical tourism in Thailand. She presented an analysis of the methodology of this project with a poster presentation at the Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science in November 2019. Sarah hopes to pursue the field of Computational Linguistics after graduation, but in the meantime is focusing on her B.A. and research at the undergraduate level.

Jonic Zhu

Managing Editor, NURJ (STEM), 2020; Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (STEM), 2019

Jonic Zhehao Zhu ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Chemistry and pursuing the Segal Design Certificate. He serves as the Managing Editor for the NURJ’s STEM team. Since entering Northwestern, he has been working with Prof. Emily Weiss in the Chemistry Department on artificial photosynthesis and photochemistry. Jonic loves boxing and running, and works on several photography projects on his own time.

Sally Hong

Associate Managing Director, NURJ (Paper), 2020

Sally Hong ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Psychology and International Studies and minoring in Chinese. Although she does not have any past research experience, she hopes to gain some in the near future and is thinking of going to law school post-graduation, hopefully exploring career paths at the intersection of the legal and psychological fields.

Shreyas Iyer

Associate Managing Editor, NURJ Online, 2020

Shreyas Iyer ’21 is a junior majoring in Political Science and minoring in Data Science. Shreyas has worked for both the political science and history departments over the past three years as a research assistant. He has also worked in a research capacity as a legal intern at Cisco Systems in 2019. Although his post-graduation plans are uncertain, Shreyas aspires to a career in law, the nonprofit field, politics, or in the public sector.

Juntang Qian

Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Design), 2020

Juntang Qian ‘23 is a freshman majoring in Journalism and Psychology, and minoring in Art Theory and Practice. She is a research assistant in the Yang Qu Lab, researching school motivation, emotional development and psychological well-being. During summer 2020, she investigated indigenous-owned food businesses in Vancouver with the support of the Office of Undergraduate Research at Northwestern. Juntang currently sees herself going into investigative journalism when she graduates, but this goal is subject to change. She has an interest in collecting tickets, and has been doing that for 15 years.

Siying Luo

Associate Managing Editor, Design

Siying Luo, Class of 2023, is undecided in WCAS. She joined the Journal in fall 2019, and has since been promoted to AME of Design. She is interested in science and hopes to start research when she returns to campus.

Kevin Bai

Managing Director, NURJ Development, 2020

Kevin Bai ’22 is a sophomore double majoring in MMSS and Economics. His previous research experience includes pursuing a summer URG project involving the diversity of repertoire performed by orchestral organizations. After graduation, he aspires to work in early-stage ventures or management consulting. Kevin is also an amateur violinist of 15 years, with recent performances including faking Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony at the BBC Proms.

John Cao

Managing Editor, NURJ Development, 2020, Associate Managing Editor, NURJ Development, 2019

John Cao ’22 is a sophomore majoring in Mathematics, MMSS, and Piano Performance, and pursuing the Financial Economics Certificate in the Kellogg Certificate Program for Undergraduates. On campus, in addition to NURJ, John is also active with AAIV. John hopes to work as a consulting actuary or in quantitative trading after graduation. In his free time, he enjoys powerlifting, singing opera, and playing with his pet bird Mochi.

Tony Luo

Managing Director, NURJ Web Development, 2020

Tony Luo ‘23 is a freshman majoring in Computer Science and possibly Statistics. Apart from being the head of Web Development with the NURJ, Tony is a part of the research team in NU Blockchain Group that focuses on the use-case of decentralized apps in clinical research. After graduation, Tony envisions himself working in the software industry or pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors. Outside of research, Tony loves cooking and is a chef at Northwestern Culinary Arts Club – Cookology.

Ina Huang

Associate Managing Director, NURJ Development, 2019, 2020

Ina Huang ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Economics and Psychology with a minor in Business Institutions. She served as an Associate Managing Director for NURJ Development in 2019 and will continue to do so this year. In the past, Ina has done research on the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on the economic growth of developing countries. She plans on pursuing a career in finance after graduation.

Jenna Greenzaid

Associate Managing Editor, NURJ Development, 2020

Jenna Greenzaid ’23 is a sophomore majoring in Journalism and pursuing an Integrated Marketing Certificate and Business Institutions Certificate. Jenna hopes to work pushing the boundaries of interactive journalism and challenging the way readers experience news and media through online platforms.

Soumya Jhaveri

Associate Managing Director, NURJ Development, 2020

Soumya Jhaveri ’23 is a freshman majoring in Neuroscience and Journalism on the Pre-Med track. She joined the NURJ this year as a part of the STEM team. Soumya began her interests in research in high school with independent projects on diversity in journalism and teenage entrepreneurial characteristics. She is currently a research assistant in the Amato Lab through the URAP program working on microbiome research with both non-human and human primate samples. Soumya is interested in exploring how better design and communication can be used to enhance healthcare. After graduation, she hopes to work in scientific journalism or a health startup for a year before attending medical school.

Joy Zheng

Managing Editor, NURJ (Outreach), 2020; Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Outreach), 2019

Joy Zheng ‘22 is a sophomore majoring in Psychology and Cognitive Science with a concentration in Linguistics. For the past year, she has been a research assistant in the Cognition and Communication Lab and plans to carry out her own project this summer. Right now, Joy has plans of pursuing a PhD in Psychology and is hoping to conduct further research in psycholinguistics. Outside of research and academics, Joy often bakes, usually cakes, for her friends and family and always enjoys binging Youtube videos during the process.

Khaled Abughoush

Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Outreach), 2019, 2020

Khaled Abughoush ’21 is a junior majoring in Industrial Engineering. Khaled received a McCormick Research Assistant grant in summer 2019. Khaled is going to work in supply chain logistics after graduation and hopes to become a consultant afterwards.

Alex Solivan

Associate Managing Editor, NURJ (Outreach), 2020

Alex Solivan ’23 is a freshman majoring in Biological Sciences and Science in Human Culture. Alex is a research assistant in the Mirkin Research Group studying nanoparticle cancer vaccines and has performed ovarian cancer research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After graduation, Alex hopes to continue research and attend medical and graduate school.

Gabrielle Tsoi

Associate Managing Director, NURJ Outreach