George N. Tzintzarov has been awarded the 2021 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) Graduate Scholarship Award. He is a Ph.D. student in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

This award is given to a graduate student who has significantly advanced the field of NPSS, specifically the radiation effects community, through presentations, publications, and other relevant research work.

Tzintzarov is currently a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, where he is advised by John D. Cressler, who holds the Schumberger Chair in Electronics and leads the Silicon-Germanium Devices and Circuits Group in ECE.

Tzintzarov’s research work focuses on understanding how radiation environments, specifically in space, affect the functionality and usability of silicon photonic circuits and systems for applications such as space optical communications and remote sensing. Several notable contributions to the field made by Tzintzarov include the first experimental analysis of optical single-event transients (OSETs) in integrated silicon waveguides and the electrical-to-optical single-event transient propagation in integrated Mach-Zehnder Modulators.

Tzintzarov’s research has been supported in part by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation. His work has resulted in 19 authored/coauthored peer-reviewed journal publications with four conference oral presentations.

About IEEE NPSS

The IEEE NPSS is the premier professional association for the advancement of the nuclear and plasma sciences, sponsoring eight technical conferences and four peer-reviewed journals.