Garima Bawa

Garima Bawa is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida, Orlando working with Prof. Guifang Li. Her research focuses on fiber and chip-scale integrated photonic devices with applications in communication, advanced sensing, and optical power beaming. Her current work combines fundamental photonics, fiber and chip design, and system-level considerations to enable robust, scalable platforms for next-generation optical technologies.

Before joining CREOL, Garima was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Washington University in St. Louis, where she developed fiber-optic sensors for in vivo dopamine monitoring in advanced-stage Parkinson’s disease, working at the interface of photonics, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering with Prof. Song Hu. Garima earned her integrated M.Sc.–Ph.D. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India, with her doctoral research centered on modal-interference-based optical devices. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Delhi.

Throughout her time at IIT Kanpur, Garima was actively engaged in community service and student leadership. She served as a Student Senator, Departmental Postgraduate Committee (DPGC) representative, and Postgraduate Placement Coordinator, among other roles, contributing to academic governance, student representation, and career development. She also participated in volunteering activities under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan initiative, engaging with societal development at the grassroots level. In addition, she helped organize international conferences such as Photonics 2016 and OSI 2018 at IIT Kanpur.

In recognition of her outstanding all-round contributions, she was awarded the Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma (President’s Gold) Medal at the 57th Convocation of IIT Kanpur. This prestigious award, given to one graduating postgraduate student each year, honors the best all-round student based on character, conduct, academic performance, extra-curricular involvement, and social service. She also received the Media and Cultural Excellence Award in 2021 at IIT Kanpur and the 2022 Student Leadership Event Award from Optica to attend FiO + LS.

Garima is deeply committed to community building and outreach in the optics and photonics community. She currently serves as the Liaison Officer for Optica’s Fiber Modeling and Fabrication Technical Group, where she helps organize webinars, mentoring activities, and networking opportunities for students and early-career researchers, and works to promote inclusive access to opportunities for all. Beyond her scientific work, Garima is a theater enthusiast, bringing creativity, empathy, and a love for storytelling into her approach to research, mentoring, and community engagement.