Sam Gilinsky is an electrical, computer and energy engineering graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from Northern Arizona University. His interest in optics first began at a summer internship at Los Alamos National Lab, where he worked on time-resolved pump probe spectroscopy of 2D materials. In his free time he likes to hike with his dog, play the bass guitar, ski, and play video games.