Muhammad Roman, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at S&T, will present a talk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, in the loft of Public House Brewing Co. in Rolla. The topic will be fiber-optic electric field sensing. His talk is part of the Research on Tap lecture series hosted by the Graduate Student Leadership Council in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business (CASB).

In his research, Roman is working to develop fiber-optic electric sensors based on fiber- optic interferometry. Electric field sensing is crucial in many applications, including high-power microwave systems, electromagnetic compatibility, electrical power systems, electronic circuits and space exploration. Conventional sensing methods use metallic probes, which disturb the field under test, and they are difficult to embed in the system under measurement due to their large size. Fiber-optic sensors for electric field measurement may be able to address these issues because of their all-dielectric structure and small size. These sensors also use other advantages of fiber-optic sensors like lightweight remote operation, distributed sensing and multiplexing capabilities while ensuring minimal field perturbation and invasiveness.

Roman earned a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in Taxila, Pakistan, in 2013. He worked as a lecturer in electrical engineering at the University of Wah and at COMSATS Institute of information technology in Wah Cantt, Pakistan, from 2014 to 2017.