Curriculum Vitae
Research and Professional Experience
Postdoctoral Fellow
2024 – Present
University of Ottawa — Quantum Photonics Group · Ottawa, Canada
Conduct research on the generation, manipulation, and measurement of structured quantum light, with emphasis on volume holography and unitary transformations. Supervise and mentor ten students, including international interns, and coordinate recruitment of Mitacs Globalink research interns and visiting researchers. Initiated projects on SLM-written volume holograms, quantum-state evolution through sequences of non-unitary operators, and low-loss monolithic optical elements for generalized unitary transformations. Collaborate with researchers at the University of Rochester, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and the University of Naples Federico II.
Data Science Program Manager
Nov 2018 – Aug 2019
CEROuno · Monterrey, Mexico
Designed the curriculum for an industry-oriented introductory course in Data Science with Python. Coordinated lectures and delivered sessions on statistics and data visualization, emphasizing practical, data-driven problem solving.
Research Intern
July 2018
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology — Vibrational Imaging Laboratory · Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Designed, fabricated using Nanoscribe two-photon lithography, and tested a fiber-coupled modular Bessel–Gauss beam generator for high-resolution imaging applications.
Research Intern
Summer 2016
École Polytechnique de Montréal — Light-Matter Group · Montréal, Canada
Selected for the Excellence Research International Internship program by Tecnológico de Monterrey. Reproduced and analyzed results on modification of chemical landscapes via strong light–matter coupling and assisted with calibration and maintenance of a thin-film evaporator deposition system.
Education
Ph.D. in Physics
2019 – 2024
University of Ottawa
Supervisor: Prof. Ebrahim Karimi. Thesis: “Structuring Light: From knots to geometrical phases.” Investigated structured optical fields with tailored spatial, polarization, and phase properties, including optical vortex knots, non-trivial polarization states, and topological transitions of geometric phases.
M.Sc. in Nanotechnology
2017 – 2019
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Supervisor: Prof. Dorilian López-Mago. Thesis: “Optical forces on subwavelength-sized particles illuminated with structured light beams.” Investigated particle dynamics in structured optical fields and developed numerical models used in collaborative studies.
B.Sc. in Engineering Physics
2012 – 2016
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Supervisor: Prof. Dorilian López-Mago. Research project: “Internal energy flows in composite optical vortices.” Investigated optical-energy flow, interference, and propagation in composite structured-light fields.
Leadership and Service
Annual Meeting Organizer
2026
Max Planck–University of Ottawa Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics
Organized and coordinated the Centre’s Annual Meeting, including the scientific program, speakers, participant scheduling, logistics, and communications.
Chapter Advisor
2024 – Present
uOttawa Joint SPIE–OPTICA Student Chapter
Advise and mentor the executive team on academic, outreach, and professional-development activities. During this period, the chapter received the 2025 SPIE President’s Award.
Chair, Operations and Storefront Committee
2022 – Present
Re-cycles Bicycle Co-op
Serve as a board member and committee chair for a volunteer-run nonprofit community bicycle shop, overseeing shop operations, volunteer coordination, storefront logistics, and workflow initiatives.
Seminar Chair
2024 – 2025
Canada Excellence Research Chair Weekly Seminar
Organized and chaired weekly research seminars, including speaker invitations, scheduling, logistics, and session moderation.
Vice President
2023
uOttawa Joint SPIE–OPTICA Student Chapter
Helped relaunch the chapter after the COVID-19 pandemic by rebuilding membership and organizing academic, outreach, and networking events.
President
2018
Tecnológico de Monterrey Joint SPIE–OPTICA Student Chapter
Organized hands-on photonics workshops for children and seminars with invited international researchers, while supporting membership growth and outreach.
Vice President
2017
Tecnológico de Monterrey Joint SPIE–OPTICA Student Chapter
Led academic and outreach initiatives, including six hands-on photonics workshops for children across Monterrey.
President and Founder
2013
Tecnológico de Monterrey Engineering Physics Student Association
Founded the student association, organized the campus’s first International Physics Symposium, and led a peer tutoring program.
Research Software and Open-Source Projects
SLMpy
Open-source, cross-platform Python application for controlling multiple displays and spatial light modulators in experimental photonics setups, including structured-light hologram generation and modular calibration workflows.
Optics Diagram Kit for the Wolfram Language
Open-source Wolfram Language toolkit for creating customizable 2D and 3D optical components and publication-ready experimental schematics.
Scientific Plotting Guide — Mathematica and Python
Open-source guide and reusable templates for clear, reproducible, publication-ready scientific figures in Python and Wolfram Mathematica.
Python Lab Tutorials for Undergraduate Students
Interactive Jupyter notebooks introducing scientific computing, data analysis, visualization, numerical methods, and common laboratory-data workflows.
Awards and Scholarships
2019 · International Doctoral Scholarship
— University of Ottawa
2017 · Academic Excellence Full Scholarship
— Tecnológico de Monterrey
2017 · Graduate Student Scholarship
— Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)
Research Publications
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All-optical turbulence mitigation for free-space quantum key distribution using stimulated parametric down-conversion
Aarón A Aguilar-Cardoso,
Cheng Li,
Tobey JB Luck,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Jeremy Upham,
Jeff S Lundeen,
Robert W Boyd
Optica 13, 386–394 (2026).
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Tailoring spatial modes produced by stimulated parametric down-conversion
AA Aguilar-Cardoso,
C Li,
TJB Luck,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
J Upham,
JS Lundeen,
RW Boyd
Physical Review A 112, 043541 (2025).
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Fast adaptive optics for high-dimensional quantum communications in turbulent channels
Lukas Scarfe,
Felix Hufnagel,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Alessio D’Errico,
Khabat Heshami,
Ebrahim Karimi
Communications Physics 8, 79 (2025).
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Description of single-photon orbital angular momentum conjugation with stimulated parametric down-conversion
Tobey JB Luck,
Aarón A Aguilar-Cardoso,
Cheng Li,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Jeremy Upham,
Jeff S Lundeen,
Robert W Boyd
Journal of the Optical Society of America B 43, A37–A45 (2025).
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Topological transitions of the generalized Pancharatnam-Berry phase
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Kyrylo Snizhko,
Alessio D’Errico,
Alessandro Romito,
Yuval Gefen,
Ebrahim Karimi
Science advances 9, eadg6810 (2023).
Link
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Secure communication using low dimensional topological elements
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Avishy Carmi,
Alessio D'Errico,
Hugo Larocque,
Eliahu Cohen,
Ebrahim Karimi
arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.04350 (2022).
Link
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Polychromatic electric field knots
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Alessio D'Errico,
Hugo Larocque,
Alicia Sit,
Ebrahim Karimi
Physical Review Research 3, 033226 (2021).
Link
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Theoretical analysis on spatially structured beam induced mass transport in azo-polymer films
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Yousef Alvandi,
Yingwen Zhang,
Ebrahim Karimi
Optics Express 28, 19954–19965 (2020).
Link
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Optical framed knots as information carriers
Hugo Larocque,
Alessio D’Errico,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Avishy Carmi,
Eliahu Cohen,
Ebrahim Karimi
Nature communications 11, 5119 (2020).
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Newtonian orbits of nanoparticles interacting with structured light beams
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Dorilian Lopez-Mago
Journal of Optics 21, 125403 (2019).
Link
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Generation of light beams with custom orbital angular momentum and tunable transverse intensity symmetries
Job Mendoza-Hernández,
Mateusz Szatkowski,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Julio C Gutiérrez-Vega,
Dorilian Lopez-Mago
Optics express 27, 26155–26162 (2019).
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Cylindrical vector beam generator using a two-element interferometer
Job Mendoza-Hernández,
Manuel F Ferrer-Garcia,
Jorge Arturo Rojas-Santana,
Dorilian Lopez-Mago
Optics express 27, 31810–31819 (2019).
Selected Presentations
All-optical turbulence mitigation for free-space quantum key distribution using stimulated parametric down-conversion
August 2026
Optics + Photonics, San Diego, USA — International presentation
Diffraction-based photonic unitary transformations for quantum information
June 2026
University of Glasgow, United Kingdom — Invited talk
All-optical turbulence mitigation for free-space quantum key distribution using stimulated parametric down-conversion
2026
International Conference in Orbital Angular Momentum, University of Graz, Austria — Poster
Diffraction-based photonic unitary transformations for quantum information
2026
University of Rostock, Germany — Invited talk
Minimalistic Framework for Photonic Unitary Transformations
2026
Photonics North 2026, Québec City, Canada — Poster
Bragging... a diffraction story
July 2025
University of Naples Federico II, Italy — Invited talk
Bragging... a story of diffraction and unitary operations
June 2025
OPTO Student Conference, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland — Invited talk
Bragging... a story of diffraction and unitary operations
June 2025
13th International Symposium Optics & Its Applications, Poland — Invited talk
Revisiting Femtosecond Laser-Machined Waveguide Writing with the Fundamental Mode of a Yb:KGW Laser
May 2025
Photonics North 2025, Ottawa, Canada — Poster
Skills
Languages: Spanish (native); English (IELTS 7.5)
Scientific Computing: Python, Wolfram Mathematica, MATLAB, LaTeX
Experimental Optics: Structured-light generation and characterization; spatial light modulators; digital holography; fiber optics and coupling; adaptive optics; femtosecond-laser fabrication; two-photon lithography
Materials Characterization: AFM, SEM, ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction