Mbaye Diouf received his bachelor’s degree in physics and chemistry in 2011 and his master’s degree in atomic and nuclear physics in 2014, both from the University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Senegal. He earned his PhD in 2017 from UCAD/Engineering School of Communication of Tunis (Sup’Com), Tunisia. He is a senior research associate at Brown University, where he — almost single-handedly — designed and built the PROBE Lab and has trained and mentored many of the lab’s students. His current and future research will broadly target optics and photonics, including nonlinear optics, light sheet microscopy, multiphoton microscopy, and supercontinuum laser sources. He led the first-ever discovery of space-time wave packets, which he experimentally proved to be classically entangled in both space-time and space-polarization. In addition, he has been a critical contributor for the development of a pulse oximeter that will work accurately across all skin tones. He co-invented the prototype currently being tested in a Rhode Island hospital — drawing considerable media attention and leading to a filed patent. An active member of OPTICA, he co-founded and served as the inaugural president of the Senegalese OPTICA student chapter. Trilingual in Wolof, French, and English, Diouf intends to prioritize DEI in his research, teaching, and leadership, particularly for those on the periphery of higher education.

Research Interests

Laser beam shaping, for metrology, and bio-imaging