Priyanshu Kumar
Incoming PhD Student @ University of Toronto
Namaste,
Welcome to my website.
Engineer by training,
Physicist by passion.
I am a first-year direct-entry PhD student in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, where I am a member of the Quantum Photonics Research Group led by Prof. Li Qian. After completing my senior secondary schooling and a brief stint at the Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi, I pursued my BTech in Electronics and Communication Engineering (Avionics) at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram—an autonomous institute under the Department of Space, Government of India—graduating in July 2026.
I consider myself an engineering physicist. In Harry Potter terms, I would be what they call a half-blood, courtesy of a diverse portfolio of training and research. My current work and research interests focus on quantum communication, optics, and photonics, particularly novel experimental implementations of quantum key distribution (QKD). I am also fascinated by the application of AI and quantum computing to challenging problems in STEM. In a past life, my work spanned domains like electronics, space and satellite technologies, and systems engineering. Broadly, I aim to engineer solutions for advanced scientific applications. My recent focus, however, firmly places me in the quantum camp.
I have collaborated with researchers from multiple institutions and organizations over the course of my undergraduate career. These include the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany; LIP6 (CNRS/Sorbonne Université), Paris, France; the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad, India; the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), Vienna, Austria; the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai, India; and my alma mater, IIST. And with my PhD in Toronto lined up, I hope to see this list grow even further in the coming years.
The sky is not the limit.
