M. Nisa Khan

M. Nisa Khan received her bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, and her master’s and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. During her studies, she worked as a research associate for 9 years at Honeywell Solid State Research Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. After completing her doctorate, she became a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories (now Alcatel Lucent) in Holmdel, New Jersey, and spent most of her 6 years at the Photonics Research Laboratory at Crawford Hill conducting pioneering work on 40-Gb/s optoelectronic and integrated photonic devices. Dr. Khan then worked on optical communication subsystems at several other companies, including her own venture-backed companies in New Jersey. In 2006, she started an independent research and engineering company in LED lighting and has since been involved in innovation and technology development for making solid-state lighting more suitable for general lighting. As an independent consultant, Dr. Khan performs feasibility studies for LED lighting used in entertainment and signage industries and offers platform design and development solutions for general lighting applications. Since 2007, she has been writing the “LED Update” column for Signs of the Times magazine, which has been serving the electric signage industry since 1906.