Siddharth Maddali, Ph.D

Computational Scientist

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Summary

Computational scientist with 7+ years’ professional research experience in X-ray and optical microscopy, optics, imaging algorithms, signal processing, high-performance computing, scientific software development and materials physics. 1+ years in the semiconductor industry. Previous stints at top US national laboratories. Professional with a Ph.D in physics and strong fundamentals in mathematics and computation. Passionate about computational, experimental and AI innovation in any field, particularly the physical sciences.

Citizenship: India
Sponsorship required: No

📚 Education

🎓 Ph.D, Applied physics
  — Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2010 — 2016
🎓 MS, Physics
  — Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2009 — 2010
🎓 M.Sc, Physics
  — Indian Institute of Technology - Madras
Chennai, India
2007 — 2009
🎓 B.Sc, Physics, mathematics, electronics
  — Bangalore University
Bengaluru, India
2004 — 2007

🥷🏽 Skills

Proficiency Physics Computation Programming
👍 Research Fourier/physical/wave optics,
microscopy, X-ray diffraction,
condensed matter/materials physics		 Linear algebra, imaging,
reconstruction, signal processing,
inverse problems, simulations		 Python
(numpy, scipy, pandas,
matplotlib, scikit-learn),
MATLAB, Linux, Bash,
$\LaTeX$
👌 Expert Computational electromagnetics,
quantum & statistical physics,
mechanics		 Statistics, probability,
FDTD, visualization,
high-dimensional geometry,
complex analysis		 HPC/parallel computing (mpich),
GPU development
(PyTorch, Tensorflow)
🤏 Functional Semiconductors,
Experimental design		 Differential equations,
machine learning,
deep learning		 C/C++
👶 Miscellaneous Quantum information Bayesian inference,
uncertainty quantification,
quantum computing		 HTML, Javascript, CSS,
Qiskit, cuQuantum

💼 Experience

KLA Corp. (KLA-Tencor)
Research Scientist: Broadband Plasma (BBP) Division
Milpitas, CA, USA
Nov 2022 —present

Accomplishments:
  — Developed methods for sensitivity enhancement in semiconductor wafer inspection with broadband optical illumination.

Argonne National Laboratory
Staff Scientist (≅ Assistant Professor): Materials Science Division
Chicago, IL, USA
Oct 2019 — Oct 2022

Accomplishments:
  — Led the computational development and first experimental demonstration of multi-reflection Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (MR-BCDI).
  — Pioneered design of futuristic experiments at Department of Energy facilities with physics-based signal processing techniques.
  — Spearheaded the multi-scale X-ray diffraction imaging approach to characterizing materials in difficult-to-access environments (APS, ESRF).
  — Commandeered research grants (ANL LDRD) for early-stage exploratory X-ray microscopy and experimental automation at synchrotron facilities.
  — Proposed and executed successful synchrotron experiments (US, France).
  — Published in high-impact journals, mentored postdocs and students, organized/chaired international workshops.

Argonne National Laboratory
Post-doctoral researcher: Materials Science Division
Chicago, IL, USA
Jan 2017 — Sep 2019

Accomplishments: First demonstration of multi-scale, high-energy coherent diffraction imaging (HEDM) of 3D material microstructure.

National Energy Technology Laboratory
Post-doctoral researcher: ORISE Fellow
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
May 2016 — Nov 2016

  — Developed guidelines for machine learning-driven materials discovery of novel, function-optimized steel alloys.

Carnegie Mellon University
Graduate student: Physics Department
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Aug 2009 — Feb 2016

  — Dissertation on mining meso-scale materials physics from high-energy synchrotron data.
  — Created HierarchicalSmooth: mesh smoothing for physical interface networks.
  — Taught mechanics & electromagnetism to undergraduate science majors.

🏆 Awards & Grants

  — ANL LDRD: Coherence-enhanced dark-field X-ray microscopy (Role: PI; $930,000).
  — ANL LDRD: Detecting critical micro-structural processes with AI (Role: PI; $100,000).
  — Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) post-doctoral fellowship (2016).
  — Indian Institute of Technology Madras Merit Scholarship (2007 — 2009).
  — IIT Joint Admission to M.Sc (IIT-JAM): All-India rank 5 out of ≃ 4000 (2007).
  — Bangalore University overall undergraduate rank 5 (2007).

🧗 Hobbies & Activities

Swimming, hiking, biking, table tennis (ping-pong), squash.