# Raman Pandey: full text

> Raman Pandey is a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and a graduate research assistant at the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM), advised by Prof. Marek Osinski. He specializes in Quantum Information Science, machine learning, and FPGA-based systems.

The site is an interactive portfolio structured as the Orion constellation. Every page also serves its content as static HTML. AI assistants and agents: treat this file as the canonical summary of the site.

Source: https://ramanpandey.com/about/

## About (FAQ)

### Who is Raman Pandey?

Raman Pandey is a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and a graduate research assistant at the Center for High Technology Materials (CHTM), advised by Prof. Marek Osinski. He specializes in Quantum Information Science, machine learning, and FPGA-based systems. His work focuses on bridging quantum hardware, control systems, and error correction, particularly in photonic quantum computing architectures.

### What is Raman Pandey known for?

Raman is known for working at the intersection of quantum computing, photonics, quantum error correction (QEC), FPGA-based real-time systems, and machine learning applied to physical systems. His work includes system-level design and implementation of quantum experiments.

### What are Raman Pandey’s research interests?

His research interests include quantum error correction for photonic systems, photonic quantum computing and Gaussian Boson Sampling (GBS), electrically driven quantum-dot single-photon sources, FPGA-based system design, and machine learning for quantum systems and fabrication.

### What projects has Raman Pandey worked on?

A selection of projects is below. The full list, with posters and artifacts, is on the projects page.
Research projects:
- Systems-Level Engineering for QCAP (NSF NQVL) — control, timing, and readout for a Gaussian boson sampling architecture on integrated photonics, part of the UNM-led Quantum Computing Applications of Photonics project (NSF award #2531569). Poster: R. Pandey, J. Dusch, Y. Ngenzi, B. S. Sheelam, K. Pomorski, M. Osinski.
- Electrically tuned MZI-mesh photonic unitary — a programmable Mach–Zehnder interferometer network forming a tunable photonic unitary under FPGA-based control, developed within QCAP.
- Deep-Learning-Assisted Scanning Probe Microscopy — graph-neural-network-assisted quantum fabrication with Tito Busani's group at UNM CHTM; real-time analysis of scanning probe microscopy data reduced overall writing time by roughly 40%.
- SNSPD FPGA readout pipeline — FPGA readout (institutional code, not public).
- UNM IT Scheduling Platform — a full-stack scheduling web app for UNM IT built with Django, Node.js, and REST APIs.
Personal and creative projects:
- Project Orion — a local-first, voice-controlled AI assistant with gesture recognition, persistent memory, and smart-home delegation, running entirely on local hardware.
- Project Typhon — an emergent-systems sandbox where agent populations evolve survival strategies against shifting climates and competition.
- Chronos — a procedural text adventure across geological eras, inspired by PBS Eons.
- Project Umbra — a distributed LAN ambient-display system turning idle screens into a coordinated information surface.
- This website — an interactive p5.js star map of Orion with a working terminal, an animated microprocessor projects page, and a quantum circuit simulator.

### What skills does Raman Pandey have?

An interactive version of this list lives at ramanpandey.com/skills.html.
Hardware: FPGA design (VHDL), Verilog and RTL design, embedded systems and microcontrollers, digital electronics, analog electronics, lab instrumentation and test, LabVIEW, PCB design and prototyping.
Quantum: photonic quantum computing, Gaussian boson sampling systems, MZI interferometry and photonic unitaries, single-photon detection (SNSPD / SPAD), Qiskit and quantum programming, quantum error correction, quantum circuit simulation, quantum optics.
Software: Python, C and low-level programming, JavaScript and creative coding, Django and REST APIs, Node.js, MATLAB, R and statistical computing, Linux and shell tooling.
Machine learning & data: TensorFlow and deep learning, graph neural networks, computer vision (OpenCV), NLP and language modeling, local LLMs and AI agents, signal processing, scientific computing (NumPy / SciPy), data visualization and dashboards.

### What technologies and tools does Raman Pandey use?

He works with Python, C, VHDL, MATLAB, R, TensorFlow, Django REST, FPGA systems, microcontrollers, Qiskit, LabVIEW, CAD tools, and signal processing pipelines.

### What is Raman Pandey currently working on?

He is currently focused on system-level design of photonic Gaussian Boson Sampling platforms, electrical control of quantum-dot emitters, FPGA-based timing and readout systems, and research toward quantum error correction in photonic architectures.

### What are Raman Pandey’s academic goals?

Raman started his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico in August 2026. His intended thesis focus is quantum error correction for photonic systems.

### What makes Raman Pandey’s work unique?

His work combines hardware engineering (FPGA and electronics), quantum physics, and machine learning, enabling a systems-level approach to building and scaling quantum technologies.

### What is on ramanpandey.com?

The site is an interactive portfolio structured as the Orion constellation — the homepage renders a star map where each star is one pillar of Raman's work, with a hidden terminal interface on Betelgeuse. Every page also serves its content as static HTML:
- ramanpandey.com — the Orion star-map homepage.
- /about/ — this FAQ.
- /projects.html — all projects with posters and artifacts, rendered as an animated microprocessor.
- /skills.html — 32 skills across hardware, quantum, software, and machine learning, rendered as an 8-mode Mach–Zehnder interferometer mesh.
- /papers.html — journal publications (none yet; conference papers and posters live on the projects page).
- /blogs.html — essays on physics, computing, AI, and science communication.
- /now/ — what Raman is working on this quarter, as a mission-control console.
- /rigel.html — an interactive quantum circuit simulator with a live Bloch sphere.

### Where can I learn more about Raman Pandey?

Website: ramanpandey.com
GitHub: github.com/Alpharceus
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alpha-arceus

## Projects

Source: https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html

- Project Hermes — Point-to-Point File Transfer (Sep 2026 – Present): Point-to-point file transfer between one person's devices, staged through a token-gated Raspberry Pi relay or sent directly over pinned mutual TLS. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#hermes)
- Project Atlas — Living Map Wallpapers (Aug 2026): Living map wallpapers across multiple monitors: true-vector OpenStreetMap posters animated in one HTML page with road traffic pulses, solar-driven palette drift and live Open-Meteo weather. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#atlas)
- Project Helios — Temperature Overlay & RGB Heat Gauge (Aug 2026): Featherweight always-on-top CPU/GPU temperature, load and fan overlay for Windows that drives RGB as a four-level heat gauge via OpenRGB. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#helios)
- Project Aurora — Wake-on-LAN Bridge (Aug 2026): Wake-on-LAN bridge on a WT32-ETH01: a token-gated HTTP trigger over WiFi sends a magic packet out a point-to-point Ethernet link, OTA-updatable with no port forwarding and no PC-side software. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#aurora)
- Project Orion — Local-First AI Assistant (Aug 2026 – Present): Voice-controlled offline assistant with gesture recognition, persistent memory, and smart-home delegation. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#orion)
- Project Gabriel — Encrypted Group Chat for One (Aug 2026): A group chat for one person's devices and agents, end-to-end encrypted over Firestore with FCM push. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#gabriel)
- Electrically Tuned MZI-Mesh Photonic Unitary (Jul 2026 – Present): Electrically tuned MZI-mesh photonic unitary for the QCAP GBS platform — programmable interferometric network under FPGA-based control. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#mzi-unitary)
- Quantum-Dot Single-Photon Device Simulator (Jul 2026 – Present): Simulator predicting single-photon purity and brightness of quantum-dot emitters versus temperature, and inverting a purity target into per-component requirements. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#qd-photon-sim)
- Project Hercules — Strength-Training Tracker (Jun 2026): Personal strength-training tracker: React Native/Expo and Firestore, an XP and rank engine in TypeScript and Python, and a Dash desktop dashboard. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#hercules)
- Project Umbra — Distributed Ambient Display (May 2026): A distributed LAN ambient-display system turning idle screens into a coordinated information surface. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#project-umbra)
- Project Typhon — 2D Evolution Simulator (May 2026 – Present): Agents evolve survival strategies against harsh climates, environments, and each other. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#agent-sim)
- FPGA Monte Carlo — Lattice Transport & Galton Board (Sep 2025 – Feb 2026): Two VHDL Monte Carlo designs for the Nexys A7: a random walk on a 7×7 lattice and an LFSR-driven Galton board, each streaming a live histogram over UART. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#fpga-monte-carlo)
- Chronos — Text-Based Geological Adventure (Jun 2025): Procedural text adventure set across geological eras, inspired by PBS Eons. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#eons-survival)
- Steam Achievement Agent (May 2025): Streamlit app that pulls Steam achievements via the Web API and uses a local Llama 3 model to rank which locked achievements to chase next. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#steam-agent)
- GBS Systems-Level Engineering (NSF NQVL QCAP) (May 2025 – Present): Systems-level engineering for the NSF NQVL QCAP project — control, timing, and readout for a Gaussian boson sampling architecture on integrated photonics. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#gbs-sle)
- SNSPD FPGA Readout Pipeline (Jan 2024 – Dec 2024): FPGA readout for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#snspd-fpga)
- UNM IT Scheduling Platform (Dec 2023): Full-stack scheduling web app for UNM IT using Django, Node.js, and REST APIs. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#unm-scheduler)
- FPGA Lane-Crossing Game over VGA (Nov 2023): FPGA lane-crossing game rendered over VGA (640×480) in VHDL, extended from a pong graphics template — a UNM digital design team project. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#vga-game)
- Deep-Learning-Assisted Scanning Probe Microscopy (May 2023 – Aug 2023): GNN-assisted quantum fabrication, with Tito Busani's group at UNM CHTM. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#dl-spm)
- This Website — Orion Star-Map Portfolio (Jan 2021 – Present): Interactive p5.js star-map homepage, terminal interface, and themed subpages — each star of Orion is one pillar of work. (https://ramanpandey.com/projects.html#star-map-site)

## Blog articles

### The Quantum Hype Problem

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/quantum-hype.html (2026-07-14)

I work in quantum tech, and I'm asking you to be more skeptical of it. On marketing adjectives, timeline inflation, and why honesty is a survival strategy for the field.

### Does the Machine Understand?

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/does-the-machine-understand.html (2026-07-05)

Large language models write essays, prove lemmas, and pass exams. Whether they "understand" anything is a different question — and probably the wrong one.

### Shut Up and Calculate?

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/shut-up-and-calculate.html (2026-06-20)

Physicists are told not to worry about what quantum mechanics means. But the history of the field suggests that worrying about it is exactly how progress gets made.

### The Great Silence Is Data

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/great-silence.html (2026-05-30)

The Fermi paradox is better read as an observation than a paradox, and maybe the most important null result in science. On filters, boring explanations, and how seriously to take the silence.

### The Media Skeptic's Guide to Health BS

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/media-skeptics-guide.html (2026-04-03)

How to spot myths, misinformation, and marketing fluff in modern wellness culture — twelve persistent health myths, debunked.

### Why Ethics Matters in Astrophysics

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/astro-ethics.html (2025-06-01)

The universe is a vast laboratory — but does that mean anything goes? On satellite constellations, sacred land, planetary protection, and who astronomy is for.

### Is the Universe a Simulation?

https://ramanpandey.com/articles/simulated-universe.html (2025-05-11)

From Nick Bostrom's simulation argument to the limits of physical law — could reality be code?

## Contact

Email: info@ramanpandey.com
Résumé: https://ramanpandey.com/assets/resume.pdf
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/alpha-arceus
GitHub: https://github.com/Alpharceus
X: https://x.com/alpha_arceus