Photonics Simulation & Optimization/Design

Project:
This is a flexible part-time project to simulate and design (optimize) on-chip photonics elements for a visible-light application. We will start with a fairly-small photonics project (design a 2D Bragg grating connected efficiently to a single-mode waveguide to emit visible light at a specific frequency).
To start, we'd anticipate about 20 hours/week for a short 1-2 months project. If successful, there will be an opportunity to expand to larger/bigger projects.
This project supports remote work and flexible hours. We expect the outcome is expert, timely, and trustworthy.

Please Send:
- Resume (education and prior work experience).
- Attach material for items 1-7 below, e.g. sample papers for items 2-4, proof of access to Tidy3D (item 6).
- Concise description of prior photonics simulation and design projects.
- Contact information and best time to reach you.
- Three references we can contact at a later time.

Requirements:
Significant (5 years or more) experience in simulation and design (optimization) of on-chip photonics elements (waveguides, phase delays, couplers/gratings, splitters, etc.).
Specifically:
1) Understanding of photonics physics and light propagation.
2) Past experience with photonics simulations. Forward problem: Given the geometry of a waveguide, phase delay, input/output coupler, or splitter, find the propagation of light (modes), and be able to debug/understand errors based on experience and deep knowledge of photonics physics.
3) Past experience with photonics design/optimization. Inverse problem: Given a desired behavior (e.g. input coupler that accepts coherent light from 80 to 100 degrees, achieve at least 80% coupling efficiency to single-mode waveguide), select the coupler geometry (number of grating lines, their depth, pitch, and curvature, etc.) to maximize performance.
4) Past projects in photonics simulation and optimization. Please provide a concise concrete list of your past projects in photonics simulation and design. What was the task? How did you do it? How did you debug / improve performance? From start to finish of project, how long did it take to come up with that solution?
5) Experience with capturing component behavior in a transfer matrix format. (We are going to have thousands of components. After you have optimized a component, we will need a transfer matrix that captures the behavior of that component. Transfer matrices will be connected together to represent the behavior of the overall network.)
6) You *must* already have access to a photonics simulation software, we prefer Tidy3D. If you also have access to Lumerical, and if you know how to use MEEP, those are both add-on benefits. (We will pay for hourly-costs that are incurred for the project, e.g. if exceed Tidy3D quota and need to start paying per-hour.)
7) Workable knowledge of English. English as a second language is ok, but we must be able to efficiently understand each other in speech and writing.

Nice-to-Have (in order of add-on importance):
- A PhD or Masters degree in optics/photonics.
- And/or commercial design experience in optics/photonics.
- Prior experimental experience with on-chip photonics systems.
- Workable / strong mathematics background, especially in linear algebra and transfer functions.
- Expertise in programming, including low-level languages and Python. (At a certain stage, output from the photonics simulations will be rolled up into programs that integrate multiple photonics components into many-component systems.)