My work:
I am an engineering physics major at Stanford who really enjoys making and studying devices at the nanoscale. I am best known for my work on organic quantum sensing and van der Waals materials. For this work, I have been awarded two fellowships and was nominated by a prior institution for the prestigious Barry Goldwater scholarship.
My laser scanning confocal microscope, with fluorescence path!
I made the thinnest organic quantum sensor ever made.
I create some of the most unique organic quantum sensing films using novel methods.
I help out with instrumentation, especially at microwave frequencies.
In a past-ish life, I did a lot of electrical engineering work, including at a biotech startup as an intern before I started college. My specialty was in radio frequency design, particularly RF PCB design, antennas, and 2.5D/3D EM simulations. I am still great at making electronics, embedded devices, and measurements. I enjoy solving the most difficult interdisciplinary problems in engineering, especially those relating to computer vision, advanced technologies, and other physically or mathematically intensive problems. I also work great on engineering problems that overlap my physics work, especially optics and research at all stages of the process.
I have been doing it for a really long time, since I was about 13.
I enjoy high speed digital work, too, like these USB differential pairs, as well as embedded.
But, it usually all comes back to microwave, and this has been really helpful in the lab!
I am pretty good with EM simulation suites. The goose, not so much.
When I am not being paid, I really enjoy working on diverse problems in engineering and science, especially those that I am not yet familiar with.
My lithography simulator was very mathematically intense. 100% GPU accelerated in Python!
When I was 13, I built my own spin coater and optical lithography system from spare parts.
I've had a lot of fun working on computer vision and autonomy in aircraft and cars with simulators.
I have also found myself in some ridiculous situations, like having a research robot in my dining room.
Formalities:
Education
Stanford University
Engineering Physics, BS (2026-2028)
University of California, Irvine
Applied Physics, BS (2024-2026), 4.0
I did well here! I was nominated for the Barry Goldwater scholarship by the institution for my work as a member of the Javier D. Sanchez Yamagishi lab. I was awarded the funded QUROP fellowship for summer 2025 and another UROP fellowship in December 2025 for my work in his group. In the spring of 2026 I was awarded the Outstanding Non-Graduating Undergraduate Scholarship Award by the physics department. I finished up to the first courses in quantum mechanics and E&M before I transferred to Stanford at the end of my second year.
Canyon Crest Academy
And two other high schools (2019-2023), 4.0UW
I am also a high-school graduate, believe it or not, but I did move a lot. I was on two robotics teams during high school, and became a mechanical project manager during my senior year. I did hundreds of hours of volunteering in my community, making workshops for Girl Scouts and helping to run Lego robotics teams.
Publications and Presentations
Demangone, R., Pan, H., Ajoy, A. & Sanchez-Yamagishi, J. (2026, May 15). An Ultrathin van der Waals Molded Organic Quantum Sensor [Poster presentation]. 2026 U.C. Irvine Undergraduate Research Symposium, Irvine, CA, United States.
Demangone, R., Pan, H., Ajoy, A. & Sanchez-Yamagishi, J. (2026, April 11). An Ultrathin van der Waals Molded Organic Quantum Sensor [Poster presentation]. 2026 Society of Physics Students Zone 18 Meeting, Irvine, CA, United States.
Pan, H., Nekarae, S., Hagerson, J., Demangone, R. & Sanchez-Yamagishi, J. (2025, September 30). Trapped Atoms in a Nanoscale Vacuum Cell: A Novel Quantum Sensing Platform with vdW Material [Poster presentation]. 2025 Eddleman Quantum Institute (EQI) Symposium, Irvine, CA, United States.
Demangone, R. & Sanchez-Yamagishi, J. (2025, April 24). Room-temperature Quantum Sensing with Organic Crystals Grown by van der Waals Molding. U.C. Irvine Society of Physics Students Undergraduate Research Night, Irvine, CA, United States.
Work Experience
Formlabs
SLS Systems Integration Intern (Summer 2026)
I led the initiative to bring print failure detection to market readiness, pushing the performance envelope on an industrial 3D printer to industry leading levels through the application of advanced computer vision and data analysis. I iterated extensively, decreasing detection false positives to <1% on all prototype units. I independently produced a number of cutting edge proofs of concept, such as applying inverse optimization inspired by photolithography to the print process, or a novel method for printer autocalibration.
JDSY Lab
Quantum UROP Fellow (Summer 2025)
I independently worked towards and achieved novel discoveries on organic heterostructure integration on pentacene-based quantum sensors. I also contributed to hardware and software design and implementation for numerous experimental instruments, both those pertinent to my work and others not. I was an authorized user on the AFM, as well as a superuser on the laser scanning confocal microscope I was instrumental to building.
Genalyte, Inc.
R&D Intern (Summer 2023)
I was responsible for renewing the BOM for a legacy system in preparation for production, including an SoC and multiple high-speed interfaces. I also performed embedded Linux integration with Buildroot on ARM Cortex-A9 SoC systems for performance characterization and modeling, as well as FPGA integration on the Cyclone V platform. Additionally, I improved a task automation system using an i.MXRT microcontroller from an 80% success rate to >99%.
Work with me:
I'm looking for opportunities in North America for this coming summer 2027, in both industrial and academic settings.
- I am a U.S. Citizen, willing to relocate for the right opportunity.
- I am seeking SURF/REU fellowships in experimental condensed matter physics, quantum materials and devices, and related fields.
- I am also seeking industry work, particularly in quantum hardware, engineering, and occasionally finance or software.
- Most generally, if you have read this page and think I would be interested in what you do, write me! I would love to hear.
About Robin:
I'm from a lot of places. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, went to high school in San Diego at two different high schools,
took a year off to work as an EE and then moved to the Bay Area, all before undergrad. I have loved science and engineering for
a really long time, so it is only natural that I hope to pursue a doctorate in physics following undergrad. Much of my decision making revolves around that goal, but I am always willing to explore.
In my free time, when I am not doing work work or fun work, I like to photograph birds of prey, talk to people, and go on walks
to and at various locations. I write blog posts on occasion, some of which you will find below.
