About me
Hello! I'm Jonathan Pinnell, a physics PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and subject matter expert for various AI training platforms.
Much of my published research has been in photonics - the science of using light to do interesting and useful things. However, I am debilitatingly curious about the physical world in general and how best to probe its secrets. Consequently, I have spent a significant amount of my life in university studying physics, computational and applied mathematics, and computer science.
Apart from research projects, much of my work experience has been in generating training content for AI models. Additionally, I have 10+ years of experience tutoring/supervising university students in a range of subjects.
When I'm not in the lab, writing code or stumping the latest AI models, I enjoy playing golf, powerlifting or watching a spooky movie with my darling wife. You can glean more about what I like in the That's cool! section.
Publications
2024
- M. Groom, E. Miele, J. Pinnell, M. Ellis, J. McConnell, H. Sakr, G. Jasion, I. Davidson, N. Wheeler, Y. Jung (2024). Microlens Hollow-Core Fiber Probes for Operando Raman Spectroscopy. ACS photonics 11(8) : 3167-3177
2023
- T. Lawson, A. Gentleman, J. Pinnell, A. Eisenschmidt, D. Antón‐García, M. H. Frosz, E. Reisner, T. G. Euser (2023). In situ Detection of Cobaloxime Intermediates During Photocatalysis Using Hollow‐Core Photonic Crystal Fiber Microreactors. Angewandte Chemie 135(9) : e202214788
2021
- R. Mouthaan, P. Christopher, J. Pinnell, M. Frosz, G. Gordon, T. D. Wilkinson, T. G. Euser (2021). Efficient excitation of high-purity modes in arbitrary waveguide geometries. Journal of Lightwave Technology 40(4) : 1150-1160
2020
- M. De Oliveira, I. Nape, J. Pinnell, N. TabeBordbar, A. Forbes (2020). Experimental high-dimensional quantum secret sharing with spin-orbit-structured photons. Physical Review A 101(4) : 042303
- S. Chabou, A. Bencheikh, J. Pinnell, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2020). Do Laguerre–Gaussian beams recover their spatial properties after all obstacles?. Applied Physics B 126(11) : 190
- J. Pinnell, V. Rodriguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2020). Probing the limits of orbital angular momentum generation and detection with spatial light modulators. Journal of Optics 23(1) : 015602
- V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, J. Pinnell, A. Forbes (2020). Towards time-efficient ghost imaging. Journal of Modern Optics 67(13) : 1176-1183
- J. Pinnell, I. Nape, B. Sephton, M. A. Cox, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2020). Modal analysis of structured light with spatial light modulators: a practical tutorial. Journal of the Optical Society of America A 37(11) : C146-C160
- J. Pinnell, I. Nape, M. De Oliveira, N. TabeBordbar, A. Forbes (2020). Experimental demonstration of 11‐dimensional 10‐party quantum secret sharing. Laser & Photonics Reviews 14(9) : 2000012
- J. Pinnell, A. Klug, A. Forbes (2020). Spatial filtering of structured light. American Journal of Physics 88(12) : 1123-1131
- J. Pinnell, S. Chabou, K. Mihoubi, A. Bencheikh, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2020). Revealing the modal content of obstructed beams. Physical Review A 102(3) : 033524
- S. Scholes, R. Kara, J. Pinnell, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2020). Structured light with digital micromirror devices: a guide to best practice. Optical Engineering 59(4) : 041202-041202
2019
- J. Pinnell, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2019). How perfect are perfect vortex beams?. Optics Letters 44(22) : 5614-5617
- J. Pinnell, V. Rodriguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2019). Quantitative orbital angular momentum measurement of perfect vortex beams. Optics Letters 44(11) : 2736-2739
- J. Pinnell, V. Rodríguez-Fajardo, A. Forbes (2019). Single-step shaping of the orbital angular momentum spectrum of light. Optics Express 27(20) : 28009-28021
Work Experience
2024 - Current
Subject Matter Expert
Outlier, Labelbox and Sepal AI
Creating and/or reviewing difficult problems in physics, mathematics & computer science, formulating marking rubrics for training
and improving state-of-the-art generative AI reasoning models leading to enhanced model accuracy and reliability.
2023 - 2024
Examiner
University of Cambridge
Marking Part 1A and Part 1B final exam questions for the physics course in the Natural Sciences Tripos.
2022 - 2024
Supervisor
University of Cambridge
Delivered Oxbridge-style tutorials for the undergraduate courses Mathematical Methods and Computational Physics in the Natural
Sciences Tripos, improving student problem-solving skills.
2020 - 2024
Lab demonstrator
University of Cambridge
Guided Part 1A, Part 1B and Part II physics students in laboratory techniques, contributing to their improved understanding of
physical phenomena through experimentation.
2020
Juniour lecturer (substitute)
University of Witwatersrand
Drafted and delivered weekly 50-minute lectures for Year 4 Electromagnetism, receiving positive student feedback for clear instruction.
2019-2020
Treasurer
Wits Optics Student Chapter
Administrative and organisational role dealing with applications for and handling of student chapter related grants/funds.
2013-2020
Personal tutor
University of Witwatersrand, Study Doctor & Teach Me 2
Over 2000 hours of formal experience tutoring science students of various education levels ranging from junior high school to third year university in subjects ranging from statistics and numerical analysis to advanced quantum mechanics.
Education
Ph.D. in Physics
University of Cambridge
Thesis: "Tailored optical manipulation in fluidic waveguides"
Supervisor: Prof. Tijmen Euser
2020 - Current
M.Sc. in Physics
Distinction
University of the Witwatersrand
Dissertation: "Controlling the orbital angular momentum spectrum of classical and quantum light"
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Forbes
2018 - 2020
B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics
Distinction
University of the Witwatersrand
Research Report: "Optimal attacks on a high-dimensional quantum cryptography system"
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Forbes
2017
B.Sc. (Hons) in Computational & Applied Mathematics
Distinction
University of the Witwatersrand
Research Report: "Simulating tsunami wave generation, propagation and inundation"
Supervisor: Prof. Chris Harley
2016
Bachelor of Science
Distinction
University of the Witwatersrand
Research Report: "The Casimir Effect"
Supervisor: Prof. Alan Cornell
2013 - 2015
Projects
Coming soon...
Awards & Honours
Merit scholarships
2020 - 2024
Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship
Prestigious fully-funded scholarship awarded to academically outstanding University of Cambridge PhD students from any part of the world and in any discipline.
Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme
2020
D.J. Lovell Scholarship
The largest and most prestigious student prize offered by SPIE for potential contributions to the field of optics and photonics.
Society for Optics & Photonics
2018-2020
CSIR-DST Inter-Programme Postgraduate Bursary
Merit scholarship (tuition + stipend) awarded to postgraduate students in critical STEM fields.
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
2016-2019
Post Graduate Merit Award
University merit scholarship (tuition + stipend) awarded to high-achieving postgraduate students.
University of Witwatersrand
2016
Computational & Applied Mathematics School Scholarship
University prize (20% tuition) awarded to top-performing students in the department of Computational & Applied Mathematics.
University of Witwatersrand
2015
University Council Merit Scholarship
University prize (10% tuition) awarded to the highest academically achieving students.
University of Witwatersrand
2013
University Entrance Scholarship
University prize (30% first-year tuition) awarded to the top-performing incoming students.
University of Witwatersrand
Academic Awards
2015-2017
Dean's List
Awarded to the highest academically achieving students in the University of Witwatersrand
University of Witwatersrand
2016
Samuel Goodman Memorial Medal
Awarded to the best honours student in the Faculty of Science
University of Witwatersrand
2016
Starfield Prize
Awarded for the best project in the school of Computational & Applied Mathematics
University of Witwatersrand
2016
South African Mathematical Society Prize
Awarded to the best honours student in the Mathematical Sciences
South African Mathematical Society
2016
Colin James Young Prize
Awarded to the most outstanding Computational & Applied Mathematics honours student
University of Witwatersrand
2015
Herbert le May Prize
Awarded to the best third year student in the school of Physics
University of Witwatersrand
2013-2015
13 Certificates of First Class
Certificates awarded for outstanding achievement in undergraduate studies
University of Witwatersrand
2011
Dux Scholae
Awarded to the best final year high-school student
Alberton High School
2010
Best Senior Award
Awarded to the highest academically achieving senior high-school student
Alberton High School
Honour Societies
2014-2017
Golden Key International Honour Society
2016-2017
South African Mathematical Society
2012
International Society for High School Scholars
Tailored optical manipulation in hollow-core fibres
- Developed novel computational models in Python and Lumerical to determine the optimal laser field for tailored optical forces on nanoparticles in fluidic waveguides*.
- Developed a complex experiment, automated using Python, to tailor a laser field in its spatial degrees of freedom to manipulate nanoparticles in hollow-core optical fibres*.
*Currently being written up for publication.
Quantum secret sharing with spatial modes of light
- Developed and published a novel implementation of a quantum secret sharing protocol that achieved the state-of-the-art in information density. Programmed LabVIEW and MATLAB software to automate the preparation and detection of high-dimensional single photon states.
Related publications
- Experimental demonstration of 11‐dimensional 10‐party quantum secret sharing - Laser & Photonics Reviews (2020)
- Experimental high-dimensional quantum secret sharing with spin-orbit-structured photons - Physical Review A (2020)
Complex laser beam shaping
- Developed and published a (now popular) experimental method to correct aberrations in digital micromirror devices, implemented in Python and MATLAB.
- Developed and published a method for shaping the orbital angular momentum spectrum of light.
Related publications
- Structured light with digital micromirror devices: a guide to best practice - Optical Engineering (2020)
- Single-step shaping of the orbital angular momentum spectrum of light - Optics Express (2019)
Characterising the spatial modes of laser beams
- Developed and published a quantitative method for measuring the orbital angular momentum of Perfect Vortex beams.
- Determined and published the OAM-width scaling laws of Perfect Vortex beams.
- Published a comprehensive tutorial on the modal analysis of structured light with spatial light modulators.
Related publications
- Quantitative orbital angular momentum measurement of perfect vortex beams - Optics Letters (2019)
- How perfect are perfect vortex beams? - Optics Letters (2019)
- Modal analysis of structured light with spatial light modulators: a practical tutorial - Journal of the Optical Society of America A (2020)
Machine learning in quantum ghost imaging
- Developed and published a ML algorithm to determine when to halt a quantum ghost imaging experiment. This approach greatly improves the time efficiency of such experiments.
Related publications
- Towards time-efficient ghost imaging - Journal of Modern Optics (2020)
In the Press
- SPIE scholarship - Pinnell awarded SPIE D.J. Lovell Scholarship
- Quantum secret sharing work highlighted in various press releases such as SciTechDaily, Photonics Media and Technology Networks
- Feature in Optics & Photonics News - Structured Light: Tailored for Purpose
- Cover of Laser & Photonics Reviews - Experimental Demonstration of 11-Dimensional 10-Party Quantum Secret Sharing
- Top 10 most downloaded paper for JOSA A (December 2020 - July 2021) - Modal analysis of structured light with spatial light modulators: a practical tutorial
- Top 10 most downloaded paper for Optics Letters (January 2020 - March 2021) - How perfect are Perfect Vortex beams?
- Cover of Optical Engineering - Structured light with digital micromirror devices: a guide to best practice
Coming Soon!
This section is currently under development and will feature exciting content in the future.
Stay tuned for updates!
Contact
Feel free to reach out to me through the following channels:
Jonathan Pinnell