Zhi M. Liao

Workforce Manager

Zhi M. Liao is workforce manager for the National Ignition Facility & Photon Sciences (NIF&PS) Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Leveraging his years of sustained commitment to developing employees and students at all stages of their careers, he will have the responsibility to plan, execute, and provide technical oversight to a variety of workforce, operational and organizational activities and manage workforce matters for NIF&PS.

Liao’s expertise is in nonlinear optics, adaptive optics, and laser-induced optic damage. He has contributed to many of LLNL’s successful laser projects, including the Fiber GuideStar Laser, Mercury Laser, MEC-U (Matter in Extreme Conditions Upgrade), and NIF. Most notably, he has worked on developing models for predicting optics lifetimes for NIF and has co-led an integrated team that successfully commissioned a brand-new optic (fused silica debris shield) on NIF. Dr. Liao has authored and presented many peerreviewed scientific publication covering these topics and has been awarded several patents on laser technologies.

He served multiple summer internships at LLNL before being hired as a full-time staff member in 2001.

Liao attended the University of Rochester where he obtained his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in optical engineering, working under Dr. Govind Agrawal on nonlinear fiber optics.

Liao is an active member of SPIE and a senior member of Optica. Outside of work, Liao enjoys spending time with his family traveling and learning about different cultures, especially if it involves food.