Austin Samples is a first year PhD. Student under Dr. Schurig, he completed both his undergraduate and masters degrees in Electrical Engineering at North Carolina State University.  At 23, he tries to stay active outside of school work; He is a personal trainer at the university gym and also teaches a group cycling class there.  He loves hockey and is a huge Carolina Hurricanes fan.  Other than that he enjoys a good conversation and a good joke.
 
Suresh Venkatesh is a Graduate Student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at NC State University. In Spring '09, he joined the Masters Program at NCSU. He is part of the Metamaterials Group at NC State, working with Dr. David Schurig as a Graduate Research Assistant. He received his baccalaureate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, INDIA in June 2007. During his undergraduate days, he was a Visiting Student at Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, INDIA. After graduating, he joined RRI as a Project Assistant in the Dept. Astronomy & Astrophysics. His areas of interests are in Metamaterials, Electromagnetics and Radio Astronomy.
 
Lucas Crowthers, a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, returned to school after a brief foray in the microelectronics industry.  Currently a Masters student in Electrical Engineering at North Carolina State, his research interests include electron wave phenomena in nanoscale devices, information routing and processing, and human-machine interface.  He perceives metamaterials as a cornerstone topic in the future of each of these fields.  Personal interests include fly-fishing, backpacking, starting projects and illeism.