Context

Modeling light propagation in waveguides requires complex numerical simulations. Researchers needed a tool that could run those calculations in something close to real time so they could iterate and experiment instead of waiting around for results.

What I Built

FD-BPM is a finite-difference beam propagation simulator that pairs optimized numerical kernels with an interactive GUI. I used Numba for JIT compilation to accelerate the compute-heavy parts, NumPy and Pandas for data handling, and PySide2 with Matplotlib for visualization.

What I Am Proud Of

The result is a tool where researchers can configure experiments, run simulations, and see results quickly enough to keep the design loop moving. That matters a lot in research, where the difference between a good idea and a useful tool is often how fast you can test it.

The simulator has also been used for optical fiber prototyping, photonic device evaluation, and teaching in photonics courses, which made the project feel genuinely useful beyond the original build.