Previously, he was a post-doctoral scholar in the Dionne group at Stanford University. He received a B.E. from Visvesvaraya Technological University and an M.E. from the Indian Institute of Science, both in India. During his PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Purdue University, he developed new plasmonic materials for nanophotonic applications. His research interests lie in the application of nanophotonic principles for energy, imaging and health. Gururaj is a recipient of IEEE Photonics Society Graduate Student Fellowship, an Outstanding Graduate Research award from Purdue University and a Gold Medal from the Indian Institute of Science.