Sam Olson is a Research Engineer at CEDAR within the Knight Cancer Institute, and manager of the Knight Cancer Institute's Class 100 Nanofab. At CEDAR, Sam applies his skills in hardware design, software design, physics, and materials science to developing technologies aimed at advancing the field of early cancer detection. 

Sam obtained his B.S. in Physics from Portland State University, where he conducted research on simulation of light propagation in photonic waveguides. He then obtained a M.S. in Materials Science from the same institution, where his research focused on developing methods for chemical vapor deposition growth of graphene at low temperatures. Sam worked in the semiconductor industry as a Process Engineer prior to joining CEDAR. In addition to his work at CEDAR, Sam is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering department at Portland State University, where his research focuses on the fabrication of advanced graphene spintronic devices. Outside of work Sam enjoys reading, playing piano, and walking.