ii ENGINEERING THE RESONANCES OF

I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Weili Zhang for accepting me as his PhD student at a time when I was almost branded as a student completely incapable of doing research. He introduced me to the fascinating world of metamaterials and successfully guided me through my research. His tremendous faith in my abilities and unwavering support inspired me to work hard and work smart. I enjoyed all the freedom he gave me to do my work. I can hardly remember a situation where I would discuss an experiment or an idea with him and he showed any lack of confidence in it. The best thing I liked about him is that he was always there in the encouraging role every time I needed his inputs or any kind of assistance in the laboratory. Thanks for being so Dr. Zhang, I really appreciate all your patience, faith and support. Dr. Paul Westhaus, then (August 2006) the Photonics program director provided me with the financial support through the Department of Physics without which I would not have been able to survive here and thus would not have continued my PhD. Thanks a lot Dr. Westhaus for showing so much trust in my abilities. If it was not your generosity, I would have faded into oblivion several years back without making any kind of impact in th