Students & Alumni

Chiatai Chen

My current lab role is studying the feasibility of forming a magnetic mirror with an auto-magnetization liner on COBRA.

Thomas Hentschel

I am currently working with Stephanie Hansen on improving the efficiency and accuracy of atomic-scale models to predict properties of warm dense matter. These models can be used in conjunction with a hydrodynamics code to predict the energy lost as radiation during the implosion phase of the Cornell Z-pinch experiments.

Ahmed Elshafiey

I am working on Hybrid X-Pinch optimization by varying the gap distance between the electrodes to achieve a single bright x-ray spot for imaging purposes. In the future, I will be looking at studying the Hybrid X-Pinch via time and spatially resolved spectroscopy using a streak camera to obtain information about the plasma such as the density and temperature to further understand the pinching physics and confirm whether or not radiative collapse takes place.
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Euan Freeman

I am currently working on developing and using a Faraday Rotation diagnostic to study the magnetic field distribution in imploding gas-puff Z-pinches. These measurements will  be used to confirm and compare with other magnetic field diagnostics such as Zeeman Spectroscopy and B-dot probes, and be used to develop a further understanding of the current distribution in these plasmas. In the future, I also plan to field this diagnostic on loads relevant to power-flow experiments.

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Joshua Luoma

I am interested in studying fundamental plasma physics and its application to engineering and industry. At Cornell, I am helping to design a two-color interferometry and shadowgraphy diagnostic for the COBRA pulsed power generator. This diagnostic will image plasma with both visible (532 nm) and ultraviolet (355 nm) laser light, capturing plasma dynamics and enabling the measurement of plasma density. The ultraviolet light is particularly useful, as it can probe deeper into the plasma than visible light.

Nicholas Behrens

I plan to apply a combination of a Fresnel zone plate and a refractive lens or metalens to measure the Z-pinch plasma temperature, through extreme ultraviolet imaging of emission lines and broadband spectra.  The optics will be higher resolution than the current pinhole camera, while minimizing chromatic aberration for increased bandwidth.  I will determine and compare fundamental imaging limits for these combinations, and then utilize inverse computational design to approach and quantify progress toward these limits.

Dr. Tom Byvank

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM

A postdoctorate research associate with Scott Hsu working on the PLX project (PLX stands for “Plasma Liner Experiment”), where I will characterize the uniformity of a spherical shell of plasma produced from converging plasma streams (or “jets”), and also study fundamental shock physics.

Dr. Jason Hamilton

Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM

A postdoctorate working in the Theory division (T-division). Jason will be modelling how transport affects magnetic disruptions in tokamaks.

Dr. Levon Atoyan

co-founder of Active Energy Systems
Knoxville, Tennessee

Co-founder of Active Energy Systems, a startup that is commercializing a form of electro-thermal energy storage to be used at the grid scale. The company is currently being supported by the Innovation Crossroads program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Dr. Nathanial Hamlin

Sandia National Laboratory
Albuquerque, NM

Involved in two code development projects. One of these is continued development of the PERSEUS extended-MHD code into what will eventually be a production-line code., including the incorporation of adaptive mesh refinement and multi-material modeling capabilities. The second project is a collaborative effort to develop a hybrid PIC-fluid code, with one major application being the modeling of power-flow in pulsed-power devices. For this latter project, I’ve been doing both code development and analytic modeling using Mathematica.

Dr. Jacob Banasek

University California San Diego
San Diego, CA

Currently a postdoctorate under Simon Bott-Suzuki.  Jacob’s primary focus is to help in the development of a Thomson scattering diagnostic for use on FuZE at the University of Washington to help study the sheared flow stabilized z-pinch.

Dr. Sophia Rocco

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Sophia will be working in Andrea Schmidt’s group, which is in the National Security Engineering Division of the Engineering Directorate. She will working on diagnostics (primarily neutron diagnostics, as well as potentially Thomson scattering and spectroscopy) for a dense plasma focus (DPF) on the pulsed-power machine MJOLNIR. The DPF is being developed as a source for neutron radiography.

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Dr. Cad Hoyt

National Oilwell Varco

Rig Technologies Analytics Team

Texas

Joseph Engelbrecht

Naval Research Laboratory
Washington, DC

Dr. Kate Bell

Sandia National Laboratories
Albuquerque, NM

Dr. Philip de Grouchy

Currently attending law school.

Dr. Xuan Zhao

Cylance, Inc.
Irvine, CA

Dr. Adam Cahill

Air Force Institute of Technology .
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH