He is a materials engineer and laboratory fellow at Idaho National Laboratory. He holds a doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University. He serves as the technical lead for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant High Temperature Alloys Research and Development Program and on the management board as the Metals Working Group chair for the Gen IV International Forum Very High Temperature Reactor Materials Program and on the strategic planning board for Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Materials Integration. His specialties include the research and development of alloys for use in high-temperature reactors. He recently was the principal investigator and technical lead on Next Generation Nuclear Plant High Temperature Metals Research and Development for the U.S. Department of Energy. He is the author of 65 peer-reviewed articles and 35 conference proceedings, and holds seven U.S. patents.
He received his bachelor's in chemistry from Reed College in 1990, and his doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University in 1996. He specializes in multi-disciplinary problem solving in the physical sciences and their corresponding engineering disciplines. Over his 22-year research and development (R&D) career, he has developed expertise in physical chemistry, chemical kinetics, atmospheric chemistry, instrumentation, electronics (digital, analog, power, and RF), spectroscopic sensing, lasers, fiber optics and wave guides, classical optics, electro-optics, electromagnetics, electromechanical systems, heat transfer, materials science, mechanical engineering, manufacturing processes, and renewable energy technologies.
He has won four R&D 100 Awards, holds numerous patents, has 10 active licenses on his inventions, and given many invited talks on the subject of serial innovation. In 2015, he was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as its Inaugural SunShot Innovator in Residence. He invented the Radical-Ion Flow Battery under the SunShot Innovator in Residence Program to address the need for low-cost, highly scalable electrochemical grid storage, and the performance limitations of prior art battery chemistries in this demanding application. His current research portfolio is focused on electrochemical grid storage, the elimination of rare-earth magnets in wind turbines, and semiconductor thermal management (power electronics, CPUs, GPUs).
His experience at Idaho National Laboratory involves research, development, and engineering of processes and equipment, as well as managing projects and personnel in the treatment of various materials of interest for the U.S. Department of Energy, which includes spent nuclear fuel and associated high-level, transuranic and low-level wastes. The activities have primarily involved pyrochemical and electrochemical techniques and processes to separate and recover actinides from spent nuclear fuel, while directing fission and activation products into appropriate waste forms for disposal. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Brigham Young University and a master’s from Idaho State University. He is a professional engineer in chemical and nuclear engineering.
He is a senior staff scientist and team lead for materials processing within the Applied Materials and Performance Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His research focus is on the formability, joining, and manufacturing of materials for industrial applications, and in the development of new solid state joining and processing technologies for advanced materials for future energy applications, including vehicle technologies, power generation, hydrocarbon, and chemical transport and processing. He has been researching and developing Friction Stir Welding and Processing at the lab since 1997. He currently leads a portfolio of projects investigating Friction Stir Joining and Processing as a new manufacturing technology and programs in solid-state compaction and processing of new materials for high temperature and high-performance applications. He has over 25 publications on solid state joining and processing, more than 30 years’ experience in the microstructural and mechanical characterization of materials, and in the exploration of process/property relationships.
He is a research scientist from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with extensive experience in the fields of materials electrochemistry as applied to reactive and refractory metals, process metallurgy, synthesis and characterization of high-temperature metals and materials, energy-efficient manufacturing processes, and materials recycling. While working at Bhabha Atomic Research Center, India, he developed an entirely new (molten salt based) process flow-sheet for the production of vanadium metal with a view to fabricate a self-powered beta detector. He also worked on the development of a new high-temperature process for the production of commercial-grade zirconia and silica powders from the indigenously available zircon mineral. His other projects have been aimed at recovering valuable materials from waste, secondary resources, and lean ore bodies. His team could successfully develop a technology for the conversion of Zr-2.5Nb alloy scrap to high purity zirconium crystal bar by van Arkel de Boer process. This technology can be adopted to successfully transform the alloy scrap into high purity zirconium crystal bar, a metal of significant importance to the nuclear energy program. At the University of Cambridge, he worked on the process optimization studies pertaining to the preparation of titanium metal and its alloys by a novel molten salt electrochemical process. He developed a preparative process for titanium-lanthanum alloy from their mixed oxides. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he worked on a high-temperature electrochemical process to generate oxygen from the lunar regolith. This is one of the two technologies shortlisted by NASA for its eventual deployment to produce breathable oxygen from in situ (lunar) resources. At INL, the scientific underpinning of his research activities has been to study the behavior of metals and materials under a given set of conditions. His diverse research pursuits include materials electrochemistry, energy-efficient manufacturing processes, and materials recycling.
He is a mechanical design engineer in the Experiment Design and Analysis Department at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In this capacity, he designs temperature-controlled experiments and experiments for the Hydraulic Shuttle Irradiation System (HSIS). He has been with INL for more than 25 years and has extensive experience in reactor experiment design, chemical process equipment design, piping systems, and pressure vessels. He holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University and a professional engineering license in Idaho.
He is a staff research scientist working in the Nuclear System Design and Analysis Division at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He has expertise in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermal design, thermodynamics and nuclear safety analyses. Over the last few years, he has been researching high temperature heat exchanger design and optimization, system integration and power conversion systems, and safety and reliability for Advanced Reactor Concepts, and also has extensive experience in the design and construction of large-scale experimental systems for nuclear and thermal-hydraulic research. He has more than 12 years of research and development experience in nuclear/thermal engineering and has been involved in several academic, industrial, and cross-discipline national laboratory research projects. He is currently working to develop a new multi-loop, multi-fluid advanced test facility designed to examine thermal hydraulic and materials issues associated with advanced nuclear reactor technologies. He has authored two books; contributed chapters to technical books on advanced reactors, thermal systems and process heat transfer; published over 100 peer-reviewed publications; and served as the INL lead for numerous partnerships. He holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He obtained his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering with concentration in robotics and controls from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in nuclear engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University, a master’s degree in engineering management from University of Idaho, and doctorate in nuclear engineering from University of Idaho.
She is a materials engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in charge of determining new fluid formulations (molten salts, liquid metals, supercritical) for thermal applications. She is researching in corrosion mitigation to control degradation at high temperature under extreme conditions (mechanical, chemical, and thermal). She has become a material’s expert in solar thermal applications. She successfully managed complex, multimillion dollar projects, including coordinating multiple partners and professional scientists and engineers. Her understanding of the interaction of materials with the surrounding environment is key for selecting the appropriate materials used in thermal energy storage and heat transfer fluid systems. She has a patent, multiple publications in molten-salt utilization and characterization with applications as sensible heat fluid and phase-change materials, and other publications on corrosion evaluation of ceramics, alloys and surface treatments for high-temperature applications in harsh environments. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s in materials engineering from Simon Bolivar University and a doctorate from Colorado School of Mines in metallurgical and materials engineering. She also holds a research assistant professor appointment in the Metallurgical & Materials Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines. She has accumulated over 25 years of experience in materials science and engineering.
He is a directorate fellow and department manager at Idaho National Laboratory and dedicated to conducting radiation effects research, leading to the development of radiation tolerant materials, for 25 years. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a successful multidisciplinary approach, involving extensive experimental investigations, exhaustive post-irradiation microstructural characterization, and theoretical modeling. He has extensive experience using multiple techniques, such as light ions, heavy ions, in-situ ion irradiation/microscopy, and neutron irradiation to conduct research focused on the relationships between radiation damage, material microstructure, and material performance on a broad range of reactor structural materials and nuclear fuels. In addition to this effective multidisciplinary approach, he is a recognized international expert in the nanoscale characterization of irradiated fuels and materials using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. His important contributions include the evaluation of radiation effects in advanced carbide and nitride candidate materials for the Generation IV gas-cooled fast reactor program; characterization of the fission gas superlattice bubbles in irradiated U-Mo fuel; work as a principal investigator on a project that helped scientists to understand the role of irradiated defect development on thermal conductivity degradation in UO2; and evaluation of the radiation stability of advanced oxide dispersion strengthened alloys using ion irradiation that revealed the superior radiation performance of these alloys to high radiation dose. He also leads a team of researchers at Idaho National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory conducting research under a U.S. Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences project he initiated on gas bubble self-organization.
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