Post-doctoral scholars:
Karl Hammond, UCB and UTK (1/2010 – 8/2014) – currently tenured Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia
Research area: Atomistic simulations to investigate plasma surface interactions in W exposed to mixed He/H plasmas
Donghua Xu, UCB and UTK (10/2005 – 8/2016) – currently Assistant Professor in Materials Science at Oregon State University
Research area: Experimental studies of thermal helium desorption spectroscopy, computational modeling of defect evolution in irradiated materials
Benjamin Ramirez, UTK (10/2011 – 12/2014) – currently staff member at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory
Research area: Computational modeling of radiation damage in thin film Cr/V alloys grown on MgO
Xunxiang Hu, UTK and ORNL (7/2013 – 9/2014) – currently Professor at Sichuan University
Research area: He desorption and positron annihilation in Fe and W, modeling oxidation kinetics of FeCrAl alloys for advanced fuel clad
Aaron Kohnert, UTK (6/2014 – 1/2017) – currently research staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Research area: Reaction-diffusion cluster dynamics modeling of radiation damage
Zhangcan (Eric) Yang (6/2014 – 6/2016) – currently Assistant Professor Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Research area: Modeling plasma surface interactions relevant to NSTX-Upgrade
Jie Qui (9/2016 – 5/2018) – currently Assistant Professor Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Research area: Experimental investigation of gas behavior in solids
Chris Ulmer (1/2017 – 11/2017) – currently staff member at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Research area: Radiation damage effects in face centered cubic alloys (800H)
Geeta Sachdeva (9/2022 – 06/2024)
Research area: Atomistic modeling of W-ZrC interface
Graduate Students:
Natalie Browning Camilli (Masters in Nuclear Engineering granted May 2013), University of Tennessee – nuclear engineer at Duke Energy
Research area: Simulations of Ti-Y-O Nanoclusters in Ferritic Alloys
Aaron Selby (Masters in Nuclear Engineering, granted May 2015), University of Tennessee – currently engineer at Ultra Safe Nuclear
Research area: Modeling radiation-induced segregation in ferritic/martensitic steels
Nathan Capps (PhD in Nuclear Engineering, granted May 2016, Masters in Nuclear Engineering, granted December 2013), University of Tennessee – currently Staff Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Research area: Nuclear fuels modeling
Daniel Schappel (PhD in Nuclear Engineering, granted August 2017), University of Tennessee –
currently research staff, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Research area: Performance of TRISO based LWR fuels
Ryan Sweet (PhD in Nuclear Engineering, granted May 2018), University of Tennessee – currently research staff, Idaho National Laboratory
Research area: Evaluating fuel clad coatings for accident tolerance
Mary Alice Cusentino (PhD in Energy Science & Innovation granted, January 2018), University of Tennessee – currently staff scientist, Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratory
Research area: Plasma surface interactions in Tungsten involving He and H
Guin Shaw (PhD in Energy Science & Innovation granted, December 2018), University of Tennessee – currently program manager, US Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences
Research area: Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy characterization of plasma surface interactions
Tim Younkin (PhD granted December 2019), University of Tennessee — currently research staff at ORNL
Research area: Computational modeling of plasma materials interactions focused on impurity transport in the plasma edge
Zack Bergstrom (PhD granted December 2019), University of Tennessee — currently scientist at General Atomics
Research area: Hydrogen – Helium interactions in Tungsten exposed to gas plasma
Jason Rizk (PhD granted May 2021), University of Tennessee – currently post-doctoral research associate at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Research area: Modeling CRUD deposition on nuclear fuel cladding
Jose March-Rico (PhD granted May 2022), University of Tennessee – currently research scientist at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
Research area: Modeling mechanisms that stabilize faulted loop nucleation and growth
Wendy Garcia (PhD granted May 2022), University of Tennessee – currently post-doctoral research associate at Sandia National Laboratory
Research area: Deuterium and helium interactions in tungsten
Jonathan Norman (Masters granted December 2023), University of Tennessee – currently Stable Isotopes Materials Engineering at ORNL
Research area: Modeling nuclear fuel performance
Michael Davis Ashburn (Masters granted August 2024), University of Tennessee – currently PWR Core Reload Engineer at TVA
Research area: Modeling He Retention Behavior in W and Prismatic Loop Evolution in 800H
Nicholas Gentry (Masters granted August 2025), University of Tennessee
Research area: Atomic Insights into Defect Production and Void Behavior in Nickel