NSSC provides rigorous training, education, and research opportunities in collaboration with its university and national laboratory partners to prepare our students to be leaders in the nuclear science and security fields.
If you are interested in connecting with any of our graduating students, please contact us at nssc_info@berkeley.edu.
Alexandra (Sasha) Asghari
NSSC Affiliate
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected Summer 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
Website: https://alexandraasghari.wordpress.com/
About me: My dissertation focuses around a novel neutron counter and its applications to nuclear nonproliferation. The Water Neutron Detector (WaND) is a fast, efficient, and non-toxic alternative to some helium-3-based detectors. As part of my research, I have gained laboratory, data analysis, simulation, non-technical research, and presentation skills.
Looking for positions in: Industry
Research and career areas of interest: I am look forward to an engaging and multidisciplinary technical career. I am particularly interested in applying the technical skills I have acquired during my time in academia to problems of the greater good. I enjoy working with teams of people from various backgrounds on applied problems.
Thomas Hickey
NSSC Fellow
Masters of Public Policy (Expected May 2016)
Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
About me: I am a Masters student in Public Policy with a background in nuclear policy, nonproliferation, and nuclear security. I have internship experience with Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA. I have participated in multiple professional development workshops at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. My skills include statistics, complex systems, economics, international relations, and policy.
Looking for positions in: Academia or National Laboratory
Research and career areas of interest:
- Nonproliferation
- Arms Control
- Nuclear Security
- Nuclear Policy
Anders Priest
NSSC Fellow
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected May 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
About me: I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UC Berkeley, performing research in the area of semiconductor detector fabrication. My thesis work is focused on a novel readout method for position sensitive semiconductor detectors, colloquially referred to as proximity charge sensing. I am skilled in high purity germanium processing, detector testing and characterization, and data analysis using Python and Igor. I have extensive lab training and experience, gained through research work on campus at UC Berkeley and at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where I have spent the last six years working in the Semiconductor Detector Laboratory. My research interests are in radiation detector systems research and development, with a specific interest in medical imaging.
Looking for positions in: National Laboratory or Industry
Research and career areas of interest:
- Radiation detection and imaging
- Detector fabrication
- Medical imaging
- Radiation oncology
Caleb Roecker
NSSC Fellow
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected May 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
About me: I am a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley in the Nuclear Engineering department. My thesis work is being conducted with scientists at LLNL and SNL to design, construct, and deploy a transportable high-energy neutron spectrometer. This spectrometer has allowed the measurement of low intensity high-energy neutron fluxes at different locations over the span of several years. These neutron fluxes are a concern for many neutral particle rare-event physics experiments. Of particular interest to the nuclear security community, these results will be used to inform background models for future antineutrino based remote reactor monitoring experiments. My particular contributions to the project have been to create and validate Geant4 Monte Carlo models of the experiments, perform detector time-dependent energy and gain calibrations, optimize detector triggering performance, and develop inverse algorithms using the measured detector response to infer the incident neutron spectrum and flux. To accomplish these contributions, I have built a suit of tools written in C++ and ROOT.
Looking for positions in: National Laboratory or Industry
Research and career areas of interest:
- Background radiation measurements
- Inverse algorithms
- Radiation imaging
- Detector system modelling
Patricia Schuster
NSSC Affiliate
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected May 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
Website: linkedin.com/in/pfschus
About me: During my thesis work, I studied organic scintillator materials, focusing on the anisotropy of the scintillation response of crystals in response to neutron events. My work was largely experimental and I gained extensive experience in radiation detection instrumentation. I used a data acquisition system based on C++ and ROOT tools, and though it was built before I joined the project, I made significant changes to the code. I developed all of my own data analysis tools in Python and MATLAB, and learned Fortran90 in order to build a Monte Carlo simulation of excitation state evolution in organic scintillators. I have worked hard on my presentation and writing skills and earned several awards including the 1st place best student paper at IEEE NSS 2014 in Seattle, WA. I also have a lot of experience in nuclear and national security policy. I have taken numerous courses on the topic, participated in five related workshops, and did a project with Michael Nacht in the Goldman School of Public Policy on Cross Domain Deterrence.
Looking for positions in: Academia or National Laboratory
Research and career areas of interest: I am interested in a broad range of career opportunities in nuclear security. I would like to start a research position at a national laboratory or university in a group that works on radiation detection systems or materials. I enjoy working with students and hope to find mentorship opportunities. I also like engaging with experts in other fields and hope to find multidisciplinary projects that will challenge me in new ways. Lastly, I find it important to understand the policy implications of my work, and I hope to find partners in policy and political science to learn from.
Nicholas Walsh
NSSC Fellow
Ph.D. Physics (Expected March 2016)
University of California, Davis
About me: My current research is a measurement of a neutron cross section in argon. For this work I also measured the neutron beam flux with time-of-flight and fast-neutron activation techniques. In previous research I participated in the calibrations of liquid scintillator neutrino detectors and the construction of a dark matter detector. From the data analysis in these projects, I have extensive experience using the Geant4 simulation and ROOT software packages as well as C/C++ and python.
Looking for positions in: Academia, National Laboratory, or Industry
Research and career areas of interest:
- Experimental Neutrino Physics
- Applied Particle Physics
- Data Analysis and Visualization
David Weisz
NSSC Fellow
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected May 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
About me: I am conducting my research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where I am studying post-detonation fallout debris using a variety of analytical techniques including secondary ion mass spectrometry and electron probe microanalysis. This research focuses on how materials condense and diffuse in extreme environments. My background encompasses a range of fields: I have a B.S. in Chemistry, an M.S. in Health Physics with a focus in nuclear non-proliferation policy, and I worked in the field of analytical chemistry as an Examiner at the USPTO. In May, I will be completing my Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Looking for positions in: Academia, National Laboratory, or Industry
Research and career areas of interest:
- high temperature chemistry
- materials characterization
- nuclear forensics
Robert Crabbs
NSSC Fellow
Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering (Expected May 2016)
University of California, Berkeley
About me: I received my B.S. from Cal in Engineering Physics in 2009. After a short time working at LBL, I started my Ph.D in Cal’s Nuclear Engineering department in Fall 2010. Now much of my day is spent thinking in C++, Matlab, and Python. My dissertation explores using gamma-ray imaging to measure the half-lives of exotic, radioactive nuclei produced in particle accelerators. The goal is to improve sensitivity over existing methods, as well as to free up beam-time for other experiments. I’ve certainly enjoyed my research, but for me teaching university students was really the greatest pleasure of grad school. To date (Fall 2015), I have been a TA for three courses and the primary instructor for one other. I also recently took a year to play at being a CEO at a tech startup. It’s been an incredibly exciting and challenging experience, and I know I will continue to be involved in the startup world after graduation.
Looking for positions in: Academia, National Laboratory, or Industry
Research and career areas of interest:
- gamma-ray imaging
- exotic nuclei
- software engineering
- computer science