Graduate Student Researcher
BACKGROUND
I was born and raised in a small town called St. Marys in the state of Pennsylvania. In addition to Straub beer and elk, it’s probably best known for its powdered metal industry. I’ve always been a huge beach person, but it’s quite different living in Santa Barbara, California. I do miss the seasons and the snow, but having the ocean a stone’s throw from campus is truly amazing. A little bit about me, I like to do basically anything outdoors (run, bike, swim, hike, etc.), read for fun (especially memoirs and classic novels), and collect vinyl records (with my top-two favorites being The Beatles and The Beach Boys). I did my undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering at Penn State, working at the Applied Research Laboratory on advanced coating development. In addition to a summer opportunity here continuing my research on an accident-tolerant metallic coating for nuclear fuel cladding, I had opportunities to intern at Glidewell Dental and the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. I came to UCSB right after the latter internship and my Penn State experience.
RESEARCH
Much like the overarching goals of the MMAX Lab, my research focuses on developing materials and manufacturing for extreme aerospace environments. Combining my background in powdered metallurgy and nuclear propulsion with my interest in space exploration, I now have the opportunity under the NSTGRO fellowship program to work on developing refractory metal alloys for additive manufacturing of components for space nuclear propulsion, technology sought for its long-term capabilities and high fuel efficiency. Specifically, I’ll be using the suction cast arc melting system in our lab to cast rod-shaped ingots compatible with the ultrasonic atomization process to produce state-of-the-art and custom refractory metal/alloy powder for subsequent testing via laser-powder bed fusion. In addition to optimizing for high-temperature, corrosive, thermionic, and neutronic conditions, part of my research will be designing alloys that are printable, as this can lead to huge manufacturing advantages necessary to enable Mars missions and beyond.
EDUCATION
- 2023-present – Ph.D. in Materials, The University of California, Santa Barbara
- 2019-2023 – B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University