Personnel Listing | October 2007 |
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| Laboratory Director: |
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Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Alec D. Gallimore
DR. ALEC D. GALLIMORE is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan where he directs the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory.
Professor Gallimore is also an Associate Dean at the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies where he helps oversee the graduate portfolio of over thirty departments in engineering, the physical sciences, and mathematics.
Professor Gallimore is also on the faculty of the Applied Physics program at Michigan, is the director of the NASA-funded Michigan Space Grant Consortium, and is project director of the NSF-funded Michigan AGEP Alliance.
He received his B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton.
His primary research interests include electric propulsion, plasma diagnostics, space/re-entry plasma simulation, use of plasma for energy production and environmental remediation, and nano-particle physics.
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| Affiliated Faculty: |
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Professor Iain D. Boyd
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Professor R. Paul Drake
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Professor Brian Gilchrist
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Post-Doctorate Fellow: |
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Dr. Tim Smith
Tim Smith is a postdoctoral researcher at PEPL and a lecturer in the UM Aerospace Engineering department. For his dissertation research, he developed and validated a novel method for deconvolving xenon ion velocity distributions from laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra, allowing unprecedented nonintrusive measurements of Hall thruster and ion engine plumes. Dr. Smith has 9 years of vacuum facility experience (with Hall thruster, ion engine, and hollow cathode tests) and 17 years of test experience with optical diagnostics for fluid dynamics, both passive (using emission spectroscopy) and active (LIF and optogalvanic spectroscopy with ring dye and extended-cavity diode lasers). Dr. Smith was the Principal Investigator on AFOSR program to design a magnetic deflector system to protect spacecraft laser communications systems from Hall thruster plume charge-exchange ions. He was also PI (in cooperation with Penn State) on a NASA effort to develop a low-intrusive fiber-optic plug for reentry vehicle TPS materials. His current research interests center around the modeling, development, and validation of advanced optical diagnostics for electric propulsion (EP) systems.
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| Graduate Students (Candidates): |
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Daniel L Brown, AFRL Research Fellow
Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington in 2003.
His research experience started as a freshman in 1999 and continued throughout his undergraduate years,
including investigations of the non-fouling effects of polysaccharides on plasma treated surfaces and integration of the ION-F/Dawgstar Nanosatellite.
He received his Master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2005,
and has intermittently split his time between Ann Arbor and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards AFB, CA.
Dan’s primary interests include Hall thruster development and the loss mechanisms associated with low voltage Hall thruster operation.
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David Huang,
David Huang is a second year Aerospace student (as of Fa2007) specializing in laser induced fluorescence (LIF) diagnostics on Hall-Effect
thrusters. David completed his undergraduate studies as a Mechanical/Nuclear Engineer at UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he worked on
multi-scale stress analysis for the heat exchanger of a fourth generation High-Temperature Reactor design. That was when he learned his
preference towards experimental research as opposed to simulation research. Over the summer, David worked on collecting experimental
Zeeman-hyperfine splitting data for the Xenon I 834.7nm line. He also worked on collecting axial velocity profile of neutral and ionic
Xenon via LIF for a 6kW laboratory research hall thruster. David’s planned thesis topic includes three-axis LIF on a 6kW laboratory hall thruster,
demonstration of the use of Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) for studying BN sputtering, possible combined use of LIF and CRDS to
determine BN flux, and possible use of LIF to determine the velocity profile of doubly ionized Xenon. The ultimate goal of his thesis is
to find out why a 6kW laboratory hall thruster can achieve an efficiency much higher than previous hall thrusters and any implications this may have
on the life of the thruster.
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David Kirtley, NSF Fellow
David Kirtley is studying annular field reversed configuration plasmas as high power electric propulsion systems.
His research areas have included inertial fusion spacecraft propulsion,
hall thruster lifetime studies, pulsed colloid propulsion, helicon plasmas, as well as several types of pulsed inductive thrusters.
David is currently located at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards AFB, CA.
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Kristina Lemmer, Regents Ford Fellow and GSI
Kristina Lemmer received both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The University of Michigan Department of Aerospace Engineering.
She began working at PEPL during her senior year when she was an undergraduate researcher.
Currently, Kristina is researching the communications blackout that occurs during atmospheric re-entry of a capsule and possible methods for alleviating that blackout.
Her research projects have included development and characterization of the PEPL helicon source,
and using the helicon source to simulate atmospheric re-entry conditions.
In addition to her research activities,
Kristina is involved with the Michigan Space Grant Consortium's K - 12 outreach program and strongly believes in introducing children to science
and engineering as early as possible.
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Thomas Liu, DOD Fellow
Thomas Liu received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan (UM).
He first began work with electric propulsion as an undergraduate researcher on the Field Emission Get-away-special Investigation (FEGI) project, a Space Shuttle payload and cold cathode testbed from the UM
Student Space Systems Fabrication Laboratory (S3FL).
His research interest in improving field emission cathode technology also encompasses the field of micropropulsion systems, and he is currently doing developmental research on the Nanoparticle Field Extraction Thruster (nanoFET),
a nanoparticle electrostatic accelerator concept with the potential to become a high efficiency, scalable, variable specific impulse thruster.
From personal experience, he is a strong proponent of providing undergraduate students with research and systems design-build-test experiences, such as the nanoBLUE project testing the feasibility of nanoFET design concepts in microgravity.
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Robert Lobbia, Rackham GSA and GSI
Robert Lobbia completed a pair of B.S. degrees in 2003 from UCLA in Aerospace Engineering and Physics.
At UCLA he researched actively controlled combustion in the Combustion Research lab.
Beginning in fall 2003, Robbie joined the ranks of PEPL here at the University of Michigan to research actively controlling the plasmas of Hall Effect electric thrusters.
His current research projects utilize the Busek BHT-600 4x Hall thruster cluster to focus on the high speed (<1 MHz) transients characteristic to the firing of Hall thrusters.
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Michael McDonald, Aero. Dept. Fellow & Τβπ Fellow
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Bailo Bah Ngom, Rackham Fellow
Bailo Bah Ngom is a Senegalese citizen that has been residing in the US since 1997.
Bailo spent his undergraduate years at the Broward Community College (Florida) and at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Currently, he is working towards a PhD degree at the University of Michigan's Plasma dynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL).
Bailo’s research primarily involves studying the interaction between Hall current and magnetic field topology in Hall thrusters based on a quantum physical analysis of Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) spectra of neutral xenon.
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Sonca Nguyen, NSF Fellow
Sonca Nguyen received her B.S. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington and her M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan.
She was first introduced to electric propulsion research work when she was an undergraduate intern at NASA Glenn Research Center with the Ion Propulsion group.
Her current thesis project is an application of plasma physics for hydrogen production.
She is experimentally investigating a novel method of hydrogen production by dissociating water molecules in a radio-frequency plasma source.
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Prashant Patel, NASA GSRP fellow
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Bryan Reid, NASA Jenkins Fellow
Bryan received his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace
engineering from the University of Michigan in 2003 and 2004,
respectively. He began research in plasma propulsion in 2002 when he
was a student civil servant at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Further
research opportunities at the Air Force Research Laboratory have
guided Bryan's research into the area of anode injection schemes and
neutral flow dynamics in Hall Thrusters. Bryan's expertise is in
performance measurements and plasma diagnostics for use inside the
discharge channel and in the near- and far-field plumes.
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Rohit Shastry, NASA GSRP Fellow
Rohit Shastry is a third year graduate student (as of Fall 2007) who received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2005 and 2007, respectively.
He is currently working on implementing flush-mounted probes within the ceramic walls of a Hall thruster in an effort to directly measure wall characteristics such as particle fluxes and energies.
His research is also closely tied to simulation work in an effort to better understand Hall thruster sheath physics and related lifetime and performance issues.
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Ricky Tang, NASA GSRP Fellow
Ricky Tang received both his B.S.E. and M.S.E. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan.
He is currently studying the gasdynamic mirror (GDM) concept, which has the potential to function as an
electrodeless plasma thruster driven by some external energy source such as ECRH, or as a more advanced nuclear-driven propulsion device.
Along with analytical and computational investigation of the concept, experiments are set up to study ECRH,
as well as to eventually validate some of the physics model that has been developed to study the plasma dynamics inside the GDM.
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| Graduate Students (Pre-Candidates): |
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| Prior Doctoral Graduate Students: sorted by year |
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John Foster, Graduated University of Michigan in 1996, Ph.D.
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Lyon King, Graduated University of Michigan in 1998, Ph.D.
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Colleen Marrese, Graduated University of Michigan in 1999, Ph.D.
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Sang-Wook Kim, Graduated University of Michigan in 1999, Ph.D.
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Frank S. Gulczinski III, Graduated University of Michigan in 1999, Ph.D.
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J. L. Van Noord, Graduated University of Michigan in 1999, Ph.D.
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M. T. Domonkos, Graduated University of Michigan in 1999, Ph.D.
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G. J. Williams Jr., Graduated University of Michigan in 2000, Ph.D.
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James M. Haas, Graduated University of Michigan in 2001, Ph.D.
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Tim Smith, Graduated University of Michigan in 2002, Ph.D.
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Brian E. Beal, Graduated University of Michigan in 2004, Ph.D.
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Richard R. Hofer, Graduated University of Michigan in 2004, Ph.D.
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P. Y. Peterson, Graduated University of Michigan in 2004, Ph.D.
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Mitchell L. R. Walker, Graduated University of Michigan in 2005, Ph.D.
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Daniel A. Herman, Graduated University of Michigan in 2005, Ph.D.
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Joshua L. Rovey, Graduated University of Michigan in 2005, Ph.D.
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Allen L. Victor, Graduated University of Michigan in 2006, Ph.D.
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Jesse A. Linnell, Graduated University of Michigan in 2007, Ph.D.
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