People

Mehdi Balooch, visiting research scientist. Mehdi is working with the team on SiC/SiC composites and micromechanical testing.

Jeff Bickel is an engineer supporting various research initiatives in the group. He develops, maintains, and trains new users on key experimental setups.

Andrew (AJ) Gubser, research technician and user support. AJ manufactures a range of different instruments, samples, and devices for the team while also supporting the existing tools, especially the Quanta 3D FEG. He trains all users on the basic operation of the FIB/SEM at the BNC. He can make anything, including beer.

Minsung Hong is researching the corrosion properties of materials from high temperature molten salt environments to various solutions using electrochemical techniques. Minsung received his Ph.D. in Advanced material science and engineering from Sung Kyun Kwan University of in Aug 2021. In his free time, he likes hiking, fishing, camping and brewery tour.

Xi Huang is researching the micromechanical properties of irradiated alloys used for advanced nuclear reactors. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Technology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, in October 2017. In his free time, he enjoys traveling and reading.

Shmuel Samuha

Rasheed Auguste is researching experimental validation of reaction rate theory of irradiated metals. He is interested in developing in situ testing techniques for defect characterization involving positron spectroscopy. Outside of research, he enjoys reading and soccer, but not at the same time.

Andrew Dong graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2019 with a B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering and Nuclear Engineering. Andrew is evaluating the performance of steels and advanced alloys exposed to molten salt in conjunction with Kairos Power in their development of a next generation nuclear reactor design. Other research focuses include small scale mechanical testing in efforts to bridge the length scales of materials analysis. Outside of research, Andrew likes to go to nuclear department happy hours and is involved with CalSol, the UC Berkeley Solar Vehicle Team.

Alex Donoghue is developing a focused heavy ion beamline for the Berkeley Accelerator Space Effects Facility of the 88-Inch Cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2010 Alex graduated from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo with a B. S. in Physics. When the work is done for the day Alex enjoys mountain biking and taking hammock naps.

Sebastian Lam is a first year PhD student in nuclear engineering . He is currently utilizing SEM, FIB, nanoindentation, XPS, and EDS to investigate SiC/SiC composites for cladding applications and the effects of femtosecond laser machining on materials. In his free time, he loves to play guitar, exercise, and cook.

Malachi Nelson is researching accelerated creep testing methods by analyzing the kinetics and microstructure evolution of structural materials under load at high temperatures. He graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2019 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a M.S. in mechanical and nuclear engineering and has worked with Idaho National Laboratory throughout his studies. Malachi enjoys hiking, rock climbing, cooking, and snowboarding in his free time.

Darren Parkison is researching the environmental effects on materials in liquid heavy metal environments, as well as small scale mechanical testing. Darren graduated with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in Spring of 2019. Outside of work, Darren likes to hike and enjoys supporting local breweries.

Chai Peddeti is a second year PhD student in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in Nuclear Materials. His work involves analyzing irradiated material using various laser-based spectroscopy techniques. Peddeti is interested in non-proliferation, nuclear policy relating to nuclear materials, global relations, and nuclear security.

Chris Reis focuses on Fusion Materials, especially High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) which have the potential to carve an expedited path to commercially viable Fusion Power via high-field compact reactors. Chris’ contributions throughout his Ph.D. will come from rigorous testing of the empowering HTS magnets, including lifetime radiation limits, mechanical integrity, and quench protection technology. Chris has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from FSU, interned at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, and completed his Masters of Nuclear Engineering at UC, Berkeley. Chris hails from Trinidad and Tobago, where he served as a junior national athlete and enjoys exercise, physics, creative projects, fetes, and asking the big questions.

Franziska Schmidt is researching the corrosion of materials in a molten salt environment. She has received a M.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering at UCB in Spring 2018. Previously, Franziska graduated from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2014 with a B.S. in Earth Sciences and from Tsinghua University, China, in 2016 with a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering. In her free time, Franziska enjoys happy hours, climbing, traveling, and losing money at the stock market.

Jason Duckering is developing small scale manufacturing methods with our femtosecond laser system to create various tensile testing geometries for investigating length scale effects between single crystal and bulk testing. He is currently an undergraduate here at UC Berkeley studying Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. Hobbies and side projects include blacksmithing, amateur audio design, and cooking.

Hi! My name is Ranesh Prasad and I am a 3rd year undergraduate Computer Science major. I've lived everywhere from India to California, and most recently Chicago! I love using computer vision as an exploratory tool for image analysis, leading me to this research where I use CV to analyze bubble size distributions of radiated Helium metal TEM images. Outside of research, I am an avid Netflix binger (who isn't) and I love Star Wars!

My name is Hanchen Wang. I am a junior majoring in computer science. Currently, I am working on the ion beam degrader project with Sarah Stevenson; specifically, designing the circuit, and implementing the control system. For hobbies, I love playing tennis and basketball; I also enjoy hiking and backpacking.

Former PhD Students

Evan Still (PhD in 2022)

Andrew Scott (PhD in 2022)

Sarah Stevenson (PhD in 2022)

Tim Genda (PhD in 2022)

Ethan Boado (PhD)

Bill Mason (PhD)

Hi Vo (PhD in 2021) "Influence of Defects’ Mechanical Stability on Microscale Plasticity and Failure" Now works at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Jeff Graham

Joey Kabel (PhD in 2020) "Innovations on Small-Scale Mechanical Testing to Characterize the Structure-Property Relationships of SiC/SiC Composite Interfaces"

David Frazer (PhD in 2018) "Elevated Temperature Small Scale Mechanical Testing of Uranium Dioxide" Now works at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Ashley Reichardt (PhD in 2017) "Additive Manufacturing of Metal-Based Functionally Graded Materials" Now works at space X.

David Krumwiede (PhD in 2017) "Correlation of Nanohardness to Bulk Mechanical Tensile and Shear Properties through Direct Characterization and Comparison of Neutron-Irradiated Steels"

Cameron Howard (PhD) "Novel Small Scale Mechanical Tests to Assess the Mechanical Properties of Ex-Service Inconel X- 750 CANDU Reactor Components" Now works at Chalk Hill Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.

Miroslav Popovic (PhD) "Physical and Chemical Characterization of Oxide Layers Formed on Fe-Cr-Al alloys in Liquid Pb45Bi55 and Its Alternatives at High Temperatures"

Camille DuBois

Nathan Bailey (PhD in 2016) "Atom probe tomographic analysis of high dose oxide-dispersion strengthened steel (alloy MA957) at selected irradiation conditions" Now works at Exponent consulting.

Jenny Martos (MS in 2012), Mechanical properties of TRISO fuel particles. Now works at Daymark Energy Advisors.

Staffan Qvist (PhD in 2014), Co-advised with Ehud Greenspan in NE. Safety and core design of large liquid-metal cooled fast breeder reactors Now works at University of Uppsala.

Amanda Lupinacci (PhD in 2014), Co-advised with Andrew Minor from MSE. In-Situ Micromechanical Testing in Extreme Environments Now works at Keysight.

Former Master of Engineering Students
Jack Peterson
James Bramble
Christopher Reis
Chai Peddeti
Nouf Alfayez
Junrong Li
Zhihao Qin
Jay Lin
Faisal Alrakaf
Jordan Konick
Jiajun Zhai
Xuechan Wang
Jonathan Leban
Reef Aldayafleh
Clara Orndorff

Post doc Associates

Chaoyi Zhu
Jie Qiu
Miroslav Popovic
Adrian Losko (Staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM)
Cristian Cionea (Kulicke & Soffa Industries, CA, )
Erich Stergar (SCK-CEN)
Manuel Abad, Associate Professor (University of Ramon Llull, Spain)
Marisa Rebelo de Figueiredo (Montanuniversitaet Leoben)

Former Visiting Students and Scientists
Rene Reich (Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria)
Adi Ben Artzy
Doonyapong Wongsawaeng (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok)
Grittima Kongprawes (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok)
Wijittra Wongjaikham (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok)
Yun Yang
Norbert Ackerl (ETH Switzerland)
Michael Wurmshuber (Montanuniversitaet Leoben, Austria)
Tatsuki Momose (Tohoku Univeristy, Japan)
Mattias Klintenberg (University of Uppsala, Sweden)
Rony Reuven (NRCN, Beer-Sheva, Israel)
Zhangjie Wang (Xi'an, Jiaotong University, China)
Huang Zijing (Xiamen University, China)
Christina Hofer (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Alexander Leitner (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Raphael Esterl (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Marius Kreuzeder (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Mateo Primorac (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Josef Poernbacher (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria)
Alexander Tran (France)
Melina Hemery (France)
Leandro von Werra (Switzerland)

Former Undergraduate Students
Manfred Ambat
Ruijie Shao
Maaz Siddiqui
Aditya Shivprasad
Joanna Szornel
Rachel Connick
David Frazer
Armando Acero
Chloe Rose
Yerbol Aussat
Anthony Monterrosa
Alan Huynh
Aaron Mannheim
Boris Lo

Michael Fluss
Peter Baumgart
Patricia Bubner