S.M.A.R.T. Lab

Director

Prof. Douglas McGregor
Prof. Douglas McGregor is the S.M.A.R.T. Laboratory director. He is also the principal investigator of numerous radiation detector development research projects involving the lab.

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Industrial Partners

Dr. Steven Bellinger
Dr. Steven Bellinger is working on high-efficiency microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors. Dr. Bellinger developed a mass production etching process to produce thousands of microscopic perforations in Si substrates. He also developed a mass production process to backfill the perforations with neutron reactive materials. These detectors have been able to yield intrinsic thermal neutron detection efficiencies greater than 42% as calibrated with He-3 gas filled detectors. He is president and co-founder of Radiation Detection Technologies (RDT), Inc., a company that specializes in designing and fabricating compact neutron detectors and custom semiconductor radiation detectors. Dr. Bellinger is a co-recipient of four R&D 100 Awards in 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2017 for his work on the development of new neutron detection technologies. Dr. Bellinger has nine allowed U.S. patents with another patent pending.

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Associated Faculty and Staff

The following faculty and staff members operate labs and perform analysis in collaboration with the KSU S.M.A.R.T. Laboratory.

Dr. Alan Cebula
Dr. Cebulas is the TRIGA Mk-II Nuclear Reactor Facility manager. Dr. Cebula assists students and professors with several projects involving reactor usage, including neutron imaging, reactor instrumentation, detector development, and activation analysis.

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Mr. David Huddleston
Mr. Huddleston is an electronic technician in the Electronics Design Laboratory on the KSU campus. Mr. Huddleston is assisting with several SMART Laboratory projects that include neutron imaging, gamma ray imaging, reactor instrumentation, and detector development.

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Mr. Russell Taylor
Mr. Taylor is an electrical engineer in the Electronics Design Laboratory on the KSU campus. Mr. Taylor is assisting with several SMART Laboratory projects that include neutron imaging, gamma ray imaging, remote detector readout, reactor instrumentation, and detector development.

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Mr. Tim Sobering
Mr. Sobering is the Director of the Electronics Design Laboratory on the KSU campus. Mr. Sobering is assisting with several SMART Laboratory projects that include neutron imaging, reactor instrumentation, and detector development.

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Prof. Amir Bahadori
Dr. Bahadori joined our program in 2015 after working at NASA for several years. He is developing a research program involving the KSU TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor while also assisting several professors with SMART Laboratory projects, including neutron imaging, reactor instrumentation, and detector development.

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Prof. Jeremy Roberts
Prof. Roberts specializes in radiation interaction effects and reactor analysis, and presently works with SMART lab personnel on reactor instrumentation analysis.

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Prof. Walter McNeil
Prof. McNeil specializes in nuclear detection electronics and systems and recently established the Radiological Systems Integration Laboratory .

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Emeritus Faculty and Staff

The following faculty and staff members worked in collaboration with the KSU S.M.A.R.T. Laboratory and have now retired.

Prof. Ken Shultis
Prof. Shultis served as the Nuclear Program Director at Kansas State University for over 25 years, and was with KSU for over 50 years. He authored/co-authored six university textbooks, including the popular text "Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering" that has been adopted for almost all US-based nuclear engineering programs. Prof. Shultis specializes in radiation shielding and radiation interaction effects. Prof. Shultis is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and recipient of two R&D 100 Awards for radiation detection devices. In May 2022, Prof. Shultis decided to retire, but is still modestly active.

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Prof. William Dunn
Prof. Dunn joined the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering in August of 2002, where he led an effort in non-destructive techniques in radiation interrogation of materials. He served as as Department Head of the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department for five years. Prof. Dunn specializes in radiation measurements and applications (such as gauging, nondestructive evaluation, quantitative analysis, dosimetry, tracing), Monte Carlo methods and applications, and mathematical modeling and inverse analysis. He also co-authored a popular textbook on Monte Carlo techniques. In May 2022, after nearly 20 years at KSU, Prof. Dunn decided to retire, but still maintains an office in the department.

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Former Faculty and Staff

The following faculty and staff members worked in collaboration with the KSU S.M.A.R.T. Laboratory, and have now moved

to other positions elsewhere.

Prof. Hitesh Bindra
Prof. Bindra specializes in thermal hydrolics, and worked with the SMART Lab to produce new sensing methods for his research. While at KSU, Prof. Bindra established the Nu-EST Laboratory . He has recently moved his laboratory and research program to Purdue University. We all wish him well as he establishes himself in his new employment position.

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PhD Graduate Students

Masters Graduate Students

Angela Guieb
Angela Guieb is a new MS student in Nuclear Engineering and will be working with Dr. Bellinger on MPFD technology. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Undergraduates

Joseph Hewitt
Joseph started working in the SMART laboratory in 2017 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD) with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols.

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Tanner Swope
Tanner started working in the SMART laboratory in 2016 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Pocket Fission detectors with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols.

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PhD SMART Lab Alumni

The following former students worked in the SMART Laboratory during graduate school and received PhD degrees as their highest degree while working on SMART Laboratory projects.

Dr. Alireza Kargar
MS-ME 2005, PhD NE 2009; Dr. Alireza Kargar attained his Ph.D. after working on a project with Prof. McGregor to develop high-energy-resolution, room-temperature-operated CdZnTe detectors. Dr. Kargar fabricated Frisch ring CdZnTe detectors with energy resolution below 0.9% FWHM at 662 keV and HgI2 Frisch ring detectors 1.7% FWHM at 662 keV. Dr. Kargar's CdZnTe detectors operated with no pulse height correction with a simple commercial off-the-shelf preamplifier. The detector volumes ranged from 0.2 cubic cm up 3.5 cubic cm. At graduation, Dr. Kargar had 22 published papers in archival journals and conference records. After graduation, Dr. Kargar worked at Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. in Watertown, MA for over 5 years. Dr. Kargar then moved to work at Morpho Detection, LLC, in Andover, MA as a Radiation/Nuclear Scientist for 5 years. He recently returned to RMD as a Nuclear Detector Engineer. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Ben Montag
PhD NE 2015; Ben Montag joined the SMART Laboratory research team in the Fall semester of 2008. Ben worked on Li-filled Nowotny-Juza compounds as solid-sate neutron detectors. To date, he has produced the largest samples of LiZnAs and LiZnP crystals, and the only such crystals have demonstrated neutron sensitivity. At graduation, Dr. Montag had 8 refereed publications, 6 conference record publications with an additional 4 papers pending publication. Dr. Montag also was a co-recipient for a 2014 R&D; 100 Award, for the development of ⁶Li-Foil Neutron Detectors. Dr. Montag presently oversees the Electron Microscopy Lab in the SMART Lab while working part time with Radiation Detection Technologies. He helped to establish a center for the Kansas State University campus, the Kansas State Micro-Analysis Laboratory (KSMAL), which is equipped with electron microscopes and x-ray diffractometers. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. C.J. Solomon
BS-ME 2006, MS-NE 2007, PhD-NE 2010; Dr. C.J. Solomon assisted Prof. Shultis with the design of novel high-efficiency neutron detectors with Monte-Carlo computer codes. His MS work included the design of new "non-streaming" perforated detectors, which have now shown the highest efficiency ever recorded for perforated neutron detector structures at 35% thermal neutron intrinsic detection efficiency. Dr. Solomon received his MS in nuclear engineering in Spring of 2007. On a project unrelated to the SMART Laboratory, he recently finished his PhD., in Dec. 2010, under the direction of Prof. Shultis on Monte-Carlo modeling methods, and now works at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM. At graduation, Dr. Solomon had 7 published papers in archival journals and conference records, and one allowed patent. Advisor: J. Kenneth Shultis

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Dr. Daniel Nichols
BS-ME 2016; PhD NE 2022, Dr. Nichols started working in the laboratory in 2014 as an undergraduate. After his graduation with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, he worked on arrayed MPFDs for nuclear reactor instrumentation for his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. These devices were deployed in various reactors, including the INL TREAT reactor, the KSU TRIGA Mk II reactor, and the University of Wisconsin Nuclear Reactor. Dr. Nichols studied the electric field and weighting field effects inside various pocket designs. At graduation, Dr. Nichols had sixteen published papers in archival journals and conference proceedings, and an additional three technical reports. Dr. Nichols now works for the Department of Energy in Washington DC. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Elsa Ariesanti
MS-NE 2001; PhD NE 2011; Dr. Elsa Ariesanti attained her Ph.D. after working on a project with Prof. McGregor to develop a method to produce prismatic HgI₂ crystals using horizontal vapor growth. In doing so, she discovered the true chemical nature governing prismatic HgI₂ growth and developed more reliable methods of producing these crystals with high purity materials. The new process allows for the growth of elongated parallelepiped crystals with near perfect dimensions for Frisch collar detectors. Dr. Ariesanti fabricated Frisch collar HgI₂ detectors from her material, achieving room-temperature energy resolution of 1.7% FWHM at 662 keV. At graduation, Dr. Ariesanti had 10 published papers in archival journals and conference records, and also one patent pending. Dr. Ariesanti worked at Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. in Watertown, MA, for seven years. She now works at Fisk University with Prof. Arnold Burger. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Kyle Nelson
PhD NE 2013; Kyle Nelson joined the SMART Laboratory research team in Fall 2008. Kyle worked on two innovative neutron detection technologies, those being the optically stimulated neutron detector and the low-density insert gas detector. The optically stimulated neutron detector operates with the Pockels cell effect, where radiation interactions in a Pockels cell cause detectable polarization changes in transmitted light. The low-density insert detector uses porous materials laced with neutron reactive materials inserted into gas-filled proportional counters. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2013 for his work on ⁶Li-Foil neutron detectors, which was recognized with an R&D; 100 Award in 2014. At graduation, Dr. Nelson had published five conference papers and five journal papers with over twelve more pending. He is also a co-inventor on two allowed patents and one patent pending. Dr. Nelson presently works at SPAWAR in San Diego, CA. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Mark Harrison
BS-ME 2004, MS-NE 2005, PhD-NE 2009; On a research project with Prof. McGregor, Dr. Mark Harrison designed multi-zone modified vertical Bridgman and Stockbarger furnaces, purification systems, and analysis systems to study the effects of aliovalent doping of lanthanide halide scintillators. He purified the starting materials and grew several LaBr₃ and CeBr₃ scintillating crystals with the furnaces that he designed and built. The result of the study indicated that the CeBr₃ is readily hardened with select aliovalent dopants without degrading light yield. Energy resolution from the experimental crystals was measured to be 4% FWHM at 662 keV. Dr. Mark Harrison holds the distinction of being the first PhD student to graduate from the SMART Laboratory radiation detector program. At graduation, Dr. Harrison had 24 published papers in archival journals and conference records. Following graduation, Dr. Harrison became an assistant professor in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida for two years. Afterwards, Dr. Harrison was awarded a Weinberg fellowship where he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nearly five years. Dr. Harrison then moved to Argonne National Laboratory where served as the Director of the Radiation Detection Group. In 2016, Dr. Harrison returned to KSU to temporarily to assist with projects involving the INL Hodoscope. After the completion of the project, Dr. Harrison has since moved on and is self-employed. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Martin Ohmes
BS-EE 2003, MS-NE 2006, PhD-NE 2012; Dr. Martin Ohmes worked on a research project with Dr. McGregor and Dr. Shultis developing Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD) for use as real time power density monitors in a nuclear reactor core. Martin presently works at FLIR (formerly ICx) in Tennessee. As part of his research, Dr. Ohmes designed and fabricated what were at the time the tiniest fission chambers in existence. These devices are capable of operating in pulse, mean-square voltage and current mode, depending upon reactor power levels. At the time of graduation, Dr. Ohmes had five publications. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Michael Reichenberger
BS-ME 2012; PhD-NE 2017; Dr. Michael Reichenberger assisted with several different projects as an undergraduate in the SMART Laboratory, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room. He joined the group as a graduate student in 2012 and worked on improved versions of the micro-pocket fission detectors (MPFD). MPFDs are the smallest and electronically fastest fission detectors ever built, and are under test as neutron detectors for in-core excursion experiments for the TREAT reactor. At the time of graduation, Dr. Reichenberger had 8 publications in refereed journals with 3 more papers under review, 10 publications in conference records, 6 technical reports with Idaho National Laboratory (INL), one patent pending. The detectors of his research have been tested by the US government, and are deemed as a viable devices for reactor instrumentation. These detectors were depicted on the cover of the Nuclear News Magazine in 2015. Dr. Reichenberger received numerous awards for his research accomplishments, including best poster at the ASME ICEM13 convention (2013) and the DOE Energy Innovation in Fuel Cycle Research Award (2nd place 2016). He presently works at Idaho National Laboratory as a Radiation Measurement Scientist. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Nathaniel Edwards
BS-ME 2009; PhD 2018; Dr. Nathaniel Edwards worked with scintillators and semiconductors when he started working in the SMART Lab. Soon thereafter, he worked on a variety of gas-filled alternative neutron detectors, including suspended Li-foil detectors, honeycomb detectors, aerogel detectors, and suspended foil microstrip detectors. Dr. Edwards is skilled at detector response modeling as well experiment methods in detector manufacturing and radiation measurements. At the time of defense, Dr. Edwards had ten refereed papers and ten conference papers. Dr. Edwards now works at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Robyn Hutchins
BS-ME 2020; MA-Security Studies 2023: PhD-NE 2023; Dr. Robyn Hutchins joined the SMART Lab as an undergraduate in 2016 and worked with Dr. Ryan Fronk and Dr. Taylor Ochs on wearable neutron detectors and double-sided microstructured neutron detectors. She continued with the program as a PhD student in Fall 2020, where she built and characterized compact battery-powered detection modules for neutron detection and gamma-ray spectroscopy. She also performed radiation hardness testing on microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors (MSND). Dr. Hutchins worked as an assistant to congressmen in Washington DC as a summer intern and studied nuclear policy as part of her PhD program. She also served as a summer intern at Idaho National Laboratory. At the time of graduation with her PhD, Dr. Hutchins had 10 publications with two more pending review. She had also given two invited presentations at conferences. She has been a guest host on two podcast events advocating the nuclear engineering field. For her many accomplishments, she has garnered numerous awards, including a US Govt fellowship (2022), US nuclear engineering student delegate-NESD (2021), and the outstanding graduate teaching award (2023). Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Ryan Fronk
BS-ME 2011; PhD-NE 2017; Dr. Ryan Fronk worked on dual-sided microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors (DS-MSND) where he set the efficiency record of 53.6% thermal neutron detection efficiency for a zero-bias device. These detectors have trenches, offset, etched on opposing sides of a Si wafer, all backfilled with LiF nanomaterial. DS-MSNDs are approximately 1 mm thick, yet have high efficiency similar to a common 2 atm He-3 gas-filled neutron detectors. Arrays of DS-MSNDs when placed in a cylindrical tube, have comparable performance to a 10 atm He-3 gas-filled neutron detectors. At the time of graduation, Dr. Fronk had 12 publications in refereed journals, 18 publications in conference records, 3 allowed patents, 1 patent pending, and was the co-recipient of two R&D 100 awards for the years 2015 and 2017. Dr. Fronk spent one year as a post doctoral research fellow at KSU finishing a project on wearable radiation detection technologies. He presently works at Idaho National Laboratory on new projects related to radiation detection and measurement. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Steven Bellinger
BS-ME 2005, PhD-NE 2011; Dr. Steven Bellinger worked on high-efficiency microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors. Steven developed a mass production etching process to produce thousands of microscopic perforations in Si substrates. He also developed a mass production process to backfill the perforations with neutron reactive materials. These detectors have been able to yield intrinsic thermal neutron detection efficiencies greater than 42% as calibrated with ³He gas filled detectors, for which Dr. Bellinger was a co-recipient of an R&D; 100 award. At graduation, Dr. Bellinger had 26 published papers in archival journals and conference records, one allowed patent and two patents pending. After graduation, Dr. Bellinger started a company, Radiation Detection Technologies (RDT), Inc., that specializes in delivering compact neutron detectors and custom semiconductor radiation detectors. Since then, his company RDT, Inc., has been the recipient of many research and development contracts for novel radiation detectors and electronics. Dr. Bellinger is the co-recipient of four R&D 100 awards presented during the years 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2017. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Taylor Ochs
BS-ME 2015, PhD-NE 2020; Dr. Taylor Ochs graduated with his PhD in May 2020. Originally working in the SMART Laboratory since 2013 as an undergraduate, he continued with the PhD program starting in 2015 and worked on high-efficiency dual-sided MSNDs. In his pioneering work, Dr. Ochs advanced the backfilling process and achieved the established the present thermal neutron detection efficiency record for this type of technology at 69%. At the time of graduation, Dr. Ochs had 8 refereed journal publications, 14 publications in Conference Records, and was a co-author on 6 invited conference presentations. Dr. Ochs shared in a 2017 R&D 100 Award for a "Wearable Detection Device", a jacket populated with low-profile radiation detectors that operated through wireless technology. In 2018, he received a 2nd place award from the DOE Innovation in Nuclear Technology R&D under Materials Protection Control Accountancy. Dr. Ochs was awarded the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award in 2019. Dr. Ochs presently works with RDT, Inc., on various radiation detection technologies. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Dr. Walter McNeil
BS-ME 2005; PhD-NE 2010; Dr. Walter McNeil worked with Dr. Mark Harrison and Dr. Alireza Kargar to develop novel CdZnTe gamma ray spectrometers, and made the news with a simple CdZnTe detector that yielded 1.7% FWHM energy resolution at 662 keV. Dr. McNeil is a co-recipient of a R&D 100 award for the Frisch Collar CdZnTe gamma ray spectrometer in 2005. For his PhD project, Dr. McNeil worked to produce high-efficiency thermal neutron imaging arrays for the DOE Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). The special detectors have thousand of microscopic perforations, all backfilled with neutron reactive materials, etched into high purity Si substrates. Thus far, the novel detectors had 110 micron spatial resolution and yielded over 14% intrinsic thermal neutron detection efficiency. Dr. McNeil also helped design and build semiconductor microstructured neutron detectors with Steven Bellinger. These detectors recently yielded over 42% intrinsic thermal neutron detection efficiency for 1 cm² devices, for which Dr. McNeil was a co-recipient of a second R&D 100 Award in 2009. At graduation, Dr. McNeil had 33 published papers in archival journals and conference records, and one allowed patent. After graduation, Dr. McNeil worked at SPAWAR in the San Diego area for several years. Overall, Dr. McNeil is the co-recipient of three R&D 100 awards, presented years 2005, 2009, and 2014. In 2015, Dr. McNeil returned to Kansas State University as an assistant professor, and started a research program on nuclear electronics and radiation detection systems. In 2020, Dr. McNeil was promoted to Associate Professor. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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MS SMART Lab Alumni

The following former students worked in the SMART Laboratory during graduate school and received MS degrees as their highest degree while working on SMART Laboratory projects.

Aaron Thompson
MS-NE 2006; Aaron Thompson finished his Master's degree in the fall of 2006 and has taken a position in the US Army working in the field of radiation detection. Aaron studied the effects of neutron and gamma radiation on the operation of various electrooptic Pockels cells. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Blake B. Rice
MS-NE 2006; Blake Rice finished his Master's degree in the summer of 2006, and has taken a position with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Blake's master's research involved the design and fabrication of novel neutron detecting diodes which had millions of microscopic holes backfilled with neutron reactive materials. Blake did an outstanding job of developing and characterizing the deep hole etching process. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Brian Cooper
BS-ME 2008, MS NE 2019; Brian Cooper worked on SiC neutron detectors for high radiation field operations. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor.

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Chris Henderson
MS-NE 2009; Chris worked on the SNS pixelated neutron imaging detector that was designed and constructed for an NSF Conceptual Engineering Design Project. The neutron imaging detector was constructed with microstructured Si semiconductor detectors, a first of its kind. Chris now works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Advisor: William (Bill) Dunn

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Daniel Watson
MS-NE 2022; Daniel began working in the SMART laboratory on Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors, and later changed to work on MSND technology. His Master degree work involved studies on backfilling techniques and efficiency optimization of MSND technology. Having completed his MS degree requirements in Fall 2022, Mr. Watson has now moved on to Texas A&M University where he will be working on a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Eric Patterson
MS-ME 2023; Eric Patterson worked on portable electronic dosimeter packages for high-efficiency semiconductor neutron detectors.

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Holly K. Gersch
MS-NE 2002; Holly Gersch graduated with a Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the SMART Lab in 2002, before the lab was moved from the University of Michigan to Kansas State University. Holly was the first SMART Laboratory student, and did much to help build up the SMART Lab reputation and size. She was also a recipient of a prestigious DOE Nuclear Energy Fellowship. Holly's master's research involved radiation hardness studies of GaAs-based thermal neutron detectors, where she measured the responses of the devices to various levels of thermal and fast neutrons, and to various doses of gamma ray irradiation. She was meticulous with every detail, and an outstanding researcher. With great sadness for us all, Holly died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on June 30, 2008. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Jacob Terrell
BS-ME 2018; Jacob began working in the SMART Laboratory in Spring 2019, and was working on high-performance microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors for wearable radiation detection platform. He was introducing a dosimetry option into the platform using compact scintillation spectrometers. He had completed the requirements for a Master Degree in Nuclear Engineering, although his goal was to complete a Doctorate in Nuclear Engineering by December 2022. Sadly, Jacob passed away on November 28, 2021. Jacob was a multi-talented individual and a natural problem solver. His varied talents included bee-keeping, HAM radio operation, marksmanship, mechanics, mathematics, and he had a love for physics, especially regarding space physics and nuclear propulsion. Always helpful and kindhearted, Jacob will be missed by us all. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Jeffrey D. Sanders
MS-NE 2001; Jeff Sanders was the first to graduate from the SMART Lab, having finished his Master's degree in 2001 before the lab was moved to Kansas State University. Jeff is presently employed at Argonne National Laboratory West. Jeff master's research involved the use of GaAs-based imaging arrays, where he wrote backprojection codes and made tomographic and transmission images with neutron sensitive linear arrays. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Michael Meier
MS-NE, 2009; Michael Meier worked in the SMART Laboratory as a summer intern for the IAESTE program while an undergraduate. He then went back to Switzerland to complete an MS degree. Michael returned to the SMART Laboratory during August 2007 and completed an MS in Nuclear Engineering by working with Dr. Mark Harrison (now at the University of Florida) on CdZnTe annealing methods, laser induced Te diffusion and purification techniques for Cd, Zn and Te. Michael is now back in Switzerland working for Resun, a Swiss company contracted to design two new nuclear power plants to replace power plants presently scheduled for decommissioning. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Quaji Jahan
MS-NE 2008; Jahan worked on a project with Dr. Dunn and Dr. McGregor to develop and calibrate active neutron dosimeter badges manufactured from high-efficiency semconductor neutron detectors. Advisor: William (Bill) Dunn

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Sabbir Ahmed
MS-NE 2006; Sabbir Ahmed, graduated from the SMART Lab with a Master's degree in the fall of 2006. His research involved the development backprojection methods to determine the real-time fuel power density in the KSU TRIGA reactor core as a function of MPFD signals. Having also acquired a Ph.D. elsewhere, Sabbir has taken a research post-doctoral position at the University of Heidelburg in Germany. Advisor: J. Kenneth Shultis

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Simon Bolding
BS-ME 2011, MS-NE 2013; Simon Bolding performed Monte Carlo modeling to optimize the performance of solid state neutron spectrometers. After receiving his MS in nuclear engineering, he moved on to Texas A&M University to continue a doctoral degree. Advisor: J. Kenneth Shultis

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Troy Unruh
BS-ME 2004, MS-NE 2009; Troy Unruh constructed a neutron diffractometer and neutron detector testing port as part of his master's research work. He also designed and built a 25 pixel neutron imaging array for the diffractometer. The neutron imaging array operated in real-time and allowed the user to rapidly locate the beam and determine the neutron flux. Troy presented his work at the 8th International Conference on Position Sensitive Detectors, held in Glasgow, Scotland (Sept. 1 - 5, 2008), where he awarded "Best Student Poster". Troy now works at Idaho National Laboratory. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

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Tyrel George
BS-ME 2012, MS-NE 2016; Tyrel George worked on construction methods to build micro-pocket fission chambers for reactor instrumentation. Tyrel, along with others working on the project, built what amounts to the tiniest fission chambers to date. Tyrel is a co-author on one scientific paper describing his work. Advisor: Douglas McGregor

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Zoairia Lyric
MS-NE 2017; Zoairia Lyric joined the SMART Laboratory in Fall of 2015 and recently finished her masters work on micropocket fission detector reseach. Co-Advisors: Douglas S. McGregor, Jeremy Roberts

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BS SMART Lab Alumni

The following KSU students worked in the SMART Laboratory while they were working on their BS degrees.

Aaron Schmidt
Aaron has been working in the laboratory since the spring of 2011 and has been working on the multi-wire proportional neutron detector. Aaron also assisted with collecting data for the electro-optic neutron detector.

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Adam Graebner
BS-ME 2007; Adam Graebner worked in the SMART Laboratory as an assistant to the graduate students, and helped with the installation of the Oxford ICP-RIE. Adam also helped characterize the carbon coating system. Adam's responsibilities also included materials inventory and stocking, and clean room maintence and upkeep oversight. Adam now works in Houston, Texas for Dresser in their Natural Gas Services Division.

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Adam Streit
BS-ME 2009; Adam worked with Steven Bellinger with etching processes and new methods of backfilling etched perforations in perforated diode structures. Adam has moved on and is attending medical school in Kansas City.

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Adam Van Bergeijk
BS-ME 2017, nuclear option. Adam started working in the SMART laboratory in 2016 as an undergraduate on micro-structured semiconductor neutron detectors with Dr. Ryan Fronk and Dr. Steven Bellinger on MSND technology.

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Allen Egley
Allen worked with Walter McNeil with the CV/IV prober and analysis system.

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Andrew Jones
BS-ME 2006; Andrew Jones worked on CdZnTe devices with Alireza Kargar. He is now working on a MA in Physics.

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Andy Fund
BS-ME 2006; Andy Fund helped with the fabrication of semiconductor based radiation detectors.

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Anita Kwok
BS-EE 2006; Anita Kwok worked on electronics design and assisted with construction of electronic circuits.

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Bethany Holste
Bethany worked with Elsa Ariesanti on preparations of HgI2 materials and crystal growth.

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Brad Lutz
Brad Lutz worked on novel SiC based neutron detectors.

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Brian McCreary
BS-ME 2011; Brian McCreary worked with Ben Montag on the growth of lithium-filled semiconductors. These detectors are being developed as novel neutron detection materials.

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Caden Hilger
Caden started working in the SMART laboratory in 2016 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD) with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols.

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Caleb Whitten

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Chris Linnick
BS-ME 2009; Chris worked on new scintillator materials, initially with Dr. Harrison. He continued that work after Dr. Harrison's departure to the University of Florida.

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Chris Ward
BS-ME 2007; Chris Ward worked on CdZnTe devices with Alireza Kargar. He has taken a job with Black and Veatch.

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Christopher Frampton
Christopher Frampton worked with Elsa Ariesanti with HgI2 crystal growth and detector fabrication. Chris also helped to fabricate gamma ray spectrometers from HgI2.

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Christopher Tiner
Christopher worked with Nathan Edwards on alternative porous neutron detectors.

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Clay Wayant
Clay recently started working in the laboratory, and he will work closely with the aerogel, foam, and foil multi-wire neutron detectors.

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Cody Rietcheck
Cody started worked with Ryan Fronk and Dr. Steven Bellinger on advanced versions of MSNDs.

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Colten Smith
BS-ME 2016; Colten started working in the SMART laboratory in 2014 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Structured Semiconductor Neutron detectors.

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Crystal Hinterweger
Crystal has been working on the silicon carbide detectors. She has learned to perform photolithography and metal sputtering for device fabrication. She has also been working on a recipe for electroless nickel plating.

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Dana Gude
Dana is presently working with Steven Bellinger on microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors.

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David Bruno
BS-EE 2009: David Bruno assisted Walter McNeil with the construction, fabrication and electronic testing of perforated high-efficiency semiconductor neutron detectors.

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Diego Laramore
Diego started working in the laboratory in 2015 and is working on the micro-pocket fission detectors with Michael Reichenberger.

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Dominic Francia
Dominic worked on the electro-optic neutron detector, He is running simulations and performing calculations to obtain detection efficiencies of different neutron absorber materials and geometries.

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Dustin Wirth

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Edgar Alvarado
Edgar worked on new materials for radiation detection.

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Graham Schlaikjer
Graham started working in the laboratory in 2015 and is working on the micro-pocket fission detectors with Michael Reichenberger.

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Grant Bishop
Grant is assisting several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room. He installed vacuum lines, he installed the photoresist spinner, ran exhaust lines for vacuum pumps, and assisted with the fabrication of neutron hex-array detectors.

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Greg Hilgenkamp
Greg worked with Dr. Ugorowski on miniaturized gas-filled detectors.

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Hai Vo-Le
Hai started working in the laboratory in 2014 and is working on the micro-pocket fission detectors with Tyrel George.

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Harry McDonald
Juergen worked with Ben Montag on the growth of new detector materials.

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Jackson Lage
Jackson started working in the laboratory in 2015 and is working on the micro-structured neutron detectors with Dr. Ryan Fronk and Dr. Steven Bellinger on MSND technology.

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Jacob Harnack
Jacob worked with Kyle Nelson on LiF deposition methods.

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James Neihart
James assisted with several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room.

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Jaspen Patenaude
BS-ME 2006; Jaspen Patenaude assisted Mark Harrison with the construction of multizone funaces for materials purification and LaBr3 crystal growth. Jaspen has continued on with graduate school, and is now studying for an MS in mechanical engineering.

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Joe Lorenzen
Joe joined the SMART Lab in 2017 and is working with Dr. Steven Bellinger on advanced MSND structures.

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Jonathan Grow
Jonathan worked with Steven Bellinger with etching processes and methods of backfilling etched perforations in perforated diode structures.

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Joseph Hewitt
Joseph started working in the SMART laboratory in 2017 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD) with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols.

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Juergen Greve
Juergen worked on new materials for radiation detection.

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Justin Clark
Justin is assisting several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room and neutron energy spectrometer. He helped replace the plumbing for the 6-pocket E-beam evaporator, relocate and install the Oxford PlasmaLab, and perform LiF backfilling.

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Justin Lowrey
BS-ME 2006; Justin Lowrey assisted with general maintenance, the ICP-RIE system and detector fabrication. He went on to earn an MS in nuclear engineering, and now works at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant.

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Karl Plamann
Karl worked on several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room.

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Katharine Kellog
Katharine joined the SMART Lab in 2017 and is working with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols on micro-pocket fission detectors.

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Kelley Miller
Kelley Miller assisted Steven Bellinger with the fabrication of perforated semiconductor neutron detectors.

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Kevin Arpin
Kevin assisted with several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room.

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Kyle Kohman
BS-ME 2008; Kyle worked with Walter McNeil on the unique perforated neutron detectors pioneered in the SMART Laboratory. Having graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in Spring 2008, he has taken a position with ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing.

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Kyle Loschke
BS-ME 2006; Kyle Loschke assisted with general maintenance and with the ICP-RIE system. He went on to earn an MS in Nuclear Engineering.

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Lisel Kraft
Lisel Kraft worked with Elsa Ariesanti on HgI2 detector development and characterization.

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Luke Henson
BS-ME 2012, Luke Henson worked with Steven Bellinger on microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors. He is now continuing the work as an employee of Radiation Detector Technologies, In. (RDT).

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Mark McCreary
BS-ME 2009; Mark McCreary worked with Walter McNeil and Steven Bellinger on high efficiency microstructured neutron detectors. These detectors are presently the highest efficiency semiconductor neutron detectors available.

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Marty Rudolph
Marty Rudolph assisted Elsa Ariesanti with HgI2 material purification.

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Matthew Hertel
Matthew is assisting with several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room and the neutron energy spectrometer. He helped relocate and install the Oxford PlasmaLab, install the wet benches, worked with the electroless nickel plating, and performed MCNP modeling for the neutron spectrometer.

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Max Nager
Max Nager served as the interim supervisor of the TRIGA Mk-II Nuclear Reactor Facility. Mr. Nager worked with Dr. Cebula with the nuclear reactor, and also helped students and professors with their research. He is now working for Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Melanie Elazegui
BS-ME 2007; Melanie worked with Walter McNeil on the testing and characterization of perforated semiconductor neutron detecting diodes. She graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2007, and is presently working in the Laser and Optics Department at the Kansas City Plant FM&T in Kansas City, Missouri.

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Nathan Fritz
BS-ME 2007; Nathan Fritz worked on materials purification of Cd, Zn, Te and Mn with Amy Hageman. Having graduated in Spring 2007, he moved to Georgia Tech to attend gradaute school.

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Nathan Schuh
BS-ME 2007; Nathan Schuh assisted Aaron Thompson with the electro-optic experiments on CdZnTe and Lithium Niobate.

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Niklas Hinson
BS-ME 2014; Niklas started working in the SMART Laboratory in 2013 where he assisted Kyle Nelson with the construction of Li-foil multi-wire neutron detectors. As a result of his contributions, he is a co-recipient of a 2014 R&D 100 Award for the same invention. Niklas graduated with a BS in ME and has taken a position with National Instruments in Austin, Texas.

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Rans Lowell
BS-ME 2008; Rans Lowell worked with Alireza Kargar with the fabrication and testing of CdZnTe Frisch collar high-resolution gamma ray spectrometers.

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Reese Gehring
Reese is working with Steven Bellinger and Ryan Fronk on microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors. He also worked on the nitrogen lines and computer installations in the new clean room.

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Robert Seymour
Robert started working in the laboratory in 2014 and is working on the microstructured semiconductor neutron detectors.

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Ryan White
BS-ME 2008; Ryan White worked with Mark Harrison and Amy Hageman with the construction and characterization of several crystal growth and purification furnaces.

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Rylan Ortiz
BS-ME 2007; Rylan Ortiz assisted Martin Ohmes with the development of Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFD). Rylan finished his BS in Mechanical Engineering in summer 2007.

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Sam Brinton
BS-ME 2011; Sam worked with Dr. Mark Harrison on new scintillating materials as an undergraduate. He moved on to study as a Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering at MIT. He presently works in the DOE and a deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy.

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Sam Shelley
Sam is assisting several different projects, including the construction of the new SMART Lab clean room.

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Samuel Browning
BS-ME 2011; Sam worked with Ben Montag on the growth of new neutron detector semiconductor materials. Sam is presently radiation effects engineer at SEAKR Engineering located in Littleton, Colorado.

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Samuel James
BS-ME 2011; Sam James assisted Dr. Kargar with CdZnTe Frisch collar detectors, Ben Montag with new neutron detecting semiconductors materials, and Kyle Nelson on new neutron detector designs.

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Sarah Appelhans
BS-ME 2007; Sarah Applehans assisted Elsa Ariesanti with HgI2 crystal growth. Sarah helped retrofit 30 horizontal platelet growth furnaces with computerized controllers, and she assisted with the purification of HgI2 starting material.

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Sarah Stevenson
BS 2018 in ME/Nuclear Option. Sarah joined the SMART Lab in 2014 and worked under Prof. McGregor and with Dr. Michael Reichenberger on micro-pocket fission detectors. While at KSU, Miss Stevenson served as ANS student chapter president. She won several awards, including Best Poster ANS Human Factors Award 2016, Presidential Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Student in Research 2016, 2nd Place poster Soc. of Women Engineers 2015, a DOE Scholarship for years 2016 -2018, and the Most Outstanding Undergraduate Award in MNE 2018. Miss Stevenson commissioned as a 2d Lt in the US Air Force at graduation and is planning to attend UC Berkeley to work towards a PhD in Nuclear Engineering.

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Shawn Cowley
BS-EE 2009; Shawn Cowley assisted Walter McNeil with the fabrication of perforated semiconductor neutron detectors.

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Steven Spalsbury
BS-ME 2009; Steven Spalsbury is assisting Michael Meier with materials purification and annealing.

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Tanner Swope
Tanner started working in the SMART laboratory in 2016 and is presently working on alternative Micro-Pocket Fission detectors with Dr. Michael Reichenberger and Dan Nichols.

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Todd Riedel
BS-ME 2011; Todd worked with Ben Montag on the growth of new neutron detector semiconductor materials. Todd is presently employed at Enercon Services, Inc.

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Travis Tozer
BS-ME 2007; Travis Tozer worked in the SMART lab in general maintenance.

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Tyler Krehbiel
BS-EE 2009; Tyler assisted Mark Harrison to configure many of the purification and growth furnaces. He wrote software to control the thermal environment and operate the motion controls. Tyler now works in Austin, Texas for National Instruments.

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Lab Rats

Gulliver Nicodemus
Through various travels and previous "owners", Gulliver Nicodemus came to be our lab rat. Curious and always full of energy, he was certainly a role model to young investigators. Because we acquired Gulliver as an adult, we never knew his age, but did enjoy his company for over a year. Gulliver developed a tumor in his left ear and died May 11, 2012. He will be missed.

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Soitheamh
No research lab is complete without a lab rat, and here is our first! For those who are interested, the name "Soitheamh" is Gaelic for "gentle and tame", which described her perfectly. Soitheamh lived long for a lab rat, reaching the age of 45 months (comparable to 120 years for humans). She died March 15, 2006 of heart complications.

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