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Curriculum Vitae (Apr 2026 )
Staff Research Physicist at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). Lead PI of a multi-institutional DOE Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)–funded project (2025–2030) on plasma–material interactions and wall conditioning in metallic-wall tokamaks (DIII-D, KSTAR). Deputy U.S. Tokamak Research Coordinator for plasma–material interactions (PMI), coordinating research and validation across multiple tokamak facilities, with additional experience in stellarator edge physics (W7-X).
Current Roles and Leadership
Lead PI, DOE-FES funded project on wall conditioning and plasma–material interaction control (2025–2030)
Deputy Research Coordinator, U.S. Plasma–Material Interactions, FES Tokamak Research portfolio
Coordinate plasma–material interaction activities across multiple tokamak facilities (including DIII-D and KSTAR)
Lead, ITPA Divertor and Scrape-Off Layer task on in-situ boron injection
Deputy Lead, DIII-D Wall Change Preparation Task Force
Deputy Lead, DIII-D Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) Wall Materials Thrust (2024-2025)
Lead, DIII-D Wall Conditioning Thrust (2025/26 Winter Campaign)
Research Funding
Lead PI, DOE Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
Title: Closing Gaps on Wall Conditioning and Real-Time Coating for ITER and Next-Step Fusion Devices
Sep 2025 – Feb 2030
Award: DE-SCL0000109
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2018
Master of Science, Physics (‘Diplom Physiker’), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2012
Research experience
Staff Research Physicist, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, since April 2022
Lead experimental and modeling studies on plasma–material interactions and real-time wall conditioning at DIII-D
Led impurity injection experiments to investigate divertor power exhaust, wall conditions, and tungsten erosion
Led experimental campaigns on advanced tungsten and alloy plasma-facing materials at DIII-D
Postdoc Research Associate, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, 2019-2022
Led impurity granule injection experiments at DIII-D
Modeled plasma–material interactions using EMC3-EIRENE and dust transport models
Demonstrated improved core–edge compatibility of power exhaust via lithium, boron, and boron nitride injection
Tested in-vessel wall coating based on commercially available approaches
Postdoc Research Associate, University of Wisconsin – Madison, IPP Greifswald, Germany, 2018 – 2019
Member of Task Force II 'Plasma Edge and Divertor Physics', responsible for analysis of experiments related to assessment of radiative edge cooling and detachment control with impurity gas seeding at Wendelstein 7-X
Analyzed experimental data of W7-X experiments with impurity gas seeding and published results at IAEA FEC 2018
Modeled counter-streaming island scrape-off layer flows of first-time measurements with coherence imaging spectroscopy at Wendelstein 7-X in collaboration with IPP and Auburn University, co-authored NF letter
Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2014 – 2018
Proposed, planned and lead first impurity seeding experiments as a session leader for the island divertor campaigns; demonstrated stable radiative power exhaust with Ne and N2 impurity seeding
Modeled impact of magnetic configurations effects on divertor heat fluxes based on 3D vacuum HINT equilibrium fields and validated results against experimental IR camera measurements
Analyzed SOL heat and particle transport and examined the role of inner and outermost resonances on neutral particle fueling and pump-out in island and limiter configurations, authored and co-authored publications
Research Assistant, Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Germany, 2012 – 2014
Calculated heat fluxes onto W7-X startup limiters resulting in a re-assessment and substantial changes of original limiter and magnetic field geometry to prevent melting of in-vessel components
Modeled W7-X helium and carbon transport for optimization of He beam and divertor impurity spectroscopy
Student Research Assistant, Semiconductor Physics (GRECO), University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2010 – 2012
Improved the experimental setup of modulated photoluminescence spectroscopy, wrote Matlab analysis scripts
Characterized crystalline-silicon wafers with amorphous-silicon passivation with spectroscopic methods
Teaching experience
Student Teaching Assistant, Institute of Physics, University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2008 – 2011
Tutored and assisted in the teaching of Mathematical Methods for Engineering Physics I+II, Theoretical Electrodynamics, Physics IV: Thermodynamics and Statistics, Physics for Chemists & Environmental Scientists, Computational Theoretical Physics
Academic service
Executive Board Member, American Nuclear Society San Diego Section for FY22 & FY23
Reviewer for scientific journals since 2017
reviewed 37+ manuscripts Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics & Controlled Fusion, Physics of Plasmas, Nuclear Materials & Energy; Institute of Physics trusted reviewer 2020
Honors and awards
Outstanding reviewer 2018 Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
James D. Callen Fellowship for Excellence in Plasma Theory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2017
Student Poster Award at the International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference, Madison, 2016
Skills and training
PPPL Energy I-Corps Lite Pioneer Cohort Winter 2021, learned and applied entrepreneurial thinking to foster public-private partnerships between PPPL and industry in a project dedicated to reactor wall coating
2nd Computational Physics School for Fusion Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA, Aug 30 - Sep 3, 2021
Wharton Princeton Entrepreneurship Executive Education Program (June 17, 2021)
Tech Transfer Webinars and Workshops to Expand Entrepreneurial Skills by L. Schoppe, Fuentek LLC, 2021
Linkedin Learning: Unconscious Bias, The Six Biases of Decision Making, Strategic Thinking, Project Management Simplified
PPPL training: Lithium Safety, Hydrogen Gas Safety, Respiratory Protection Training, Laser Safety Rules, Nanomaterials Worker Safety Training, Radiation Safety, Cyber Security Awareness
DIII-D training: DIII-D Pit Indoctrination, D3D-Specific Radiation Training, General Radiation Training
Computer skills: High-Performance Computing, Matlab, Fortran, Python, C/C++, Linux, Latex
Languages: English (fluent), German (native), French (basic), Spanish (basic)
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