Congratulations Dr. Travis Barker for successfully defending his dissertation and to Josephine Hartmann for passing her Ph.D. qualifying exams! Great job you two!
CNF undergraduate student Enrique Medici was awarded the National GEM Fellowship and will be interning at JHU's Applied Physics Lab this summer in the Force Projection Sector, “Provide decisive offensive capabilities enabled by timely, assured response for deterring, engaging, and defeating adversaries across multiple domains”.
Enrique has also been awarded Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Fellowship. Enrique will receive full tuition support, a substantial stipend, and guaranteed summer internships at the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC)—his sponsoring institution—throughout his doctoral studies. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he will also transition to a full-time position at AFTAC.
Austin Burns recently earned a prestigious summer internship at Los Alamos National Lab! Austin will join the Nuclear & Radiochemistry Division and will use LIBS and LA-ICP-MS to characterize synthetic nuclear explosion debris, as well as conduct debris post-dissolution separations. Congrats Austin!
Congratulations to CNF Faculty Member, Prof. Amy Hixon, on getting a joint appointment with SRNL!
Bravo to CNF Faculty Members Prof. Nathalie Wall, Lynn Francesconi, Benjamin Burton-Pye, and Deborah Penchoff on their new award selected for funding from NNSA on plutonium and neptunium separations!
Natalie Wall also will have a joint appointment with the Savannah River National
Congratulations Vassilia Zorba for being the keynote speaker at CES 2025, ‘Reimagining the Future of Accelerated Materials Discovery to Revolutionize Energy, Mobility, and Security’.
CNF PI and Thrust Area 2 Lead Assel Aitkaliyeva, Ph.D., has been named to the American Nuclear Society’s (ANS) inaugural NuclearNews 40 Under 40 list. This recognition celebrates innovative young professionals advancing the field of nuclear science and engineering. Job well done Assel!
Savannah River Nat’l Lab will establish a joint appointment with University of Notre Dame for the first time with Associate Professor Amy Hixon. Professor Hixon will collaborate with SRNL on actinide research projects. Way to go!
“I am grateful to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction) for their award under the Nuclear Forensics Research program!” Vasileios A. Anagnostopoulo. Congrats Vasileios!
Congratulations to CNF Student Justin Borrero for receiving “Best Poster” from Society for Applied Spectroscopy! Justin and recent graduate Kyle Latty also received 2nd place for their poster from the Federation of Analytical Chemistry Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS).
Congratulations to Dr. Natalie Wall (UF) and Dr. Subith Vasu (UCF) for their recent accomplishments!
Dr. Nathalie Wall received a new contract with PNNL, “Rapid and Robust Nuclear Forensics Sample Analysis” funded by DoD/DHS.
Dr. Subith Vasu received a NNSA-Funded MSIPP Award, “PARTNERShip and Training for NNSA Engineering and Relevant Sciences (PARTNERS)”
Also, Dr. Vasu was named a UCF Trustee Chair Professor!
Congratulations to our CNF Workshop Student Award Winners!
Best Oral Presentations:
1st Place: Isaac Haynes
2nd Place: Joseph Goodwin
3rd Place: Justin Borrero
Best Poster:
1st Place: Delaney Ryan
2nd Place: Marissa Krukowski
3rd Place: Weslee Kersey
3 Minute Thesis:
1st Place: Liz Decoteau
2nd Place: Paige Anderson
Thank you to everyone who helped make our 2024 CNF Workshop a total success!
CNF Graduate student at UCF, David Rai II, gave an oral presentation at the 2024 Fall American Chemical Society Meeting in Denver at the Nuclear Forensics Symposium, entitled “Surrogate Nuclear Explosive Debris Utilizing a CW CO2 laser” with co-authors fellow CNF student-members, Austin Burns and Zachary Ronchetti
Congratulations Isaac Haynes for completion of the Public Policy and Nuclear Threats (PPNT) 2024 program. Great job Isaac!
Student Spotlight
This summer, Hannah Patz was at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) where she was mentored by Dr. Ben McDonald and Dr. Mital Zalavadia as part of the National Security Internship Program (NSIP) which is a program within the National Security Directorate of PNNL. Her work involved the ionizing radiation Quantum Imaging Detector (IQID) to be used for post-detonation samples. The internship at PNNL allowed her to explore the national laboratory network as well as build up her network.
Aileen Sarceno interned at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory through the SULI program. She worked gratings based diffraction X-ray (GBX) imaging for national security applications and presented her work in the Gold Experience Symposium at PNNL. She also developed a computational tool to calculate particle size selectivity in GBX for different system and material parameters. Way to go Aileen!
Congratulations to Paige Anderson who won first place at the AFRL Kirtland Air Force Scholar Research Symposium for her work in developing machine learning approaches to classify laser ablations ectroscopy for nuclear material identification.
Congratulations to Christopher Cahill for receiving the Trachntenberg Prize for Research at GW.
“This award recognizing outstanding research accomplishments was established by President Emeritus Stephen Joel Trachtenberg in memory of his parents. It is presented annually to a tenured member of the faculty along with a $1,500 prize. The award is meant to honor faculty scholarship and demonstrate the George Washington University’s commitment to research and creative endeavors.” -GWU Website
Two of our own Professors from NC State, John Mattingly and Xu Wu, will be participating in University of Tennessee-Knoxville NNSA-funded award on Enabling Capabilities in Technology Consortium. Congratulations to both of you!
“The two consortia, led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the Georgia Institute of Technology will each receive up to $5 million per year for five years. These consortia link basic university research with applied laboratory research to advance technical capabilities in support of nuclear security and nonproliferation missions of NNSA, enabling an effective pipeline of talented next-generation experts to establish careers at DOE national laboratories” -DOE Website
Congratulations to Kyle Hartig for his promotion and tenure to Associate Professor at the University of Florida!
UPR 2024 was a SUCCESS!
We extend our gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of the 2024 NNSA University Program Review held at Texas A&M University, with special recognition to all students who presented. CNF received numerous complements for the exceptional quality of their poster displays and oral presentations. We are excited about the promising developments ahead!
Huge congratulations to our CNF award winners! Way to go guys!
Best Oral Presentation Joseph Goodwin (Clemson) Advisor: Kenneth Marcus
Best Poster James Krec (NCSU) Advisor: John Mattingly
Best National Lab Project Ryan Wood (U. Mich) Advisor: Igor Jovanovic
The Baker School Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs has highlighted Deborah Penchoff and CNF
“The ultimate goal of the research I work on is to benefit society. It is critical to inform policymakers and the public so decisions can be made on how to address national challenges. It is important to find common language and give an opportunity for dialogue to develop solutions to benefit society. An example of this is my work in the Consortium for Nuclear Forensics (CNF), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration and led by Jim Baciak at the University of Florida. One of my focus areas in CNF is to develop standards and best practices for AI applications in nuclear forensics. In addition, the CNF has a large focus on workforce development and global engagement, which provide an outstanding opportunity to engage with the public, the scientific community, and government officials.” -Deborah Penchoff
Congratulations to Dr. Vasileios Anagnostopoulos, a UCF 'Reach for the Stars' awardee who received one of UCF's highest faculty honors as well as the Research Incentive Award (RIA) for 2024 by the UCF College of Sciences and UCF Faculty Excellence.
As a nuclear chemist, his research encompasses radioactive waste management, environmental radiochemistry and nuclear forensics as it pertains to clean nuclear energy and nuclear forensics for aiding national security.
“In my group we study containment technologies for safe radioactive waste management and the environmental impact in case of leakages or accidents, as well as the properties of nuclear materials in the context of nuclear security,” Anagnostopoulos says.
The RIA award recognizes outstanding research, scholarly, or creative activity that advances the body of knowledge in a particular field.
Congratulations to Anastasia Baltes of UNLV, Wesley Kersey of UF, and Josephine Hartmann of NC State for receiving internships for this coming Summer!
Weslee Kersey was awarded the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for the Summer 2024 Term.
Also, starting in August 2024, the DoD will fund the remaining four years of Weslee’s PhD and he will do an internship at his sponsoring facility every summer until he graduates. In addition, Weslee will work for his sponsoring facility for four years upon completion of his PhD.
Josephine Hartmann was will be at Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory (PNNL) this summer through the National Security Internship Program (NSIP).
Anastasia Baltes is a Radiochemistry PhD Student at UNLV and has been selected to participate in the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute Graduate Research Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Big congratulations Assel Aitkaliyeva for being selected to receive an offer of employment for LLNL's Faculty Mini-Sabbatical!
The Faculty Mini-Sabbatical Program is designed to bring top academic talent from colleges and universities across the U.S. to the Laboratory for one- to three-month visits to exchange knowledge and build partnerships.
UF-led group develops new tools to track illicit nuclear materials By Joseph Kays December 7, 2023
“Our team represents a diverse range of backgrounds, while also working in a highly collaborative environment that will lead to a number of new discoveries, insights and technologies that will support technical nuclear forensics for generations to come,” -Jim Baciak, the project leader and a professor in UF’s Nuclear Engineering Program
Christopher L. Cahill (Logan Werlinger, The George Washington University)
Director Jim Baciak
“The board works to identify applicable private and public sector best management practices and provides counsel on how to integrate them into the EM program. ”
Professor Kyle Hartig
Congratulations to Brian Powell for appointed to the DOE Environmental Management Advisory Board!
Professor Assel Aitkaliyeva
CCAS Professor Christopher L. Cahill Recognized for His Work in Chemistry
Christopher L. Cahill was awarded the 2023 Hillebrand Prize in recognition of his contributions to the science of chemistry. A chemistry and international affairs professor at the George Washington University, Cahill was awarded the 2023 Hillebrand Prize. The award is the Chemical Society of Washington’s (CSW) highest honor. Cahill is an expert in solid-state and materials chemistry with an emphasis on X-ray crystallography.
