CDAC Science at the 2022 SSAP Symposium
The SSAP Symposium for 2022 was held virtually for the second year in a row on February 15-17. The keynote address was given by Dr. Njema Frazier, who is the Assistant Deputy Administrator for Strategic Partnerships at DOE/NNSA. Dr. Frazier outlined the changes taking place in the NNSA organizational structure that have been implemented in response to the strategic priorities articulated by the new administration.
Overview presentations were provided by all SSAP Grant Holders and Center Directors in the High Energy Density Laser Plasma, National Laser User Facility, Low Energy Nuclear Science, Radiochemistry and Materials Sections. Russell Hemley provided updates CDAC scientific progress and student training activities since the Center’s move to the new host institution, the University of Illinois Chicago.
Breakout sessions held by representatives of the NNSA laboraotories gave students an opportunity to ask questions about postdoctoral research and staff positions, as well as the mission and research culture at each laboratory.
CDAC graduate students presented their research in the poster session. Hannah Bausch, a graduate student in the group of Academic Partner Steven Jacobson at Northwestern University, received a Best Poster Award for her presentation, Shock-Ramp Compression of (Mg,Fe)O on the Z Machine: Preliminary Theory and Application to Ultra-Low Velocity Zones Atop the Core-Mantle Boundary. Hannah’s poster described computational work that is carried out in collaboration with former CDAC student Josh Townsend, now at Sandia National Laboratories.
Next year’s Symposium will be held on February 14-15, 2023 and is tentatively scheduled to be an in-person event at the Buffalo Thunder Hotel and Casino in Albuquerque, NM.
Posters presented at this year’s symposium by CDAC graduate students illustrate the wide range of scientific work in which they are engaged:
Charlie Zoller, University of Illinois – Chicago
Highly Accurate EoS of Statically Compressed H2 – He Mixtures
Roma Ripani, University of Illinois – Chicago
Hydrazine at High Pressures
Allison Pease, Michigan State University
Deformation of Iron Nitrides
Alexander Mark, University of Illinois – Chicago
Structural Studies of Bismuth Based High Temperature Superconductors to Megabar Pressures
Chantelle Kiessner, University of Utah
Strain-Rate Dependence of Texture Evolution in Zircon
Jacob Minnette, University of Tennessee
Radiation Response of Carbide Fuel-Type Materials to SHI Irradiation Across Different Grain Sizes
Brian Blankenau, University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
Exploring Pressure and Temperature Induced Martensitic Phase Transformations in Ni2Mn2-xInx Alloys
Hannah Bausch, Northwestern University
Shock-Ramp Compression of (Mg,Fe)O on the Z Machine: Preliminary Theory and Application to Ultra-Low Velocity Zones Atop the Core-Mantle Boundary
Hannah Bausch, Northwestern University. Hannah's experiments on the Z machine require 10s of grams of (Mg,Fe)O samples with controlled compositions. In addition to her computational work, Hannah is also working to develop reliable methods for the synthesis of these materials.