Address general inquiries to: Koeth@umd.edu
Faculty and Staff
Dr. Brian Beaudoin
Associate Research Professor Brian works in the field of charged particle beams, with a specialization in electron guns, electron source, ion sources, and transport of space charge dominated beams. He is involved in testing electronics under high dose irradiation. Brian is active in undergraduate and graduate-level education in the science and engineering of particle accelerators |
Dr. Carolyn Chun
Associate Research Professor Carolyn brings a background in pure mathematics, computer science, and physics to the Koeth Group. She performs mathematical modeling on multiple projects, collaborating with and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. Carolyn is the Group’s Simulation Leader and is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.
|
Emily Frashure
Faculty Assistant Emily Frashure is an incoming Materials Science and Engineering PhD student in the Koeth Group. She received a bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering in May 2023 from the University of Maryland and works on the Charge Loaded Dielectric project’s Materials Characterization group. In addition to her project with CLD, she will begin her own research into the effect of neutron radiation on medical polymers and other degradation mechanisms. |
Timothy Koeth
Assistant Professor Tim Koeth’s research interests are in materials at the extremes, exploring the limits of materials in extreme radiation environments as well as developing materials to produce extreme effects. |
Karen Ocellaris
Faculty Assistant Karen Ocellaris received her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from UMD in 2024. Currently, she works as a faculty assistant in the bulk electrets project, specializing in transmission electron microscopy and ultramicrotomy. She plans to pursue a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in 2025.
|
Holly Wilson
Director of Operations Holly received her B.S. in Studio Art in 2017 and B.A. in Physics in 2023 from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before pivoting from art to physics, she started a successful business selling frozen donut holes under the name FroDoh until receiving a cease and desist from the Tolkien estate. Synthesizing art, business, and science, she manages various projects under the Koeth umbrella.
|
Graduate Students
Claire Brizzolara
Graduate Student Claire earned her B.S. in Applied Math with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Delaware in 2023. She then worked at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division on radar cross-section simulations in the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP). She is now a Ph.D. student at UMD working on the Bulk Electrets project. |
Ariana Bussio
Graduate Student Ariana is a PhD student in the physics department. A few of her main interests are particle & nuclear astrophysics, high density physics, and high energy magnetic fields. Ariana earned a B.S. in Physics from UMD and is also a UCLA graduate with Bachelor of Arts in English and hopes to use her writing skills to increase the effectiveness of science communication. |
Bryson Clifford
Graduate Student Bryson received her bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.) and Physics (B.S.) from the University of Louisville in 2019. She completed multiple cooperative education rotations at Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. and interned at the NASA Langley Research Center in the Advanced Materials Branch before coming to the University of Maryland. Her thesis work in the Koeth group includes exploring the temperature dependence of spatial-charge retention in dielectrics. |
Thomas Montano
Graduate Student Thomas Montano received his B.S. in electrical engineering in 2022 from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. His research focus is in electrophysics, and he is working on simulation and modeling for the spacecraft materials project. He also works as an Electronics Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, as part of the Telecommunication Networks and Technology group. |
Nick Schwartz
Graduate Student Nick earned his B.S. from MIT in Mechanical Engineering in 2018, and his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and the University of Oxford in 2019 and 2020, respectively. As a PhD student, his work focuses on the CMFX project, and he aims to tackle the materials science and mechanical issues that plague fusion energy. |
Kate Sturge
Graduate Student Kate earned her B.S. degrees in physics and astronomy from UMD in 2022. She is now a graduate student in the UMD physics department working on the Bulk Electrets project. |
Meryl Wiratmo
Graduate Student Meryl is a graduate student in the MSE department. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2023 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. Her research interests include radiation degradation of polymers and polymer characterization. Meryl is currently working in the Characterization subgroup of the Charge Loaded Dielectrics project. |
Undergraduate Students
Jack Fitzgibbon
Undergraduate Researcher Jack is a Materials Science and Engineering major. His primary interests are energetic materials synthesis, high-voltage electronics, and nuclear engineering. His past work involved the synthesis of nitrotetrazolate-based primary explosives and Electrical Bridge-wire Detonators (EBW’s) through his YouTube channel “DBX Labs.” He is an alumnus of the AAMP-UP program at Purdue University and intends to pursue a graduate degree in energetic chemistry.
|
Ashely Hammell
Undergraduate Researcher Ashley is a Junior Materials Science and Engineering major. She is primarily involved in the Charge Loaded Dielectrics project focusing on fast imaging and characterization. Currently, she is working on maintaining the group’s radiation detection devices and preparing for a Summer internship with Lockheed Martin Rotary Mission Systems. |
Raphael Rose
Undergraduate Researcher Raphael is a sophomore majoring in physics with a special interest in the behavior of materials in extreme electrical environments. He has received a Bachelors in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis in addition to his current degree. Additional research interests include gravitation, cold atom physics and pedagogy. He currently works in the “Bulk Electrets” and “Beryllium 7” research groups.
|
Affiliates
Ryan Dorman
Educational Content Director Ryan graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in Physics and Philosophy, and has been leading the charge on the Koeth Group’s educational series “Cyclotrons!” They are currently working on the next set of episodes focusing on Neutron production in the 12-inch Cyclotron.
|
Bill Kolb
Engineering Physicist My focus is Trinitite (nuclear melt glass from the first atomic bomb) and the use of machine learning to investigate the radionuclides in Trinitite and its provenance. |
Scott Moroch
Physicist Scott graduated from the University of Maryland with his B.S. in Physics in December 2020. He is currently a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Email: smoroch@umd.edu |