Staff
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Mihály Horányi
PI (2008-2022)
Mihály Horányi received his PhD in Space Physics from the Lorand Eötvös University in Budapest, Hungary. He is professor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was the PI of IMPACT from 2008-2022.
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Tobin Munsat
PI (2022- )
Tobin received his PhD in Plasma Physics from Princeton University. He is the PI of IMPACT and a professor in the Physics Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Angel Abbud-Madrid
CO-I
Angel Abbud-Madrid recieved his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Angel is the director for the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School on Mines.
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Dan Baker
CO-I
Dan Baker recieved his PhD from the University of Iowa and is currently the director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
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David Brain
CO-I
David Brain recieved his PhD in Astrophysical, Planetary, and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Jan Deca
Research Associate
Jan received his PhD from the Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics (KULeuven), Belgium. Currently he is a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
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Christopher B. Dreyer
CO-I
Christopher Dreyer received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Currently, he is a research scientist at the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines.
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John Fontanese
Research Associate
John is the dust accelerator lead engineer working on the large and small accelerators at DAL.
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George Gilmer
CO-I
George Gilmer recieved his PhD in Physics from the University of Virginia. He is a research scientist at the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines.
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Vladimir Gorokhovsky
CO-I
Vladimir Gorokhovsky has research interests in plasma processing technologies, plasma synthesis of nanomaterials, coating and functionalization of micro-and nano-powders, and arc plasma physics.
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Eberhard Grün
CO-I
Eberhard Grün recieved his PhD from the University of Heidelberg. He is a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
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Brendan Hermalyn
CO-I
Brendan Hermalyn received his PhD in Planetary Science from Brown University. Brendan is an assistant researcher (SOEST Young Investigator) at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center.
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Hsiang-Wen Hsu
Research Associate
Hsiang-Wen (Sean) Hsu received his PhD from the Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. He is a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
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Sascha Kempf
CO-I
Sascha Kempf is the deputy PI of the Cassini dust detector CDA and develops instrumentation for compositional analysis of comsic dust. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Scott Robertson
CO-I
Scott received his PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University. He was a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Daniel J. Scheeres
CO-I
Daniel Scheeres received a PhD from the University of Michigan. He is a professor in the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Alan Stern
CO-I
Alan Stern received his PhD in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the associate vice-president of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
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Zoltan Sternovsky
CO-I
Zoltan received his PhD from Charles University in Prague. He is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Stein Sture
CO-I
Stein Sture received a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Xu Wang
CO-I
Xu Wang received his PhD in Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Xu is a research scientist for the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
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Greg Werner
CO-I
Greg received his PhD in Experimental Physics from Cornell University. He is a research scientist for the Center for Integrated Plasma Studies (CIPS), Boulder, Colorado.
Collaborators
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Jürgen Blum
Jürgen Blum received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg. He is professor for physics at the University of Braunschweig in Germany.
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Margaret Campbell-Brown
Margaret Campbell-Brown recieved her PhD in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Western Ontario. She is an associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Western Ontario.
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Mark J. Cintala
Mark Cintala received his PhD in Geological Sciences from Brown University. He is a researcher at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
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Richard Dee
Richard Dee received his PhD in Low Temperature Solid State Physics from the University of Lancaster, England. Currently he is an Affiliate to the Department of Physics and CIPS assisting in the design of cryogenic targets for the dust accelerator.
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Giovanni Lapenta
Giovanni Lapenta received a PhD in Plasma Physics from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He is a professor in the Mathematics Department at University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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Ralf Srama
Ralf recieved a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. He is a research scientist for the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany
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Alexander Zakharov
Alexander is a researcher in space physics and works at the Space Research Institute, Moscow. His main science interests are space plasmas, space dust, Mars and its moons. He has been a member of the International Academy of Astronautics since 1994.
Students
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Ethan Ayari
Ethan is a first year graduate student in Physics working with Mihály Horányi and Zoltan Sternovsky on designing and analyzing data from the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument aboard NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission.
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Brandon Cage
Brandon Cage is an undergraduate student in the Physics department working with Jan Deca on simulations of attractive regimes between dust grains in plasma.
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David Chaparro
David Chaparro is a current graduate student at the CU Physics Department. He completed his BS in Physics at the University of Texas at Dallas. He now works with Tobin Munsat and Sascha Kempf continuing research on dust impacts on icy planets.
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Thomas Corbett
Thomas Corbett is a first year undergraduate student in the Physics department. He is working with John Fontanese on the database project and nanocharacterization of the dust used in the lab.
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Brandon Cyrus
Brandon is a senior undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering working with Zoltan Sternovsky and Mihály Horányi on designing an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber and supporting structure to be incorporated with a Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer and tested on the dust accelerator.
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Eric Diaz
Eric is an undergraduate student in Engineering Physics and Mechanical Engineering working with Tobin Munsat and Vladimir Gorokhovsky on developing methods of coating micron scale particles with thin metal layers for use in the dust accelerator.
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Alexander Doner
Alex is a first year graduate student in the Department of Physics working with Mihály Horányi on the Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) instrument aboard NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission.
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Luke Eberwein
Luke Eberwein is an undergraduate in Physics working with Xu Wang on studying electrostatic dust charging and lofting on surfaces of airless planetary bodies.
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Ben Farr
Ben Farr completed his undergraduate Physics degree in May 2020 and is continuing his work with Xu Wang on a project to develop and test new methods for mitigating dust on the Lunar surface.
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Bill Goode
Bill Goode is a graduate student working for Sascha Kempf on SUDA science development.
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Zuni Levin
Zuni is an undergraduate student of Physics working with Sascha Kempf on the computational modeling of the Lunar Dust Experiment in its operating environment orbiting around the moon.
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Zach Ulibarri
Zach is a graduate student in physics working with Tobin Munsat and Mihály Horányi on dust impacts into ice surfaces.
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Li Hsia Yeo
Li Hsia is a second year graduate student in the Department of Physics working with Xu Wang and Mihály Horányi on the Colorado Solar Wind Experiment (CSWE).
Past Students
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Chris Anaya
Chris Anaya graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a degree in physics.
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Forrest Barnes
Forrest was an undergraduate student at the university of Colorado at Boulder working under Tobin Munsat on control and data visualization software for the accelerator.
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Robert Beadles
Robert was an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado working under Xu Wang.
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Nicholaus Beaty
Nicholaus Beaty worked under Mihály Horányi with Anthony Shu trying to optimize and improve the efficiency of the accelerator. He also helped to characterize the different types of dust that can be used.
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Nick Boschert
Nick was an interning high school student and entered CU-Boulder as a Physics major.
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Jessica Burnett
Jessica is an incoming undergraduate at CU-Boulder studying computer engineering. She is currently working under Mihály Horányi on simulating magnetic field anomalies found on the Moon.
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Spenser Burrows
Spenser Burrows graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a degree Engineering Physics and chemistry.
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Mark Coffman
Mark graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with an aerospace engineering degree.
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Akaxia Cruz
Akaxia Cruz is an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder and is double majoring in Physics and Mathematics.
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Michael DeLuca
Michael worked with Zoltan Sternovsky and completed his PhD on meteoric ablation in April of 2020. He is currently at Princeton University.
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Shannon Dickson
Shannon graduated from CU with a degree in engineering physics and a minor in astronomy.
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Adrienne Dove
Adrienne Dove received her PhD in Astrophysical and Planetary Sciencees from the University of Colorado
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Nicole Duncan
Nicole Duncan received her B.A. in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado and worked on the Dust Trajectory Sensor (DTS) project.
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Chad Eberl
Chad worked with Sascha Kempf on SUDA testing and calibration.
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Connor Flexman
Connor participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at IMPACT. He worked with Mihály Horányi developing the spatial variability of detectors for the dust accelerator at DAL.
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João Gabriel Moreira Hooks
João Hooks worked with Sascha Kempf on Cassini Time of Flight (TOF) mass spectroscopy for the Jovian and Saturnian systems. He worked on PDS data analysis and preparation.
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AJ Gemer
AJ Gemer worked with Zoltan Sternovsky on the development of the Hyperdust, Dust Trajectory Sensor (DTS), Electrostatic Lunar Dust Analyzer (ELDA), and Nano-Dust Analyzer (NDA) instruments. After graduation, he co-founded Lunar Outpost Inc. and is currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer.
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Michael Gerard
Michael was an undergrauate studying Physics and Applied Mathematics. He worked on simulations dealing with lunar swirl morphology and is now an Engineering Physics grad student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
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Elliot Gorokhovsky
Elliot was a high school student from Fairview HS working under Andrew Collette on the motion control system for the accelerator chamber.
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Erik Gustafson
Erik was an undergraduate student in Physics and Mechanical Engineering and worked with Sascha Kempf on designing and machining the SUDA prototype.
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Liam Hoffmeister
Liam completed his bachelor's degrees in Math, Physics, and Computer Science in May of 2020 and will be taking a job at Raytheon. He worked with Tobin Munsat on development of an improved FPGA for the accelerator's particle selection unit.
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Calvin Howes
Calvin was an undergraduate student working under Xu Wang.
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Jack Hunsaker
Jack was a high school intern working with David James developing the Argon Plasma Undergraduate Laboratory.
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Eric Junkins
Eric was an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering. He worked on fabiraction and design of test equipment for SUDA and GOLD. He now works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Maximilian Kempf
Max studies Industrial Engineering in Berlin and came to Boulder to do an internship for five months.
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Huy Le
Huy Le was an undergraduate in the Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments.
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Spencer LeBlanc
Spencer LeBlanc worked as an undergraduate with IMPACT.
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Sean Metzger
Sean was an interning high school student from Fairview High School in Boulder. He aspires to pursue a career in astrophysics or renewable energies.
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Georg Meyer
Georg was a visiting graduate student from Stuttgart, Germany. Georg worked with Zoltan Sternovsky developing the PVDF electronics at DAL.
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Destry Monk
Destry is an undergraduate at CU working for Tobin Munsat, and majoring in physics, computer science, and mathematics. His project entails coding for the Vacuum Interlock System master control interface.
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Rudy Namikis
Rudy studied Chemical Engineering and worked with Sascha Kempf on calibrations of mass analyzers.
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Oak Nelson
Oak Nelson was an undergraduate student in Engineering Physics and worked under Tobin Munsat on initial experiments in the ice chamber. .
Paige Northway
Paige Northway graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Engineering Physics and a minor in German.
Leela O'Brien
Leela was a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering and worked with Zoltan Sternovsky. Her focus was on the development of space instruments including the Nano Dust Analyzer, which is a linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer.
Alexandra Okeson
Alexandra Okeson was an undergraduate student in Computer Science. She worked under Mihály Horányi developing software for the student dust counter.
Juliet Pilewskie
Juliet was an undergraduate student and worked under Mihály Horányi developing computational models for IMPACT.
Marcus Piquette
Marcus completed his PhD in the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences department working with Mihály Horányi on simulations of photoelectron sheaths and dust dynamics on the lunar surface. He now works at Mission Ops at LASP.
Andrew Poppe
Andrew Poppe received his PhD in physics from the University of Colorado.
Steven Priddy
Steven Priddy was pursing a master's degree in aerospace engineering with an emphasis on bioastronautics. He was working with Zoltan Sternovsky on new experimental setups.
Thomas Watts
Thomas Watts was a Physics major at CU Boulder who worked under Xu Wang. He is the author of the honors thesis "Simulation of Cold Cathode Discharge Tube Glow Profiles: An MCC Approach".
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Emily Randall
Emily graduated from Fairview High School, and entered CU Boulder as a high school intern.
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Anthony Rasca
Anthony received his PhD from the Applied Mathematics Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He currently works at the United States Naval Research Laboratory.
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JR Rocha
JR was a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering and worked under Zoltan Sternovsky on the STEREO project.
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Joseph Isaac Samaniego
Joseph completed his PhD in Physics working with Xu Wang and Mihály Horányi on upgrades to Langmuir Probes.
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Joseph Schwan
Joseph was an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering and worked under Xu Wang researching dust dynamics in plasmas.
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Andy Seracuse
Andy was an undergraduate student working under Tobin Munsat developing the dust coordinate sensor used by the dust accelerator at DAL.
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Ming-Hsueh Shen
Mitchell completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences working with Zoltan Sternovsky on dust detection by antenna instruments: modeling and laboratory measurements.
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Anthony Shu
Anthony received his PhD in 2015 for impact cratering experiments. He accepted a job at Intel.
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Tanya Shultz
Tanya was an undergratuate student researching lunar swirls.
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Jonas Simolka
Jonas was a visiting graduate student from Stuttgart, Germany. Jonas worked with Zoltan Sternovsky on the gas target chamber at DAL.
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Ben Southwood
Ben was a graduate student in the Applied Math Department working with Sascha Kempf and Mihály Horányi developing computational models of dust plumes.
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Jared Stanley
Jared was an undergrauate student developing theoretical support for the SUDA instrument.
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Jordan Stern
Jordan graduated from Niwot High School, and will enter his first year at CU Boulder in the Engineering Physics Program.
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Jamey Szalay
Jamey received his PhD in 2015 for work with the LDEX mission studying the Moon's dust cloud. He accepted a Post Doc at SwRI, San Antonio.
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Evan Thomas
Evan received his PhD in Physics and worked under Tobin Munsat and Mihály Horányi designing the FPGA-based particle selection unit used on the accelerator. Additionally, Evan worked on a gas target experiment to investigate the ablation of micrometeoroids in the laboratory.
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Michelle Villeneuve
Michelle worked with Sascha Kempf and David James developing a program to analyze mass spectroscopy data without human manipulation for Cassini.
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Michael Wagner
Michael was an undergraduate student in Engineering Physics and worked on the Dust Particle Accelerator.
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Ethan Williams
Ethan Que Williams was an undergraduate Physics major at CU. He worked under the guidance of Zoltan Sternovsky and Sascha Kempf simulating ion trajectories in SIMION in the effort to optimize the design of the Large Area Mass Analyzer (LAMA) dust telescope.
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Christopher Warren
Chris graduated from CU with a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering with minors in Quantitative Economics and General Applied Mathematics.
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Tyler Wingfield
Tyler worked with IMPACT as a Junior pursuing a degree in Engineering Physics.
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Jianfeng Xie
Jianfeng Xie graduated from CU with a PhD in physics. He used the Zemax to analyze the effect of ultraviolet light from the sun on detectors.