202 FRIB Graduate Brochure

Alumni and
student
spotlights
Crispin Contreras-Martinez, PhD in
Physics, 2021
Crispin Contreras recevied a PhD in physics at MSU, where
Peter Ostroumov served as his advisor. Crispin joined MSU’s
Accelerator Science and Engineering Traineeship (ASET)
program in October 2017. He studied the electromagnetic
and mechanical properties of medium beta superconducting
elliptical cavities. Crispin’s thesis project was to understand
the limitations of fast tuners based on piezo actuators.
Superconducting linear accelerators (linacs) can provide
high-power proton and ion beams in continuous-wave
(CW) or pulsed-mode operation. Linacs have become an
important tool for research in many fields such as high
energy physics, nuclear physics, and material science just
to name a few. He is studying control algorithms and the
development of reliable piezo tuning systems with long
lifetime for applications both in CW or pulsed linacs. With
the support of the ASET program, Crispin is continuing his
research at Fermilab as a an engineering physicist, working
with collaborators who have extensive resonance-control
experience. While at Fermilab he will work to develop
algorithms and hardware for his project, and aims to
present his results at international conferences such as the
International Particle Accelerator Conference (IPAC), the
Linear Accelerator Conference (LINAC), or the International
Conference on Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF). In
2017, Crispin was one of 52 graduate students from across
the nation selected for the Office of Science Graduate
Student Research Program. The award supported him for
up to one year of research under the supervision of a DOE
laboratory scientist.
Kalee Fenker, PhD in Nuclear
Chemistry, 2017
Kalee (Hammerton) Fenker earned a PhD in nuclear
chemistry at Michigan State University. She is currently
a staff scientist in the nuclear measurements group at
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). During her
time at NSCL from 2013 to 2017, Kalee’s research focused
on heavy ion fusion reactions. She looked at how varying
the neutron richness of the entrance channel components
affected the reaction dynamics. She also built several
parallel plate avalanche counters for the Coincidence
Fission Fragment Detector, a device built to facilitate
this type of research at NSCL. After leaving NSCL, Kalee
started working at SRNL and has been there for four years.
Her team provides boutique radiochemical analyses for
all of the facilities on the Savannah River site and several
offsite customers across the U.S. Department of Energy
complex. They have specialized radiochemical analyses
for over 75 different radioactive isotopes. Kalee said her
time at NSCL was instrumental in her career path. She
said she uses the nuclear-science knowledge she gained
at NSCL each day to help customers understand the
radiochemical composition of their products. For Kalee,
what stands out most from her time at FRIB/NSCL are all
of the people she met while at the laboratory. She said
her advisor, Professor Dave Morrissey, went out of his way
to help her with her project when she needed assistance.
She also values all that she learned while building their
equipment in the detector laboratory. Fenker said she met
many lifelong friends, including two of her bridesmaids,
while at NSCL.
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