Personnel

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow

Collin received his BS in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the Spring of 2019, where he worked with the High-Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory. He joined PEPL as a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering that Fall. His research focuses on electrospray propulsion, with a goal of developing sub-kilowatt class arrays for SmallSat applications. email: cbwhitt@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow

Parker graduated from Berry College in May 2020 with a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics. He joined PEPL in the fall of 2020 as a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering. He spent two summers working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on validation testing of the Hall-Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS) for the Lunar Gateway spacecraft. His current research focuses on investigating particle transport, oscillations, and facility effects in high-power Hall thrusters using non-invasive laser plasma diagnostics including Laser-Induced Fluorescence and Incoherent Thomson Scattering.

email: pjrob@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow

Will graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in May 2021 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He joined PEPL in the fall of 2021 as a PhD student in Aerospace Engineering. His current research interest is in high powered high current density Hall Thrusters.

email: wjhurley@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow

Madison Allen graduated in May 2021 with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in mathematics. She joined PEPL in the fall of 2021 as a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering. Her interest is in high power hall thrusters for deep space flight and understanding their facility effects.

email: mgallen@umich.edu

National Science Foundation Fellow

Declan graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S. in Physics in 2022. There, he performed research on computational characterization of atmospheric pressure plasma jets. He joined PEPL in the fall of 2022 as a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering. His current research is in developing predictive numerical models for Hall-effect thrusters.

email: brickd@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow
Grace graduated from the University of Washington in 2022 with a B.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and a minor in Italian Language and Culture. There she worked on the development of an ECR thruster and conducted research on the characterization of exhaust plumes of a Z-pinch plasma formation. She joined PEPL in the Fall of 2022 as an Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. student. Her research focuses on the development of Rotating Magnetic Field (RMF) thrusters.

email: gzoppi@umich.edu

National Science Foundation Fellow
Braden graduated from Olin College of Engineering with a B.S. in Engineering Physics and a minor in vocal performance. There he founded the Olin Plasma Engineering Lab which demonstrated the first steady state Hall thruster built by a fully undergraduate team. He joined PEPL in the fall of 2023 as an Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. student. His current research focuses on using condensible propellants to achieve ultrahigh current densities in Hall thrusters.

email: bradenoh@umich.edu

Ari graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S in Aerospace Engineering in 2023. As an undergraduate, he worked at PEPL as part of the MAISE undergraduate student team. After graduating, Ari joined PEPL as a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering. His current research focuses on characterization and optimization of ECR magnetic nozzle thrusters.

email: aeckhaus@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Fellow
Miron Liu earned his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in Spring 2023. As an undergrad he worked on electrospray diagnostics in the UIUC Electric Propulsion Laboratory. He joined PEPL as a PhD student in Fall 2023. His research interests include low-temperature plasma diagnostics, plasma wave-induced anomalous transport, and life-limiting mechanisms of electric propulsion (EP) devices. His current work focuses on characterizing key wave properties using novel experimental methodologies and diagnostics with the goal of developing prescriptive mitigation strategies to eliminate pole erosion in magnetically shielded Hall thrusters.

email: mironliu@umich.edu

John Riley graduated from Grinnell College in 2024 with a BA in physics. As an undergraduate, he did research related to solar and plasma physics through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama Huntsville CSPAR. He also has research experience in hypersonic CFD and Kerr black hole plasma energy loss mechanisms through Washington University in St. Louis and Grinnell College, respectively. His current research interests are using laser diagnostics on alternative propellants for Hall and ECR thrusters.

email: otoolejr@umich.edu

NASA Space Technology Research Fellow

Chris graduated from PEPL in January 2024 and continued on as a post doctoral researcher. In his post doc, he is focusing on the design of a high current density Hall thruster.

email: csercel@umich.edu