CDAC Science at the 2023 SSAP Symposium

For the first time since 2020, the annual Stewardship Science Academic Programs (SSAP) Symposium took place in person, this year at the Buffalo Thunder Resort in Santa Fe, NM on February 14-15. This year’s meeting represented a welcome return to the lively interpersonal interactions between faculty, students and NNSA laboratory scientists that have been a hallmark of the SSAP Symposium since the inception of the program in 2003. Over 300 graduate students from across the collection of SSAP Centers and groups of SSAP grant holders were in attendance and presented posters detailing progress on their studies, making this the largest SSAP Symposium to date.

Dr. Ellen Cerreta, Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences at Los Alamos National Laboratory, presented the keynote address, “An Exciting Time for a Career at an NNSA Lab,” providing an overview of emerging opportunities for postdoctoral researchers and scientific and engineering staff, as the mission space for the NNSA laboratories continues to grow.

In addition, representatives from each of the NNSA laboratories and the Kansas City and Nevada National Security facilities presented overviews of the wide variety of research activities underway at their locations. Personnel from each facility were also available to discuss with students individually the many opportunities available for students finishing graduate work and looking to continue their training within the NNSA complex.

SSAP grant holders and a selection of SSAP Center directors provided updates on progress in their programs in the Materials, High Energy Density Physics, and Low Energy Nuclear Science sections.

Nine CDAC students presented posters on their research, with Allison Pease, a student from the group of Academic Partner Susannah Dorfman at Michigan State University, receiving a Best Poster Award. The CDAC students attending the meeting and their poster titles are:

Hannah Bausch, Northwestern University
Shock-Ramp Compression of Iron-Rich (Mg,Fe)O up to Earth’s Core Conditions

Brian Blankenau, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Exploring Pressure and Temperature Induced Manetostructural Phase Transitions in Ni₂Mn_2-xIn_x Alloys

Chantelle Kiessner, University of Utah
Texture Development and Strength of Irradiated Ceria

Alexander Mark, University of Illinois Chicago
Probing the Anomalous Changes in Structural and Electronic Properties of Bi₂Sr₂Ca_n-1Cu_nO_2n+4+δ to Megabar Pressures

Jacob Minnette, University of Tennessee
Nuclear Fuel Type Materials Under Extreme Conditions

Allison Pease, Michigan State University
Fe-Nitride Spin Transition Under Nonhydrostatic Compression and Impacts on the Strength of Fe-Nitrides

Roma Ripani, University of Illinois Chicago
Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction, Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy of Hydrazine at High Pressure

Zachary Whipple, University of Illinois Chicago
Compression of a Triamine High Energy Density Material

Charles Zoller, University of Illinois Chicago
Accurate Equation of State of Fluid H₂-He Mixtures

Next year’s SSAP Symposium will take place in the Washington, DC area in February 2024.