About Us

Welcome to the Nuclear Oriented Materials & Examination (NOME) Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Our research focuses on three broad areas: (i) advanced manufacturing and alloy development: development of novel processing routes and compositions to obtain high performance alloys for nuclear energy applications, (ii) radiation effects and characterization: examination of the materials changes induced through radiation using advanced characterization techniques, and (iii) emerging technologies: rapid exploration of disruptive technologies including data analytics for nuclear energy applications.

We are a diverse and multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in nuclear engineering, materials science, physics, and mechanical engineering. Our laboratory leverages the vast resources at University of Michigan including the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory and the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization. We also partner with external collaborators such as Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and use scientific user facilities such as the Nuclear Science User Facility to accomplish our research and development goals.

The NOME lab welcomes innovative thought and seeks to foster a culture that uses diversity and cross-cutting activities to springboard new innovations in nuclear materials.

Details on how to join NOME lab.

Projects

We work at the interface between materials synthesis, advanced characterization, and nuclear energy

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A novel high-throughput method for quantification of materials swelling via microscale dilation techniques

A novel high-throughput method for quantification of materials swelling via microscale dilation techniques

Development of microscale dilation techniques for accelerated swelling measurements

Developing critical insights on the effects of Mo on alpha prime precipitation and dislocation loop formation in FeCrAl alloys

Developing critical insights on the effects of Mo on alpha prime precipitation and dislocation loop formation in FeCrAl alloys

This project aims at developing a mechanistic understanding on the effects of Mo on α' precipitation and dislocation loop formation in FeCrAl alloys in thermal and irradiation conditions.

Effect of Nanotubes on Irradiation Resistance in Additive Manufactured Stainless Steel 316L

Effect of Nanotubes on Irradiation Resistance in Additive Manufactured Stainless Steel 316L

Performing ion irradiations on novel nanotube-steel composites

Rapid Detection of Noble Nanoparticles by Deep Learning

Rapid Detection of Noble Nanoparticles by Deep Learning

Connecting electrochemical potential using automated noble nanoparticle detection

Accelerating Assessment of High Temperature Helium Embrittlement in Nickel-bearing Structural Materials

Accelerating Assessment of High Temperature Helium Embrittlement in Nickel-bearing Structural Materials

Performing helium implantations for high temperature helium embrittlement (HTHE) studies

Assessment of irradiation on the degradation mechanisms of nuclear structural materials

Assessment of irradiation on the degradation mechanisms of nuclear structural materials

Performing implantations for long-range ordering in NiCr alloys

Precipitate Stability and Helium Trapping in Advanced Steels

Precipitate Stability and Helium Trapping in Advanced Steels

Understanding helium and precipitation in steels.

Radiation Effects in Additive Manufactured Steels

Radiation Effects in Additive Manufactured Steels

Use MIBL and MC2 to conduct irradiation and post-irradiation examination of AM HT-9

Advance Castable Nanostructured Alloys for First-wall/Blanket Applications

Advance Castable Nanostructured Alloys for First-wall/Blanket Applications

Development of commercial grade Castable Nanostructured Alloys (CNAs) for fusion energy

Evaluation of Human-Bias in Machine Learning Models for Electron Microscopy

Evaluation of Human-Bias in Machine Learning Models for Electron Microscopy

Evaluating how human perception in ambiguous images impacts extrinsic errors in common machine learning frameworks for feature detection

Project SPACEMAN

Project SPACEMAN

Space Power Achieved via Carbon Extras in Manufactured Additively Nanocomposites

Real-time Microscopy Quantification Using Machine Learning

Real-time Microscopy Quantification Using Machine Learning

Applications of edge computing and machine learning to automatically identify features in micrographs

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Nuclear Steels

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Nuclear Steels

Optimizing processing parameters of wire arc additive manufactured nuclear steels.

Rapid Simulation of Irradiation Damage in PWR Internals

Rapid Simulation of Irradiation Damage in PWR Internals

Using ion beams to emulate neutron irradiation after preconditioning.

FeCrAl Handbook Development

FeCrAl Handbook Development

Develop and maintain the world leading resource of FeCrAl materials properties for nuclear power applications

Defect Detection Using Deep Learning

Defect Detection Using Deep Learning

Using machine vision techniques for rapid defect detection in electron microscopy images.

Simulating Neutrons Using Accelerated Ions

Simulating Neutrons Using Accelerated Ions

Using ion beams to emulate neutron irradiation.

Meet the NOME Lab team

Principal Investigators

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Kevin G. Field

Associate Professor

Radiation Effects, Advanced Alloys, Novel Manufacturing & Characterization, Data Analytics

Grad Students

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Ethan Polselli

Graduate Student

Radiation Effects, Advanced Nuclear Materials

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Gabriella Bruno

Graduate Student

Advanced Nuclear Materials, Advanced Reactor Design, Reactor Fuels

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Hangyu Li

Graduate Student

Characterization, Radiation Effects, Maching Learning

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Justin Hamil

Graduate Student

Radiation Effects, Ion Irradiation, Characterization

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Lauryn Kortman

Graduate Student

Radiation Effects, Fusion Energy, Advanced Nuclear Materials, Simulation

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Mackenzie Warwick

Graduate Student

Radiation Effects in Coupled Extreme Environments, Characterization, Advanced Nuclear Materials, Computational Modeling and Simulations

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Matthew J. Lynch

Graduate Student

Machine Learning, Radiation Effects, Metal-nanomaterial composites, Nuclear Propulsion

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Tim Defranco

Graduate Student

Advanced Nuclear Materials, Hydrogen Storage Applications, Nuclear Thermal Propoulsion, Additive Manufacturing

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Txai Sibley

Graduate Student

Characterization, Radiation Effects, AI/ML

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Wyatt Peterson

Graduate Student

Advanced Reactor Desgin, Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Nuclear Materials, Characterization

Undergraduates

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Alex Birmingham

Undergraduate

Computational Physics, Nuclear Transmutation Effects, Electron Microscopy

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Benjamin Arms

Undergraduate

Radiation Effects, Advanced Reactors, Fusion, Reactor Safety Analysis

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Ian Steigerwald

Undergraduate

Fusion, Radiation Effects, Plasma

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Isabella Greenman

Undergraduate

Radiation Effects, Nuclear Materials, Medical Physics

Alumni

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Daniel Román Torres

Undergraduate

Advanced Reactors Systems, Alternative Energy Systems, Combustion Engines

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Dr. Pengyuan Xiu

Graduate Student

Radiation Effects in Advanced Alloys, Advanced Characterization, Mechanical Behaviors of Irradiated Materials

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Dr. Priyam Patki

Post Doctoral Fellow

Radiation Effects, Characterization, Nanostructured Alloys, Nanomechanical Testing

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Dr. T.M. Kelsy Green

Graduate Student

Additive Manufacturing, Radiation Effects, Advanced Characterization

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Julianna Schoenwald

Undergraduate

Advanced Alloys, Radiation Effects

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Nicholas Clancy

Undergraduate

Radiation Effects, Cavity Analysis

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Prof. Charlie Hirst

Post Doctoral Fellow

Defects, Metallurgy, Radiation Damage, Characterization

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Rett Graham

Undergraduate

Additive Design, Engine Systems Design, Machine Learning, Data Analytics

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Robert Renfrow

Graduate Student

Advanced nuclear reactor structural materials, Novel materials characterization techniques, Effective research communication, Data analytics and visualization

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Steven Chen

Undergraduate

Thermal Hydraulics, Computational Physics, Advanced Reactors, Nuclear Materials

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Tommy (Chun Yin) Wong

Undergraduate

Radiation Effects, Fusion & Plasma-Facing Materials, Computational Materials Science, Machine Learning

Contact

  • 2355 Bonisteel Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
  • 2929 Cooley Bldg.