Aaron J Redd Email & Phone Number

Middleton, Wisconsin, United States

Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Phoenix, LLC. (www.phoenixwi.com) manufactures compact neutron sources strong enough to replace reactors and radioactive sources for applications such as: neutron radiography, radiation hardness testing, explosives detection, medical isotope production and nuclear fuel scanning. Learn more at phoenixwi.com.My work centered on thermal-neutron and fast-neutron radiography, mostly the detection, classification, and tracking of radiography imaging defects.

Fitchburg, Wi

PROS maintains and enhances the Pinnacle suite of software tools, used by cancer treatment clinics around the world for radiation treatment planning. Pinnacle can be used to design and optimize treatment plans using external beams (X-Ray, electron, and/or proton therapy) and internally placed sources (also called brachytherapy).As a software developer, I'm designing, implementing, and verifying Pinnacle software, as part of a cross-functional team using Scrum Agile development practices. Pinnacle is a very technical application, composed in an object-oriented programming style, with a mixture of C, C++, and C#. Pinnacle-related scripts are a mixture of shell scripting and Python. My recent projects have included Pinnacle feature development, reviewing and creating design documents, discovering and fixing code defects, re-architecting the interactions of several Pinnacle code classes, and prototyping an automated test infrastructure.Pinnacle is regulated by the FDA and other national agencies as a Medical Device. Working at PROS has given considerable me considerable exposure to FDA Regulation and Guidelines, composing and complying with Code Requirements, Intellectual Property concerns, overall treatment of Medical Devices, and Medical Imaging.

I answer questions from the public in the areas of physical science and engineering. My contributions can be viewed at http://www.madsci.org/cgi-bin/search?query=Aaron+J.+Redd.

Madison, Wisconsin Area

The PEGASUS Toroidal Experiment is a concept exploration facility funded by the US DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES), developing science and technology solutions for reactor-related issues in plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion.Scope:Responsible for coordination of personnel and resources for day-to-day operation, facility maintenance, and meeting program goals, with shifting deadlines and evolving facility capabilities. Train and supervise experimental personnel. Make oral and poster presentations at professional meetings, give colloquia, and publish articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Write and co-write proposals (including budgets) for research projects. Present proposals and progress reports to funding agencies and collaborating laboratories.Selected Accomplishments:• Developed theory-based numerical model for momentum and heat energy transport in PEGASUS plasmas, including Local Helicity Injection (LHI) discharges, using Tokamak Simulation Code (TSC). Extensive modifications to TSC to accurately model PEGASUS, with increasingly detailed comparisons to data as models and code improved.• Implemented and optimized orthogonal dynamic programming algorithm for analysis of PEGASUS density signals. Composed other custom analysis tools, in multiple languages.• Developed and optimized several distinct PEGASUS operating scenarios, both in support of program goals and in support of co-workers’ experiments. Specific scenarios included: outboard-driven stationary LHI plasmas; LHI-startup discharges with preloaded transformer; MHD-stable LHI-startup discharges; demonstration Ohmic plasmas with MHD activity early, and only electrostatic activity later.• Improved skills with Analytical Data Set Preparation, Data Analytics, Multivariate Analysis, Optimization & Control, and Troubleshooting• Maintained access of experimental group to PEGASUS experimental relational database (multiple terabytes, with several different linked data types)

Greater Seattle Area

HIT is a concept exploration facility funded by the US DOE OFES, addressing startup and sustainment scientific issues in controlled nuclear fusion reactors.Scope: Responsible for coordination of personnel and resources for day-to-day operation, maintenance, and meeting program goals, with shifting deadlines and evolving facility capabilities. Train and supervise personnel. Make oral and poster presentations at professional meetings, give colloquia, and publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Write proposals for related research projects. Maintain and develop HIT control, power, and diagnostic systems. Guide local computational plasma studies, and assist computation students.Selected Accomplishments:• Discovered and surveyed magnetically-relaxing Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) operating regime, appropriate for high-performance startup in thermonuclear fusion reactors.• Composed SQL-like querying of experimental database for quantitative analysis of experimental performance, optimizing operating scenarios, and diagnosing off-normal operating conditions. Used this dataset to highlight the properties of the magnetically-relaxing operating regime.• Developed robust shell and IDL scripts to pre-process HIT data and post-process results for equilibrium modeling using the legacy EFIT code, capable of running thousands of cases in parallel without intervention. • Developed code for maintenance of terabyte-scale HIT database, including automation of data validation checks and improved custom software for data retrieval and storage.• Developed, debugged, and optimized custom data analysis tools in multiple languages, including Fortran, IDL, MatLab, Mathematica, and Python.• Devised method for in-situ calibration of HIT magnetic sensors, and corrected a long-standing systematic calibration error.• Oversaw the safe and effective operation of the HIT facility for almost ten years, with no major downtime, no injuries, and steady production of scientific results.

Greater Seattle Area

Scientist attached to the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) experiment, a concept exploration facility funded by the US DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, developing science and technology solutions for startup and sustainment in controlled nuclear fusion reactors. My roles included:* Responsible for day-to-day HIT experimental operations, including coordination of personnel and other resources, maintenance of HIT facility and software, and for meeting broad research goals, subject to shifting deadlines and the evolving capabilities of the HIT facility.* Extensively used the HIT experimental database, a terabyte-scale relational database, comprised of several different linked datatypes, using both the newer MDSplus and older MDS architectures. Wrote routines to simplify data retrieval and analyzed-data storage for HIT workers.* Composed data analysis tools as needed, in multiple languages, including Fortran, IDL, MatLab, and Python.Primarily responsible for daily planning and executing experimental studies using the HIT-II device (until early 2004); decommissioning the HIT-II device and constructing the HIT-SI device; and, planning and executing studies using the HIT-SI device. Specific activities included implementing diagnostic systems, maintenance of high vacuum and data acquisition systems, design and reconfiguration for the HIT-SI data acquisition system, HIT-II and HIT-SI data reduction and analysis, and training personnel (both students and visiting scientists).

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The Lehigh group, funded by the US DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, is primarily dedicated to accurate numerical simulation of magnetized thermonuclear plasmas.Scope:Numerically simulate experimental thermonuclear plasmas, using theory-based models of particle and heat energy transport. Collaborate with experimental groups to acquire datasets to simulate. Collaborate with theoretical groups to develop or refine theoretical models. Present results at professional meetings and seminars, and publish articles in peer-reviewed journals.Selected Accomplishments:• Developed simple algebraic model, useful for predictive modeling, for particle and heat fluxes due to pressure-driven Kinetic Ballooning Mode (KBM) in tokamaks, an analog to the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in typical fluids. This model captured the calculated variations in heat and particle fluxes indicated by the FULL comprehensive gyrokinetic stability code.• Ported a suite of plasma simulation and analysis codes to multiple platforms, wrote documentation, and devised test cases. These legacy codes required extensive reworking, especially I/O protocols and interoperability.• Demonstrated, using predictive simulations and comparison to experimental data, that linear models of drift mode driven turbulence cannot explain observed heat fluxes in the tokamak deep core.• Participated in cross-platform plasma simulation code calibration effort, called Cyclone, where my unique contributions include both comprehensive stability calculations and fluid-theory plasma turbulence estimates; the article documenting Cyclone was recently recognized by the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics as one of its most-cited articles.• Contributed the first module to the National Transport Code Collaboration, a DOE initiative to share robust, well-documented code modules among collaborating academic and national lab facilities; this module became the standard against which all later modules were compared.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Scope:Teach laboratory and supplementary lecture classes, as assigned. Participate in the writing and grading of exams, and assist students with lecture course material. Classes taught are generally the introductory calculus-based physics courses for non-physics majors.Selected Accomplishments:• Revised the curriculum and approach for teaching the first-semester physics lab classes, to improve retention of material into the second semester. Feedback from second-semester instructors indicated that these students clearly exhibited a better grasp of the material in the second semester course.

Moscow, Idaho

Taught supplementary lectures for the calculus-based introductory electromagnetism course. Provided students with assistance on course material and homework problems. Also, helped compose and grade the lecture course exams.

Moscow, Idaho

Research in atomic-physics laboratory of Professor Bernhard Stumpf, funded by the National Science Foundation. Measured electron-impact cross-sections for excited states of alkali metals, specifically rubidium and cesium, for comparison to theory-based calculations. Duties included acquisition of experimental data, high vacuum maintenance, and design and construction of apparatus components. This was my first exposure to real-word data acquisition and analysis, with the "on the fly" analysis guiding and refining the ongoing experiments.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Plasma Physics And Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Activities and Societies: Lehigh University Graduate Student Association: Member 1993-1998, Secretary 1994-1995Dissertation.

Bachelor'S Degree, Double Major: Mathematics And Physics

Activities and Societies: Society of Physics Students, University of Idaho Chapter: Member 1989-1993, Secretary/Treasurer 1991-1992..