Alex Cusick Email & Phone Number

Colorado Springs, CO, US

E-14: Test Engineering

Flight Properties Team Lead supporting multiple national defense programs. Work in the Flight Properties Team involves subjecting high-fidelity weapon builds to atmospheric reentry and hostile blast environments to evaluate system performance, with a main emphasis on qualification testing to certify these designs for use in the US nuclear stockpile. Tests.

Defense And Space Power Systems (now AMPP-5)

Process Engineer for the manufacture of plutonium-238 fuel to power NASA's Mars 2020 "Perseverance" rover and also support several DoD programs. This fuel was produced in LANL’s plutonium facility (PF-4) and is now on Mars, being used by the rover's radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to provide electricity for all rover functions.

Department Of Materials Science & Engineering

• Research focused on the effects of ion radiation on solid materials, having applications in nuclear fuels, space radiation/spacecraft development, and nanoscale materials engineering.
• Investigated fundamental controlling mechanisms for atomic structure modifications in various ion-irradiated solids.
• Work included conducting ion irradiations at accelerator facilities (GSI in Germany, Dubna in Russia) as well as femtosecond laser irradiations, performing synchrotron X-ray diffraction on samples at Argonne and.

Department Of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences

• Research focused on irradiation-induced accelerated corrosion of nuclear fuel cladding and structural alloys in pressurized water reactors.
• Work involved conducting ion irradiations of various reactor alloys using 1.7 MV Tandetron accelerator (proton/He2+) and material sample design capable of withstanding high pressure differential to provide interface.
• Performed analyses using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), hardness indenters, and profilometers.

Department Of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences

• Official Operator for two linear deuterium accelerators (fusion neutron generators)
• Designed and built a rapid pneumatic material transport system for analysis of rare, short-lived isotopes including fast-fission products; used system to characterize the generator’s high-neutron field (flux profile.

Phd, Materials Science & Engineering

• Research focused on the effects of ion radiation on solid materials, having applications in nuclear fuels, spacecraft development, and.

Master Of Science In Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering

• Research focused on irradiation-induced accelerated corrosion of nuclear fuel cladding and structural alloys in pressurized water.

Bachelor Of Science In Engineering, Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences

• Graduated Summa Cum Laude • On Dean’s List/University Honors most semesters • Recipient of the Michigan Grant, M-PACT Scholarship.

Physics & Mathematics