Contact / Biography

I work as a nuclear engineer in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Applied nuclear physics is my core passion, and in addition to comprising a large part of my professional career, projects and experiments entertain me at home. My avocational pursuits include building apparatus for producing and detecting nuclear reactions, collecting radioactive items, fooling around with x-rays, and dabbling in chemistry on occasion.  I am currently in charge of a project to develop small-scale neutron generators at a small local R&D company.  In my previous job, I designed accelerator-based neutron source technology for BNCT, advised on accelerator radiation-protection issues, and operated prototype linear accelerators.  I am an administrator and decade-plus participant on the Open Source Fusor Research Consortium discussion board catering to amateur nuclear fusion projects.

My reason for starting this blog is primarily to share technical projects and nuclear-themed travels and collectibles with fellow enthusiasts.

Contact

Email: carl.willis@gmail.com

Phone: (505) 412-3277

Other Interests / Hobbies

• Nuclear tourism
• Ham radio (KF4KIG)
• Suing telemarketers
• Hiking and backpacking
• Couchsurfing

Other Sites

• www.kiev2010.com is a travelog of sorts, documenting a trip to Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in June, 2010.  Other contributors are Mike Coffey, Edward Geist, and Chad Treloar.
• My Facebook page
• My YouTube channel

Biography

I grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, raised by parents who both have scientific avocations (physics, in the case of my father; geology, in the case of my mother). I have a younger sister, Hazel, and brother, Reed. Since 1992, my family has resided in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. After visiting New Mexico on an internship in 2003, I’ve become enamored with the Southwest—-the pleasant climate, the distinctive, piquant cuisine, the miles upon empty miles of deserts, canyons, and mountains. (And, oh yes, there’s a lot of uranium out here!)

Education

Essentially all of my life leading up to the present has been spent in educational institutions, some better than others.

• The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (MS Nuclear Engineering, 2006; Ph. D., 2010?)
• Guilford College, Greensboro, NC (BS Chemistry / Physics, 2003)
• East Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC (Class of 1999)
• Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC (1995-1996)
• Grey Culbreth Middle School, Chapel Hill, NC (1992-1995)
• Glenwood Elementary School, Oak Ridge, TN (1986-1992)

Quality of educational experience is rated above on a scale of exceptional () to hell-on-earth (), with Grey Culbreth Middle School unfortunately unable to meet the most basic criteria for the latter designation.