About Me

 

I am a 27-year-old nuclear engineer and graduate student living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Applied nuclear physics is my core passion, and in addition to comprising much of my nascent professional career, projects and experiments entertain me at home. As an amateur “nukehead,” I tinker with apparatus for conducting and detecting nuclear reactions, collect radioactive items, fool around with x-rays, dabble in chemistry on occasion, and try to stay out of trouble like a good boy. At work, I design accelerator-based neutron source technology for BNCT. I also provide advice on accelerator radiation-protection issues and help operate prototype linear accelerators.

My reason for starting this blog is primarily to share technical projects with fellow hobbyists. I have a website here, but in the last few years Angelfire’s banner ads have gotten out of control. I will probably post updates exclusively on this blog from now on.

Other Interests / Hobbies

• Ham radio (KF4KIG)
• Suing telemarketers
• Hiking and backpacking
• Ebay (special_nuclear_material)

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., 2009?)
• 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.

Contact

Email: willis.219@osu.edu

Phone: (505) 412-3277