TEAM | alpe

Team:

Laboratory Director:

Kristina Lemmer, Ph.D.

Dr. Kristina Lemmer is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Western Michigan University. She is an expert in both physical and non-intrusive plasma diagnostics, electric propulsion, and experimental plasma engineering. Her research interests include the following:

Experimental plasmadynamics
Advanced spacecraft propulsion and electric propulsion
Plasma diagnostic development
Spectroscopic techniques for plasma analysis
Nanosecond pulsed plasma discharges
Small spacecraft development
Hypersonic plasma interactions

Dr. Lemmer is funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite Program (UNP), the National Science Foundation, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, and the Michigan Space Grant Consortium. Previously, she was a recipient of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research's Young Investigator Program Award. In 2018 and 2019, Dr. Lemmer participated in the Air Force Research Laboratory's Summer Faculty Fellowship Program where she researched nanosecond pulsed plasma discharges using Raman, Rayleigh, and Thomson scattering techniques. In 2012, she participated in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Summer Faculty Research Program where she specialized in Hall thruster wall erosion measurements and diagnostics. She earned her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2009 under Dr. Alec Gallimore at the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory.

Current Members

Nicholas Taylor

Dr. Nicholas Taylor is a research associate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Western Michigan University. Dr. Taylor received his B.S. in chemistry from Winona State University in 2003 and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Florida in 2007 (advisor: James D. Winefordner). Dr. Taylor did post-doctoral fellowships at Brigham Young University (2008) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (2012). He joined ALPE in 2016.

Ayla Adams

Ayla Adams is a Master’s student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan University in 2024. Her research is focused on investigating emission location variability in single-emitter passively-fed porous media ionic liquid ion source electrosprays with Faraday probes. Ayla joined ALPE in 2022 as an undergraduate research assistant, working on a team to develop an agnostic telemetry system for electric propulsion testing.

Nathaniel Allwine

Nathaniel Allwine is a Ph.D. student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan University in 2020. Nate joined the Aerospace Laboratory for Plasma Experiments in 2019 as an undergraduate volunteer researcher. Nate helped develop the torsional thrust stand

Logan Alvesteffer

Logan Alvesteffer is an accelerated Master’s and Ph.D. student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan University in 2024. Logan joined the Aerospace Laboratory for Plasma Experiments in 2022 as an undergraduate volunteer researcher working with Austen Thomas in NASA’s Joint Advanced Propulsion Institute. Currently, Logan continues to aid Austen in his research and will be focusing on RF test cell canonical focus experiments for his research.

Thomas Kerber

Thomas Kerber is a Ph.D candidate in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. He received his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan in 2020 and his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan in 2018. Thomas joined the Aerospace Laboratory for Plasma Experiments in 2015 and is currently developing diagnostics for investigating passively-fed porous media ionic liquid ion source electrosprays including an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Thomas developed the Western Electrospray Single-emitter Thruster (WEST), a porous borosilicate ionic liquid ion source as part of his master’s thesis.

Margaret Mooney

Margaret Mooney is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. She is a 2020 NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities fellow. Her research focuses on instability modes in the near plume of a hollow cathode instigated by a magnetic field. She began working in ALPE in 2015 on the air microbiome research project and received her B.S.E. from Western Michigan University in 2018.

Hannah Sargent

Hannah Sargent is a Master's student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan University in 2021. Her research is focused on investigating the effects of extractor alignment on porous ionic liquid electrosprays with a single emitter.

Brenden Schulz

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David Sirbescu-Stanley

David is a Master's student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Central Michigan University in 2020. Currently, David aids Dr. Nicholas Taylor in developing the Simplified Coaxial Ion Trap Mass Analyzer.

Austen Thomas

Austen Thomas is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He received both his B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Western Michigan University. At present Austen is pursuing a doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering with his research focused on the investigation of the impact of electrical facility effects on time resolved behavior in Hall Thrusters. His research is facilitated through the use of two high-speed plasma diagnostics: a high-speed retarding potential analyzer and an electrical confinement coupling cage.

Alumni

Ph.D.

Matthew Baird, Ph.D

Dissertation: Investigating Newly Discovered Oscillation Modes in Magnetically Shielded Hall Effect Thrusters Utilizing High Speed Diagnostics

Status: Research Engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center

Email: Matthew.j.baird@nasa.gov

Forrest (Gray) Kidd, Ph.D

Dissertation: Decomposition and Ionization of Ionic Liquids

Status: Instructor for Pathways Associate in Engineering at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, NC

Email: fgkidd@gtcc.edu

M.S.E. (Mechanical or Aerospace)

Mohammed Asif

Asif is a Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He recieved his M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University working on the prototyping and optimization of the Miniature Microwave-Frequency Ion Thrusters (MMIT). He currently leads the Western's Miniature Gridded ECR Ion Thruster Project (W-MGIT). His research incudes the development of a micro-thrust stand for use with both pulsed and steady state thrusters, experimental work on electron cyclotron resonance thrusters, and life estimation of miniature ion engines. Asif also served as the President of the Graduate Student Association at WMU.