Experience

South Dakota Mines

• United States
• Higher Education
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Graduate Researcher

  • May 2021 - Present

  • Conducted research to investigate nitride and nitride nanocomposite physical vapor deposition (PVD) thin film coatings for the US Army Corp of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Development Laboratory• Utilized scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy to determine the structure and composition of thin film coatings• Examined surface of thin film coatings through atomic force microscopy to determine the nanoscale roughness and surface structure of PVD thin films• Performed salt fog corrosion testing to determine overall corrosion behavior of PVD thin films • Investigated the crystalline texture and residual stress characteristics of PVD thin films through x-ray diffraction• Calculated maximum and minimum surface energy through Owens-Wendt analysis and tilting base contact angle goniometry to determine wetting and icing behavior of PVD thin films• Developed methods to cross section PVD films deposited on 304 stainless steel substrates in the absence of silicon wafer samples• Tested PVD thin films with nanoindentation and Rockwell C indentation to determine mechanical properties and adhesion performance Show less

• Undergraduate Researcher

  • Jun 2020 - May 2021

  • Worked on DoD-funded research project tasked with developing laser powder deposition (LPD) additive manufacturing technology as an alternative to traditional casting processes to produce large complex steel structures for the US Navy• Used electron backscatter diffraction to determine preferred crystallographic orientation of as-built LPD microstructures• Analyzed LPD process development billets with metallography to determine the microstructure of the steel at different regions of the deposition• Fabricated Charpy impact and uniaxial tensile test specimens from cast and LPD steels to ASTM specification with a milling machine• Performed Charpy impact and uniaxial tensile tests to ASTM specification• Imaged Charpy impact test specimens with scanning electron microscopy to determine fracture mechanisms• Assisted in the maintenance of LPD equipment• Heat treated as-built LPD specimens to replicate cast microstructures• Performed Vickers microhardness and Rockwell C hardness testing to determine hardness as a function of depth in as-built LPD structures• Handled International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) restricted materials Show less



The University of Alabama

• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • May 2019 - Aug 2019

  • Assisted with a DoD funded research project at the University of Alabama tasked with determining whether cold spray deposition processes could be used to repair seawater corrosion damage in 7075 and 2024 aluminum alloys • Prepared more than 300 cold sprayed and wrought aluminum samples for testing • Prepared artificial seawater solutions according to ASTM D1141 standards • Performed potentiodynamic polarization corrosion testing in artificial seawater solutions of varying salinity and pH • Analyzed potentiodynamic polarization curves to determine Ecorr and icorr values • Coordinated a $9000 laboratory expansion Show less



Kansas Division of Emergency Management

• Topeka, Kansas Area

• Planning Section Intern

  • Jun 2017 - Aug 2017

  • Investigated critical emergency resources available in the state of Kansas CRMCS database for the state's division of emergency management • Researched and analyzed more than 1000 different emergency resources to determine the correct state and federal credentials to assign to them • Corrected credential errors in CRMCS database for emergency resources • Investigated critical emergency resources available in the state of Kansas CRMCS database for the state's division of emergency management • Researched and analyzed more than 1000 different emergency resources to determine the correct state and federal credentials to assign to them • Corrected credential errors in CRMCS database for emergency resources