Leadership
Andrew (Andy) Casella, PhD
Nuclear engineer and CINEMa Director
Andrew Casella, joined PNNL in 2006, as a Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) alternate sponsored fellow after completing his graduate research focused on modeling gas and particulate transport in canistered used nuclear fuel dry storage systems. He now is a nuclear engineer focused on the characterization of materials performance in nuclear systems. Read More
Isabella J van Rooyen, PhD
Senior technical advisor
Advanced Material Systems Integrated Nuclear Materials Manufacturing Leader
Isabella J. van Rooyen joined PNNL in December 2021 as an advisor for Advanced Material Systems where she has been developing and implementing new nuclear materials development and advanced manufacturing strategies. She is the United States representative on the International Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Engineering Taskforce for the generation IV international forum (GIF) and the Material Development technical area lead for the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) Program for the Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Initiative. Prior to joining PNNL, van Rooyen supported DOE’s vision and needs in advanced materials and manufacturing planning and execution as the national technical director for the Advanced Methods for Manufacturing Program of the DOE-NE. Read More
Stuart Maloy, PhD
Advisor and Advanced Reactor Materials Leader
Stuart Maloy joined PNNL in March 2022 as a senior nuclear materials advisor in the Reactor Materials Group. He has 33 years of experience at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he specialized in radiation-based effects on materials. He is also a national laboratory professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of New Mexico and is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society. He has undergraduate (1989), masters (1991), and PhD (1994) degrees in materials science from the Case Western Reserve University and is a registered professional engineer in metallurgy. Read More
Brady D. Hanson, PhD
Nuclear engineer and Light-Water Reactor Materials Leader
Brady Hanson has more than three decades of experience in the nuclear energy field and industry. He joined PNNL in 1998 as a senior research scientist and was promoted to staff scientist in 2005. He currently leads experiments as principal investigator of the Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology campaign for the DOE-NE. Read More
Advisors
Mark Nutt, PhD
Director, Nuclear Energy (NE) Sector, Energy and Environment Directorate (EED), PNNL
Mark Nutt joined PNNL in September 2018 as director of the Nuclear Energy Sector at PNNL, overseeing programmatic support to the DOE-NE, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and commercial and international clients. Read More
Adam Poloski, PhD
Division Director Nuclear Sciences Division, EED, PNNL
Adam Poloski is director of the Nuclear Sciences Division in EED at PNNL. He took on this leadership role in August 2024 following about 5 years as group leader for the Nuclear Chemistry and Engineering Group, where he was responsible for line management of EED research activities in PNNL’s Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, a Hazard Category 2 nonreactor nuclear research facility, and in the 318 Building, a radiological facility that houses unique capabilities with a wide array of radioactive sealed sources and generating devices. Read More
Maria Sushko, PhD
Computational scientist, Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) Sector, PNNL
Maria Sushko is an expert in innovative multiscale atomistic simulation methodologies, such as classical density functional theory specifically applied to solid/fluid interfacial dynamics. Her research focuses on developing a generalized modeling framework of crystallization processes that bridge atomic-scale dynamics and the formation and structure of mineral products at the mesoscale. The insights gained using these atomistic-to-mesoscale models include identifying the central role of correlated ion and water dynamics in the electric double layers of mineral surfaces in driving surface selectivity and alignment during the oriented attachment processes and discovering that interfacial chemical gradients may drive the formation of mesocrystals through preferential nucleation of new particles in the interfacial region. Read More
Robert Oelrich, PhD
Research line manager, Nuclear Engineering, National Security Directorate, PNNL
Robert Oelrich is the Nuclear Engineering Group Lead within the National Security Directorate at PNNL. The Nuclear Engineering Group serves multiple internal and external projects with subject matter experts (SMEs) in nuclear, fuel, and materials performance for a wide range of nuclear applications. Read More
Ram Devanathan, PhD, MBA
Division Director, Energy Processing and Materials Division, EED, PNNL
Ram Devanathan is the Director of the Energy Processes and Materials Division in EED at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington. He is passionate about advancing U.S. energy leadership and developing our workforce. Devanathan’s technical interests include the design of materials for extreme environments, multiscale modeling, and machine learning for materials discovery. He serves as an active volunteer in the American Chemical Society, Materials Research Society, and The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. He is a recipient of the DOE’s Outstanding Mentor Award for his efforts to involve high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in computational materials science, and the American Ceramic Society’s Richard M. Fulrath Award. Devanathan is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Chemical Society. Read More
Ali Zbib, MS, MBA
Research line manager, Reactor materials, Nuclear Industry Program Manager, EED, PNNL
Ali Zbib joined PNNL in 2018 as the nuclear industry program manager to formulate and lead PNNL’s nuclear energy industry engagement strategy. In his role, Zbib works with industry partners and PNNL experts to identify capabilities and develop innovative solutions that address challenges in the areas of advanced nuclear reactors and advanced nuclear fuels. He focuses on building strategic partnerships that support reactor and fuel developers with their technology deployment efforts. In addition, Zbib manages the Reactor Materials Group of about 50 experienced staff who advance fundamental materials science and development of materials for fission and fusion reactors. He also leads a team of experts specializing in techno-economic assessments in the areas of clean energy systems integration and deployment. Read More
Kriston Brooks, MS
Project manager, Nuclear Science and Legacy Waste Project Management Office Director, EED, PNNL
Kriston Brooks is the Project Management Office director (PMOD) for the Nuclear Science and Legacy Waste Project Management Office at PNNL. As PMOD, he is responsible for operational oversight and execution of projects related to nuclear energy and legacy waste management. Projects within this Project Management Office include the development, design, and safe operation of nuclear and radiochemical processes, systems, and facilities that produce nuclear energy and radioisotopes and the disposition of legacy nuclear materials. The projects cover research spanning from basic sciences to applied engineering development and deployment across sponsors that include DOE Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Environmental Management, the NRC, and other governmental and industrial entities. Read More
Contact Us
Connect with us at cinema@pnnl.gov to explore potential research partnerships.