User:Hnkwi

Liviu Popa-Simil - Nuclear Engineer-Physicist, Ph.D. PMP, President of LAVM LLC and Executive Director of Los alamos Academy of Sciences. Liviu Popa-Simil is a US citizen of Romanian origin. Liviu has over 30 years experience in nuclear applications domain and computer to specialized accelerator applications. He is a database specialist, starting from 1970s, being acquainted overtime with their new capabilities, programming and database management.

He is doing research since 1980s and has first hand knowledge about the difficulties a researcher have to overpass while performing research, and believes he knows what is possible to be done to ameliorate the effort, reduce the time consumption and increase the research power. All these driving towards artificial intelligence and computer assisted accelerated research initiative.

He is a nuclear-engineer and physicist specialized in Fast Breeder Reactors, graduated in 1981 from Faculty of Technological Physics Bucharest, Romania. In 2000, he received a Ph.D. with "Magna Cum Laude", in Atomic and Molecular Physics, from the Institute of Atomic Physics and University of Bucharest, with the dissertation work entitled: Material and material Loss characterization by Nuclear Methods". Between 1984 and 1999 he has worked as senior researcher, research programs manager (he was certified as Project Management Professional (PMP), in US by PMI in 2006), at National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering, Bucharest-Romania (NIPNE-HH).

Since 1980 he has started working in cutting edge experiments on Laser and Plasma jet Uranium enrichment, fission chamber, transmutation in non-conventional fuels, thin layer activation, having renown scientists as mentors as: Acad. Ioan-Iovitz Popescu, Dr. Ionel Purica, Dr. Geavidt Musa, Dr. Petru Racolta, taking part in many accelerator based (Cyclotron, tandem, betatron) and nuclear reactor experiments. He has contributed to the implementation of the non-conventional methods developed by physics and nuclear research in industry, for about 20 years, learning and becoming specialist in various domains. His participation in innovative experimental research programs dealing with non-conventional nuclear technologies gave him this unique knowledge and understanding on the nature at nano-level in nuclear applications.

Experiments like radioactive recoil nuclei implantation, fission cells, enhanced extraction capabilities in powder nuclear fuels, neutron guiding in fiber-guides, ultra-thin layer activation for micro-mechanical studies, cyclotron driven transmutation for radio-pharmaceuticals, radiation power deposition in materials, formed him as researcher in a frontier domain of nuclear-nano-technologies. He took part in programs of developing the ultra-filtration methods for powder separation and micro-grains fractal behavior in annealing and embitterment processes, he used radioactive powders to measure the HEPA filters particles retaining properties, and has used IBA techniques for material characterization. In part this work was published, but most of it had publication restrictions, and internal reports were elaborated only. The overall benefit was to his knowledge, and his formation as specialist.

He has participated in strong continuous education international programs, as CERN Particle Accelerator specialization in 1997, and Nuclear medicine in 2000, United States Particle Accelerator School between 2000-2004, and many LANL training. He had several research stages in Germany, Japan, France between 1992-2000.

Since 2001 he is in US and has been working for LANL between 2002-2005, in Environmental Division, enhancing Real-Time radiography for Trans-Uranic waste characterization, then for Materials Science Division studying thermal conductivity of Urania, inert matrixes and nitrides fuels. Between 2005 and 2007 he has been working as consultant for various private companies involved in energy applications in Los Alamos Area. Since 2007 he has founded the company LAVM LLC, active in nano-technologies and nuclear applications, performing mainly computer simulations and theoretical studies, Molecular Dynamics simulation, THz detection and imaging using plasmon resonance in nano-structures (US-7,851,761 B2), Nuclear nonproliferation and safeguards, pulsed power, etc. Over the time he has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, from which more than 50 were covering the nano-technologies applications in nuclear power.

During his 30 years experience in nuclear research he worked in various positions from Principal Investigator to Team member. He has been an Associated Professor teaching physics for 5 years, Technical Director of several private Industrial Automation Companies doing industrial process automation, Consultant, Counselor, and Test Research Engineer. He is a life-member of ANS, senior member of IEEE, MRS, ASNT, and many other professional societies, and has over 300 scientific communications and several patents. He enjoys swimming, electronics and mechanics.