How did you select Illinois for your PhD program?

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign AE department was a unique place to have both experimental and computational electric propulsion research labs. I was in Dr. Rovey’s Electric Propulsion Laboratory, which focuses on experimental activities, but I was also fortunate to work with Dr. Levin’s group as well.

Also, the Department of Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering  department has been offering several courses on plasma, which is a fundamental part of my research, and it was an additional motivation for why I chose Illinois.

Please tell me about your research for you dissertation.

My PhD research focuses on an ExB probe, which is a diagnostic tool for plasma, particularly from electric propulsion thrusters. It uses perpendicularly placed E- and B-fields (that’s why it’s called “E-cross-B” probe) to select a velocity of ions that can be transmitted. It acts as a bandpass velocity filter for ions, providing us with a lot of insightful information, such as relative ion species composition and ion velocity distribution function.

I did not invent this probe, but my PhD thesis provides further understanding of how an ExB probe works so that researchers can get more information with a smaller uncertainty.

I developed two ExB probes during my PhD--one at Illinois and the other at the Naval Research Laboratory.

Did you have any internships during your graduate program?

Yes, I had two internships at the Naval Research Laboratory--one from May to December in 2024 and the other one from August to December in 2025. Some of my thesis works were done at the NRL.

Although not quite an internship, I participated in the NASA Astrodynamics Mission Design School from January to April in 2025. 

Outside of your research, what did you do for fun?

I like running and playing soccer! I ran the Illinois marathon 3 times and played soccer in the intramural league in the JSA soccer team.

What's next for you?

A National Research Council post-doctoral fellow at Naval Research Laboratory.

Do you have other career goals

Find any evidences of extraterrestrial life.

What's on your bucket list for the next 5 years?

Publish as many research papers as possible!

What advice would you share with someone who is considering getting a PhD?

Read, read, read! You can spend all your time to understand something you--and maybe the rest of the world--and don’t understand in your PhD.