People

People

Andreas Enqvist

  • Director, Nuclear Engineering Program
  • Associate Professor (FP&L Nuclear Engineering Professor)
  • Ph.D. Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden
  • Research Interests: Nuclear safeguards, detection statistics of radiation from fissile materials, and the physics behind particle-detector interactions. Neutron physics & detectors. Neutron noise signals. Radiation signal analysis
  • Office: 100A Rhines Hall
  • (352) 294-2177
  • enqvist@ufl.edu
  • CV: CV_Andreas_Enqvist_2019

Current Members:

 

 

 

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Cathleen Barker

Ph.D. Student (Class of 2025)

Cat began her PhD in Nuclear Engineering Sciences in August 2022.  She is an active-duty Major in the United States Army and she specializes in nuclear intelligence.   She earned her B.S. in Physics from the United States Military Academy in 2008 and her M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida in 2017.  Her research with Dr. Enqvist is in fresh fuel neutron and gamma signature detection. Outside of work, Cat enjoys, reading, running, and spending time with her family.


Emily Gunger

Ph.D. Student (Class of 2028)

Emily completed her bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, in May 2023. She came to the University of Florida and Dr. Enqvist’s group in August 2023 to pursue her PhD in Nuclear Engineering Sciences. Emily’s research is on atmospheric transport of radioxenon for localization and characterization of clandestine underground nuclear tests (UGT), and she work for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory obtaining critical data for the Livermore Attenuation and Scattering Experiment (LASE). Emily enjoys boating and fishing, reading, and training  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.


Nuo Chen

MS Student 

Hi, I am Nuo!
I am a second-year master student in Nuclear Engineering. I am starting my research project this Fall with Prof. Enqvist. It is going to be on prototyping a wearable scintillator detector that can provide real time dose absorption to power plant workers and medical professionals. The ergonomics and humanistic part of engineering intrigued me the most. I grew up in Shenzhen, China . I am a big console game player, currently binge playing Wukong. Tennis is my favorite sport and also part of the reasons why I moved down from Ohio to Florida. I did my undergraduate in physics at Case Western. 
 

Sai Kiran Kokkiligadda 

MS Student (Class of 2024)

Sai earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from India in May 2019. After gaining around four years of experience in software development, he moved to the University of Florida in January 2023 to pursue a Master’s degree in Computer Science. In July 2024, Sai joined Dr. Enqvist’s research group, where his work focuses on developing machine learning models for the fresh fuel verification project. His research involves optimizing and classifying various detectors, identifying the most effective configurations to improve model performance and detection accuracy. Outside of his academic work, Sai enjoys playing sports such as volleyball and badminton, working out, and watching movies.


 
BS Student (class of 2026)
 
Joseph is a junior, pursuing his degree in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida. His research with Dr. Enqvist is in cosmic radiation detection. Outside of studying, Joseph enjoys exploring the world, watching as well as playing sports, working out and reading.

Former Members:

STUDENT: DEGREE: POST-GRADUATION/CURRENT LOCATION:
Brice Turner Posthumous PhD 2024  
Ezra Cockram  PhD (2022) Los Alamos National Laboratory
Taylor Harvey PhD (2021) Los Alamos National Laboratory
Noah McFerran PhD (2020) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Gabriel Sandler PhD (2019) National Nuclear Security Administration
Kelsey Stadnikia PhD (2019) International Atomic Energy Agency
Heaba Noureddine BS (2019) Naval Air Systems Command
Xianfei Wen (Research Scientist) Post-Doc (2019) University of Tennessee – Knoxville
Lucas Martiri MS (2019)  Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear
Ira Harkness PhD (2018) UF Nuclear Engineering Program, Instructional Assistant Professor, Director of IT and Facilities
Yinong Liang PhD (2018) Deloitte
Robert Weinmann-Smith PhD (2018) Los Alamos National Laboratory
Allan Martin MS (2018) Sandia/LANL
Shannon Eggers PhD (2018) Idaho National Lab
Gareth Newman PhD (2017) SCK-CEN (the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre)
Haitang Wang PhD (2017) Amazon
Michael Mauger BS (2015)  
Enrique Wong MS (2015)  
Lucienne Behar BS  
Johnathan Rosales BS  
Eric Steed BS  
Dennis Avery BS  

The Team, The Team, The Team:


We especially fondly remember previous group member Brice TUrner who left us much too early. But who left a long-lasting impression:

Brice Turner (2000-2023)

Former Ph.D. Student (Class of 2027, posthumous degree 2024)

Brice completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, in May 2022. He came to the University of Florida and Dr. Enqvist’s group in August 2022 to pursue his PhD in Nuclear Engineering Sciences. He held a position at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) during his latter PhD studies and previously at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), both opportunities which he treasured, Brice’s research wass on the production and life of fission products in urban post-nuclear weapon detonation environments. Brice enjoyed Formula 1, most things Star Wars, and watching sports.