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Kelly Hahn Co-Authors in Nature Physics

April 8, 2022

Kelly Hahn Co-Authors in Nature Physics

Former ECE student Kelly Hahn is listed as one of 154 authors in a ground-breaking article published on Jan 26, 2022, in Nature Physics.

The article, entitled "Design of inertial fusion implosions reaching the burning plasma regime" documents historic burning plasma states achieved on Nov 20 and Feb 21 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility.

These plasma states, attained after decades of research, are considered a key milestone on the way to even higher levels of fusion performance.

Being one of 154 authors may seem like a crowded field, but it comes with the territory: Kelly Hahn has co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed and conference articles, of which she is the first author on 15. (Click here to view Nature Physics fascinating "authorship" rules.)  

Kelly Hahn was a student in ECE Professor Edl Schamiloglu's undergraduate electromagnetics class in the late 1990s. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1999.   

Schamiloglu encouraged Kelly to work in his laboratory as an undergraduate research assistant. This laboratory experience motivated Kelly to pursue her Master's Degree at ECE.  

Upon completing her MS, Kelly decided she wanted to pursue a Ph.D. degree. Coincidentally, one of Schamiloglu's colleagues at Sandia was looking for a student to perform research on a project involving the use of intense electron beams to generate X-rays for radiography. 

Schamiloglu thought Kelly would be a perfect student for that project, and she commenced work as a student intern at Sandia, completing her Ph.D. in 2006. 

Hahn now works at the National Ignition Facility Implosions and Stagnation group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where she leads and participates in projects involving high-energy-density physics.