Jason Hattrick-Simpers, Ph.D.
PhD thesis: Combinatorial Investigation of Magnetostrictive Materials;
Current position at NIST: National Research Council Fellow;
Research projects: Development of combinatorial in-situ measurement techniques to monitor the absorption/desorption of hydrogen in hydrogen storage materials.  The particular emphasis is on being able to spatially map the sorption properties of thin-film composition spread samples via optical techniques such as IR emissivity, F.T.I.R., and Raman spectroscopy.  The goal is to render these techniques quantitative by calibrating them with an absolute measurement of the hydrogen present in the sample with a technique such as Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA).  PGAA is a direct measurement of the presence of hydrogen in a sample, which is done by bombarding the sample with neutrons and monitoring the gamma particles that are emitted as a function of energy. Expertise: Development of combinatorial samples and their characterization techniques.

Chun Chiu, Ph.D.
PhD thesis: Controlled Mechano-chemical Synthesis and Properties of Nanostructured Hydrides in Mg-Al-H and Mg-B-H Systems;
Current position at NIST: Researcher Associate;
Research project: (1) Develop/processing of lightweight compounds for hydrogen storage material: (a) Rapid solidification (RS) of Mg-Ni alloy; (b) Producing both bulk and RS Al-Cu-Li quasicrystals; (2) Develop Sieverts apparatus for measuring hydrogen content in: (a) Bulk material (e.g., samples in lump, chip, granule, or powder form); (b) Sample with small volume/mass (e.g., thin film); (3) In-situ PCI measurement with Raman, IR or PGAA.
Expertise: Four years experience in nanostructured hydrogen storage materials, including mechano-chemical synthesis and characterization of synthesized materials; Microstructural characterization in polycrystalline and nanocrystalline materials, and relationship between structure and properties of materials; Conventional and unconventional manufacturing processes such as casting, heat treatment, powder metallurgy and ball milling technique.