Physics: Schellman Research Group « Neutrino Physics at Oregon State

Tim Andeen received his doctorate for work on the D0 experiment at Fermilab in 2008. His thesis, `Measurement of the W Boson Mass with the D0 Run II Detector using the Electron PT Spectrum’ used a precision measurement of the W boson mass to make tight constraints on the mass of the Higgs boson, several years before the Higgs was finally discovered. He then went to Columbia University as a postdoc and research associate on the ATLAS experiment at CERN. He will start as an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Texas, Austin in Fall 2015.

The W boson mass squeezing the Higgs boson. Particles from the Particle Zoo.

Chris Pratt analyzed Z boson decays on the D0 experiment while getting degrees in Integrated Science and Mathematics (with a certificate in Finance from Kellogg) at Northwestern. He uses the data analysis skills he learned in the Schellman group as an Associate Analyst at NERA Economic Consulting in Chicago.

Chris and Miranda at the Great Wall. A long way from the Quad Cities!

Tracy Taylor Thomas received her doctorate in the Schellman group on the D0 experiment at Fermilab. Her 1997 doctoral thesis was on “Strongly interacting color singlet exchange in proton – anti-proton collisions at 1800-GeV”. Instead of staying in Illinois as a postdoc, she moved to Portland Oregon and used her computing skills as a software engineer at U.S. Software, she is now the Director for Professional Services Operations at Jive Software and a popular Portland beer critic.

Jive Software looks like a fun place to work.

Gabriel Nowak is a Junior in the Physics program at Oregon State. He’s been in the Schellman group for 6 months and is writing a data comparator for the MINERvA and MicroBooNE experiments at Fermilab.

Gabriel Nowak working on the data comparator in the Fermilab neutrino control room.

This link compares two versions of the MINERvA simulation code. It combines the CDF data validation code with Gabriel’s histogram generator.

Jason Stein, former physics student, now a neuroscientist.

Jason Stein wrote his undergraduate thesis with the Schellman group on “Theoretical Calculation of the Charge Asymmetry Uncertainties Using the CTEQ6 Parton Distribution Function Set.” as a student in the Integrated Science Program at Northwestern University. He also helped create the D0 experiment luminosity readout system. He went on to graduate study and postdoctoral fellowships in neuroscience at UCLA and has just accepted a faculty position in genetics and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. See his lab page at http://www.steinlab.org/ .

The Luminosity group in 2005, Tim Andeen, Michelle Reschke, Sahal Yacoob, Terry Toole, Marco Verzocchi, Elizabeth Gallas and Jason Stein

We just posted our new postdoctoral scholar position. The location is most likely Fermilab but we’ll consider people interested in working in Corvallis.

MicroBooNE/MINERvA (AJO-5824)

Oregon State U. – Postdoc

Field of Interest: hep-ex, nucl-ex
Experiment: FNAL-E-0974, FNAL-E-0938
Deadline: 2015-10-01
Region: North America
Job description:
Oregon State University is seeking a postdoctoral scholar to participate in the MicroBooNE and MINERvA experiments at Fermilab. The Oregon State group’s expertise is in data handling, validation and algorithms and our physics interest is in precision measurements of neutrino cross section in the energy regimes relevant to future neutrino oscillation experiments. The position will most likely be at Fermilab in Illinois.

We are looking for someone with prior experimental experience in either high energy physics or nuclear physics, not restricted to neutrino physics. Significant expertise in modern scientific computing and data analysis is a plus.

For full consideration, please apply by 10/1/2015

Please apply via academicjobs online at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/5824
Contact: Heidi Schellman
Email: schellma@fnal.gov
More Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/5824

http://inspirehep.net/record/1386441

We have been informed that the National Science Foundation will be funding our “Experimental Neutrino Physics proposal”.

We’ll be looking for a postdoc – probably based at Fermilab to start to work on the MicroBooNE/DUNE experiments at Fermilab.

Vasiliy Kuznetsov worked with the Schellman group on the MINERvA experiment starting in his freshman year at Northwestern. He used Python and Postgres to make a client-server high voltage control system and a tracking database for calibration constants. He ended up graduating Magna cum Laude with majors in Mathematics and Economics with a minor in Business Institutions. He now uses the data skills he learned on MINERvA as a Software Engineer at facebook

11046289_10101284167370115_4423179791658501780_n — Vasiliy enjoys the Bay Area

Sahal Yacoob came to Northwestern University with a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cape Town. He was a Luminosity expert on the DO experiment and Fermilab and measured the W boson mass with and uncertainty of 0.025%. After graduation he joined the new South African effort on the ATLAS experiment at CERN, first at the University of Wittwatersrand, then at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has moved back to Cape Town as a Lecturer in Physics on ATLAS as of summer 2015. See news from Sahal on the ATLAS Blog.

Sahal at the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Valencia Spain. — Sahal at the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Valencia Spain, July 2014.

Sahal scrutinizing the ATLAS experiment at CERN.

Brandon Walker graduated from Northwestern in 2010 with Bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Astronomy and in Mathematics. He did his honors thesis in the Schellman group on `An Algorithm for Particle Tracking and Analysis of Muons in the Main Injector Experiment v-A (MINERvA).”

He is currently a doctoral student in Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Brandon Walker (center) helps assemble the MINERvA detector 300 feet below Fermilab

For his PhD, he’s designing and building a modular multi-source electron beam scanner for high speed computed tomography and 3D printing applications. The system would enable ultra-fast CT scans for improved image quality in cardiac imaging and could be a game changer for 3D printing. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) has filed two patents for the project, one in 2014 and another in 2015 (patents pending).

He has also co-founded 2 startup companies. Formula Database, GelCombs and has his own consulting company that does quality assurance for radiation and diagnostic imaging products.

Physics: Schellman Research Group

Neutrino Physics at Oregon State

ALUMNI: Tim Andeen, PhD 2009

ALUMNI: Chris Pratt, BA 2013

ALUMNI: Tracy Taylor Thomas, PHD 1997

Gabriel Nowak – Undergraduate

ALUMNI: Jason Stein, BA 2005

Postdoctoral position on MicroBooNE/MINERvA

We just got funded!

Alumni: Vasiliy Kuznetsov BA-2010

ALUMNI: Sahal Yacoob PhD 2010

Alumni: Brandon Walker BA-2010

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