Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering's radiological sciences path will continue to grow this fall with the hiring of Assistant Prof. Angela Di Fulvio, an expert in radiation detection for medical physics, nonproliferation and homeland security applications.
Di Fulvio comes to NPRE from the University of Michigan. As a Research Scientist in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences there her work revolved around neutron detection, simulation, and measurements for a variety of applications, ranging from nonproliferation and safeguards, to therapeutic radiology.
Di Fulvio earned her PhD in 2012 from the University of Pisa, Italy, focusing her studies on the experimental characterization of neutron beams for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) within the framework of the SPES-BNCT project at the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics. As a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, she developed superheated-emulsion-based detectors for homeland security applications.
The new professor will be establishing the Neutron Metrology Laboratory in the Digital Computer Laboratory building on the Urbana campus. The facility, which Di Fulvio will make available to other researchers as well as NPRE students, will include a DT neutron generator and instruments enabling detection of neutrons by proton scattering or by uranium nuclei fission.
Di Fulvio will continue developing instruments for nuclear safeguards, such as a new compact, low-cost and high-efficiency fast-neutron multiplicity counter (FNMC)that is able to accurately predict the unknown mass of special nuclear material. The first-version of the system was developed as part of Di Fulvio’s work in the Consortium for Verification Technology (CVT), a National Nuclear Security Administration effort in which 11 universities and nine national laboratories conduct research to address technology and policy issues in treaty-compliance monitoring, led by Prof. Sara Pozzi, Di Fulvio’s mentor at UM. Michigan and Illinois are both CVT members. The FNMC will be used both for research and teaching.
Di Fulvio plans to continue working on the development of advanced radiation detection and imaging systems from two synergistic perspectives: development of Bayesian and deep-learning algorithms and research of new materials. Among the projects Di Fulvio plans to continue at Illinois will be:
- Continue to refine sophisticated algorithms for neutron spectroscopy and radionuclide identification. These algorithms can be applied to a variety of systems, including radiation portal monitors (RPMs) installed at borders or secure facilities. Current RPM designs suffer from a high incidence rate of nuisance radiation alarms, often caused by recent nuclear medicine patients and large amounts of naturally-occurring radioactive materials. Integrating reliable on-the-fly radionuclide identification into existing RPMs could lower the number of nuisance alarms requiring time-consuming secondary inspections.
- Continuing research of deuterated scintillators for neutron spectroscopy, without time-of-flight. Di Fulvio soon will be characterizing a new deuterated stilbene crystal of practical size (2 inches by 2 inches), currently being grown using a solution-based crystal growing method at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Michigan and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The detector shows excellent pulse-shape discrimination and can effectively perform spectroscopy without time of flight, which is very promising for a number of applications, including nonproliferation and nuclear physics studies.
- Continuing to develop miniaturized detectors, based on superheated emulsions and scintillators, capable of measuring dose from various radiation qualities in emerging ion-based radiation therapy modalities. This project is performed in close collaboration with the European Dosimetry Group (EURADOS). Since 2012, Di Fulvio has been a full member of the EURADOS Working group 9, with the primary goal of assessing non-target patient doses in radiation therapy and the related risks of secondary malignancy occurrence.
In addition to developing her research program, Di Fulvio will be teaching NPRE 451 Introduction to Instrumentation this fall. In the future, she would like to start courses in deep-learning signal processing algorithms, as well as in safeguard applications.
State-of-art facilities – including the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory – and the collegial and welcoming environment the NPRE faculty has created drew Di Fulvio to Illinois. As part of the department’s radiological group, she joins Prof. Ling-Jian Meng, internationally respected for developing radiation detection and imaging devices, and Assistant Prof. Shiva Abbaszadeh, an expert in radiation detection and biomedical imaging instrumentation.
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