Cammy R. Abernathy received her S.B. degree in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 1982 and 1985 respectively. She joined the University of Florida’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering as a professor in 1993.…
Katerina E. Aifantis focuses on using solid mechanics for understanding materials behavior at the nanoscale. Through funding from the Basic Energy Sciences Office of the Department of Energy she tries to understand the effect that grain boundary structure and chemistry have on the strength of sub-micron scale materials. In addition to basic science questions, she uses her theoretical and experimental insight into the materials mechanical behavior to predict the most promising materials systems that can be used in various applications, ranging from next generation electrodes for Li-ion batteries, to bone regeneration scaffolds and bioacompatible electrodes for deep brain stimulation.
Establishing and maintaining productive research program, teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Nuclear Engineering Program, mentor and graduate Ph.D. students, participate in activities related to the profession.
Biomaterials; cell material interactions; stem cell differentiation; stem cell niche
Polymers, surface science, biomaterials, biomedical
applications of
polymers, guided tissue regeneration.
Structure/property behavior of polymers and composites, sol-gel
processing of nanocomposites, physical aging and long-term
performance of polymers.
Engineering and numerical analysis, reactor analysis, computer
graphics.
Microstructure-processing relationships and phase evolution in intermetallics and composites, materials chemistry, electron microscopy and related materials characterization techniques.
Advanced space power and propulsion reactor systems, energy
conversion, advanced terrestrial nuclear power reactors, reactor
operations and safety.
Activation analysis, radiation and radioisotope applications,
nuclear spectrometry and instrumentation, plasma kinetics,
fission and fusion systematics.
Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida (Current focus is to build a nuclear detection lab with accompanying research in neutron detection, fission physics and detector system development. Research areas include: neutronics in deuterated environments, Deuterium based recoil detectors, correlated fission neutron investigations.)
Physical & mechanical metallurgy of structural materials,
microstructure-processing property inter-relationships in high
performance/high temperature materials.
Molecular beam epitaxy of materials, wide bandgap semiconductor materials, materials characterization, gate dielectrics, high-power/high-temperature device fabrication and testing.
Engineered particulates, crystal growth modifiers, biomimetic, biomineralization polymer/ceramic composites, biomaterials.
Research Interests: Monte Carlo methods; neutron transport; nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation
Surface reactions, characterization of surfaces and interfaces, Auger spectroscopy, electronic and optoelectronic materials, thin films, gas/solid reactions.
Electronic materials, optical properties of metals, alloys and
semiconductor materials, electro-transport in thin films, reliability
of electronic devices, corrosion-optics, thin films.
Electronic materials, semiconductor processing and characterization, ion implantation, transmission electron microscopy.
Fracture of brittle materials, fractography, fractal analysis of fracture, laminate composites.
Mineral processing, surface chemistry, fine particle processing,
crystal modifiers.