Name: Charles Lipscomb (he/him) 

Education: B.S. Bates College, PhD Student University of Colorado Boulder 

Skillset: Plasma physics, Computational physics, Object oriented programming 

Honors/Awards: N/A 

Role in JANUS: Graduate Student Researcher, PI: Dr. Iain Boyd 

Description of Project: I’m working on validating a 3D hybrid particle-fluid plasma plume code. This validation effort includes coupling the plume code, MPIC, with a fluid thruster code, Hall2De. Modeling efforts are focusing on the H9 HET operating in the University of Michigan’s Large Vacuum Test Facility. A central piece of the plume code that is under development is a detailed electron model that solves fluid conservation equations. Comparisons between measurements and simulation results will be made for ion current density, ion energy distribution functions, plasma potential, and electron temperature. A long-term goal for this project is to validate the code in multiple chambers and confidently extrapolate thruster performance and plume dynamics to the space environment. Uncertainty quantification is a main focus of this project. 

Outside interests/hobbies: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, trail running, meditation, drumming, reading, pool