Educational Background

• Ph.D, Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan - 2015
• Graduate Certificate, Plasma Science and Engineering, University of Michigan - 2015
• M.Eng., Aeronautics & Astronautics, University of Tokyo - 2010
• B.S., Aeronautics & Astronautics, University of Tokyo - 2008

Research Interests

• Electric Propulsion
• Plasma Physics and Applications
• Kinetic Theory and Simulations
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

Awards & Honors

• Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Award, 2018
• Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Award, 2018
• JPL Summer Faculty Research Fellow, 2017
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2015
• IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Graduate Scholarship Award, 2015
• Outstanding Student Paper Award, 41st IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science, 2014
• Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Prize for Distinguished Academic Achievement, University of Michigan, 2013
• Best Student Presentation Award, 41st Annual Meeting of Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 2010

Selected Publications

• K. Hara, I. Barth, E. Kaminski, I. Y. Dodin, and N. J. Fisch, "Kinetic simulations of ladder climbing by electron plasma waves", Physical Review E, 95, 053212 (2017)
• K. M. Hanquist, K. Hara, and I. D. Boyd, "Detailed Modeling of Electron Emission for Transpiration Cooling of Hypersonic Vehicles", Journal of Applied Physics 121, 053302 (2017)
• K. Hara, T. Chapman, J. W. Banks, S. Brunner, I. Joseph, R. L. Berger, and I. D. Boyd, "Quantitative study of trapped particle bunching instability in Langmuir waves", Physics of Plasmas 22, 022104, (2015)
• K. Hara, M. J. Sekerak, I. D. Boyd, and A. D. Gallimore, "Perturbation analysis of ionization oscillations in Hall eff ect thrusters", Physics of Plasmas 21, 122103, (2014)
• K. Hara, M. J. Sekerak, I. D. Boyd, and A. D. Gallimore, "Mode transition of a Hall thruster discharge plasma", Journal of Applied Physics 115, 203304 (2014)
• K. Hara, I. D. Boyd, and V. I. Kolobov, "One-dimensional hybrid-direct kinetic simulation of the discharge plasma in a Hall thruster", Physics of Plasmas 19, 113508 (2012)