People

STARFIRE IS PEOPLE.

The Starfire team is made of individuals with varied experience and expertise working together to propel us forward. We have several PhDs in nuclear and plasma engineering as well as engineers from electrical, mechanical, materials and aerospace fields.

Starfire team members have backgrounds in in machine shop fabrication, welding, missile defense, business administration, project management, design for manufacturing, ultra high vacuum systems, high voltage, computer simulation, fluid flow, control systems, archaeology, creative writing and even culinary school! Together, we compose a creative, dynamic team with innovative thinking and smart solutions.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

BRIAN JURCZYK, CEO
Brian holds a dual PhD/MBA degree with background in aerospace, nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering and technology commercialization. As President, Brian works to find creative win-win solutions with commercial and industrial partners for particularly challenging applications - at all stages of value creation from basic IP development through early-stage manufacturing. In 2012-13, Brian received the Innovation Celebration "Entrepreneurial Excellence in Management Award," was named to Central Illinois Business' "40-under-40" and is Chairperson of the Champaign-Urbana CEO Roundtable.

ROBERT STUBBERS, CTO
Robert holds a Masters and PhD in Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering focusing in plasmas, electromagnetics and radiation transport. As the Vice President and CTO of Starfire Industries, Robert specializes in electromagnetics and electronics as they relate to plasmas. He also serves as the primary consultant for early stage research and technology development. While at Starfire, Dr. Stubbers has pioneered many innovative ion source technologies, including developing our compact neutron generator.

RESEARCH ENGINEERS

DARREN ALMAN
Darren holds MS and PhD degrees in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering from the University of Illinois, with a focus on plasmas and plasma-material interactions relevant to fusion energy research and semiconductor processing. He heads the computer modeling and simulation arm of Starfire Industries, managing and developing software for the simulation of plasmas, ion optics, radiation transport (e.g. moderator, collimator and shielding design), radiation detection, processing and analysis of radiographic images, electronic circuits, electromagnetics and microwave coupling.

MATT COVENTRY
Matt has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering with an emphasis on ion-surface interactions. As an experimental Research Engineer, Matt works on nGen development over many platforms and analyzes applications of neutron generators working with existing and potential customers. Matt designed, built and tested ion beam diagnostics for high atomic-ion fraction ion sources and performs gamma and neutron detection and spectroscopy for materials analysis and neutron spectrum analysis. He leads development of advanced target film deposition techniques for high-efficiency, long-lived neutron generator targets.

TOM HOULAHAN
Tom has MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering, with an emphasis on kinetic processes in plasmas and plasma-surface interactions. At Starfire, Tom leads the development of RF particle accelerators, as well as their ion injection and RF drive systems. In addition to developing a compact, direct-drive RFQ accelerator, he has designed, built, and tested a variety of high-voltage power and control electronics, ion injection systems, and diagnostic equipment for characterizing their performance.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

AARON KRITES // Project Manager, nGen team
Aaron holds a BS in Physics from Illinois State University and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois focusing on computational modeling and simulations. Aaron oversees the development efforts of the nGen suite of neutron generators and works with existing and potential customers to ensure development efforts meet market demands. He also performs many of the radiation transport optimizations for neutron radiography and shielding design across all accelerator platforms. Aaron also leads the neutron radiography services at Starfire by engaging with potential customers and developing radiography solutions to meet complex NDI/NDT demands.

SENA COOPER // Project Manager, IMPULSE team
Sena holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Manufacturing Systems from the University of Michigan. Sena manages the IMPULSE™ team at Starfire, overseeing both current production and future product development. She has extensive experience overseeing all phases of program management life cycle, from advanced planning to implementation with prior experience at Ford Motor Company and John Deere.

SARAH GOSSETT // Quality Manager, IMPULSE team
Sarah holds a BS in Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois.

ROBERT LEONARD // Office Manager
Rob has over 15 years experience working in various administrative and office management functions originating in the legal profession in Cleveland, OH and then in Washington, DC. In 2015, Rob moved to Illinois and came on board to become Starfire’s first full-time office manager. As office manager, Rob wears many hats but primarily handles the general day-to-day administrative and office operations and provides support with accounting.