Daniel Gill

Reactor Operator (promoted from Auxiliary Operator)

• Operate the 1 MW UMLRR research reactor for experimental irradiations and external client services, maintaining strict compliance with technical specifications and radiation protection procedures.
• Perform daily reactor startup checks, instrumentation and safety-channel verifications, and equipment surveillances. Document results in operational logs, forms, and reports.
• Developed an MCNP6.3 thermal-column moderator design study to engineer a high-fluence, high-purity thermal neutron beam at the reactor's 6-inch beam port, building an end-to-end Python pipeline that generates parameterized input decks, executes batched runs, and post-processes spectral and displacement-damage results.
• Designed and built a transistor-based neutron dosimetry system pairing automated Python instrumentation control (Keithley source-measure units over GPIB) with ASTM E1855 analysis to quantify fast-neutron displacement-damage fluence.
• Developed a digital radiation waste tracking system with isotope-decay-based safe-release-date estimation, replacing a manual paper-based process and improving audit readiness.
• Maintain controlled and contamination-controlled areas to inspection readiness, contributing to consistently high audit and compliance scores.

Lead Line Cook

• Led high-volume kitchen operations and opening/closing setup while sustaining a near-perfect customer satisfaction score.

Intern

• Prepared project presentations and reports and maintained database systems to track and analyze operational data.

Designing a graphite thermal-column geometry with an upstream bismuth gamma filter to deliver a high-fluence thermal neutron beam (thermal-to-fast ratio ≥ 100:1) at the UMLRR 6-inch beam port. Built a complete Python automation pipeline that generates MCNP6.3 input decks from parameterized geometries, executes batched simulations, parses MCTAL tally output, and folds results against the ASTM E722 silicon displacement-damage function. Derived a synthetic SDEF neutron source from multigroup beam-port flux data to drive the model.

Developed a combined photon and neutron shielding calculator to verify dose profiles for the reactor's proposed 1 MW to 5 MW power upgrade. Implemented energy-dependent dose conversion factors, Berger buildup parameters for concrete, and linear attenuation coefficients to compute deep-dose-equivalent rates through facility shielding, with power scaling to model the upgraded configuration and compare results against existing shield requirements for regulatory compliance.

Built a complete data-acquisition and analysis system measuring fast-neutron displacement-damage fluence with 2N2222A silicon bipolar transistors per ASTM E1855. Developed Python instrumentation software interfacing a Keithley source-measure unit to automate pre-irradiation screening and post-irradiation gain measurements with iterative base-current convergence, plus a standalone fluence calculator implementing the Messenger-Spratt equation with full uncertainty propagation. Characterized TO-18 metal-can and 2N2222AUB surface-mount packages across 1×10¹⁰ to 6×10¹⁴ n/cm².

M.S., Radiological Sciences and Protection (Health / Nuclear Physics)

• Thesis: transistor-based fast-neutron dosimetry and gamma-recovery characterization at the UMLRR.

B.S., Physics

• Dean's List (all semesters). Daniel C. Cole Endowed Physics Scholarship. Dean's Scholarship.
• President, UML Society of Physics Students. Treasurer, Chess Club. Member, American Nuclear Society.