Daniel Andruczyk

For More Information

• LinkedIn Profile
• Center for Plasma Material Interactions home page
• NPRE home page for Research Associate Professor Daniel Andruczyk

Education

• The University of Sydney, Ph.D., Plasma Physics, 2006
• The University of Sydney, M.Sc., Plasma Physics, 2001
• The University of Queensland, B.Sc. Honours, Physics, 1999
• The University of Queensland, B.Sc., Physics, 1998

Biography

Research Associate Professor

Center for Plasma-Material Interactions

Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Andruczyk leads the HIDRA fusion device as part of the departments fusion research group. Daniel did his undergraduate degree in physics at The University of Queensland and completed his PhD at The University of Sydney in 2006 where he gained extensive expertise in plasma diagnostics including the development and running of a diagnostic helium beam which was installed on the H-1NF Heliac in Canberra, Australia. He did his post-doc from 2006-2009 at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald where the W-7X Stellarator is located and worked on the WEGA Stellarator while there. In 2010 he came to UIUC on a post-doc but quickly rose to be a research scientist and was stationed at Princeton Plasma Physics Labs from 2012 - 2014. In 2013 an opportunity to move the WEGA stellarator to the USA presented itself (now HIDRA) and in 2014 he became a Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions. In 2021 he was promoted to Research Associate Professor. Daniel is a cancer survivor having battled head and neck cancer from 2021-2023. Prof. Andruczyk conducts research into plasma edge studies in particular the impact that PFC materials have on the performance of plasmas. He specializes in liquid metals, especially lithium, as potential future materials for plasma facing components in fusion devices. Daniel has run extensive experiments in reactors on flowing liquid lithium systems and this has led to him (and UIUC) being one of the lead principle investigators (PI) and lead institutions in the Department of Energy's (DOE) domestic liquid metal Plasma Facing Component (LMPFC) development program along with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2020. He is also the lead PI for UIUC on the DOE Milestone program with Tokamak Energy, the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) CHADWICK program with Savanah River National Laboratory and Colorado School of Mines and also is the UIUC lead on the Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) collaborative. He is also the director of the NPRE departments professional Master of Engineering in Plasma Engineering program. He teaches several courses including an introduction to plasmas and their applications, technology of gaseous electronics, plasma material interactions, fusion engineering and two introductory courses on energy sources and systems.

Academic Positions

• 2022-Present, Director of Masters of Engineering in Engineering with Concentration in Plasma Engineering, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, Urbana, IL
• 2020-Present, Research Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Center for Plasma Material Interactions, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, Urbana, IL
• 2014-2020, Research Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Plasma-Material Interactions, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, Urbana, IL
• 2012-2014, Research Engineer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Plasma-Material Interactions, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, Stationed at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ
• 2010-2012, Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Plasma-Material Interactions, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, Urbana, IL
• 2010, Research Scientist, The Australian National University, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Canberra, Australia
• 2006-2009, Post-Doc, Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald, Germany
• 2006, Research Scientist, The University of Sydney, Sydney Australia

Professional Highlights

• UIUC lead dor the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Creating Hardened And Durable fusion first Wall Incorporating Centralized Knowledge (CHADWICK) program with Savannah River National Lab (SRNL) and Colorado School of Mines (CSOM), 2026-2027
• UIUC lead for the Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) program with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), 2026-2029 
• UIUC lead for the Milestone Based Fusion Development (MBFD) Program with Tokamak Energy, 2024-2025
• Director Master of Engineering in Plasma Engineering, 2022-Present
• Showing that liquid lithium has the ability to pump helium in a toroidal fusion device leading to low recycling regimes and improved plasma performance, 2020-Present
• UIUC lead for the Domestic Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Component (LMPFC) Development Program, 2020-Present
• Lecture at the 10th ITER International School, Daejeon, South Korea, 2019
• Lecturer at the SULI Summer School, PPPL USA, 2019
• Experimental Campaign on EAST - Testing LiMIT and flowing liquid lithium
• First plasma in HIDRA (Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications), April 2016
• Moving the former WEGA (Wendelstein Experiment in Greifswald für die Ausbildung which translates to Wendelstein Experiment in Greifswald for Education) stellarator from Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald Germany to UIUC and establishing our own working fusion device, re-naming to HIDRA. This has really set the fusion program at Illinois to be world leading, 2014

Teaching Statement

Teaching is probably the most important aspect of life. Whether we do it professionally or outside of the classroom, every person in one shape or form is teaching those around them in some way. Life's experiences teach us and in turn we teach those around us with these experiences, becoming part of life.

As someone who has the privileged of teaching in the classroom, I always want to make sure that my students will get the greatest knowledge out of what I say and that they have learning it. Where possible I not only want to teach the theoretical side of a subject but I always make sure that the students have a firm understanding of the practical aspect. This last part I try to achieve in two ways. One is through real world examples where I can show through a website or media to demonstrate something, but also, I like to take the students in the lab and show them, have them obtain a hands-on experience with different subjects.

Over a 2-year rotation I currently teach up to six (6) subjects on various topics. In all of these classes, whether it’s a freshman class to an advanced graduate level course, I try to embody this philosophy in all my classes. The classes I teach fall into two categories. First classes that have inherited from other professors and secondly classes that I have developed. A summary of these courses is summarized below. First the classes that I inherited.

The first class is NPRE/ENVS 101: Introduction to Energy Sources which I teach in the Spring Semester. I took over this course from Professor Ruzic. This is a cross listed course with environmental studies and takes a fundamental look at where our energy comes from. This course is not meant to be mathematical and is ideal for non-engineering students who still have an interest in the science of energy. It is a discussion of the basics of what energy is, what the difference sources are, and looks at fossil fuels, renewables and nuclear energy and their impacts on society and the environment. In each class I try to have some sort of demonstration or a show and tell that will help elucidate the lesson and learning objectives. For example, when we talk about oil, I have samples of crude oil the students can see. I bring in an oil pump heat, yes, the actual 10 ft long head that sits underground, and show how the oil is extracted. During the nuclear lectures I have low radioactive sources and a Geiger counter to demonstrate radiation and radioactivity and when I talk about plasmas and fusion, I bring in components of HIDRA and also ITER grade tungsten for the students to get a sense of the challenges. There are also six (6) occasions throughout the semester where we do field trips that help the students understand the topics we look at. We do a tour of the Universities power plant where the students see coal and natural gas burners, providing and understanding of the fossil fuel topics, a tour of the local micro grid where solar, wind, natural gas and battery technology is integrated into a local grid, and help to understand how the grid and renewables come together. There is a tour of the university waste transfer station where we talk about recycling and waste management as well as the impact our energy use has on the environment. We do a tour of the battery lab where the students learn about how a modern-day lithium battery is manufactured. A tour of the nuclear reactor simulator in the department allows the students to have a hands on experience with running a reactor and real life scenarios and help to understand the topics on nuclear accidents and finally a tour of HIDRA and the former TRIGA site where the students see a working fusion reactor and also where the department used to have a fission reactor which is now a green-space, which again is covered as a topic in the course. All of this I feel gives the students a fun way of learning about this important topic and hopefully inspires them for the future.

The next class I inherited was NPRE/GLBS 201: Introduction for Energy Systems which is taught in the Fall Semester. This course is a more in-depth version of NPRE/ENVS 101. It is also cross listed with Global Studies. Whereas the freshman course is very conceptual where concepts of energy are taught, there is essentially no mathematics or engineering discussed in it. It designed for students and people that want to know about energy but do not have the mathematical background. This course dives more into the math and engineering and we look at some more of the newer innovations in energy. So, some of the basic concepts are covered as in NPRE 101 but looked at in much more depth. During the COVID pandemic I had the opportunity to redevelop the course. The course is originally designed to be a very interactive and is to be taught using a flipped learning model. There are pre-lecture videos that will need to be watched before the lecture, along with an extensive set of lecture notes, written in a text book style, provide all the information needed to solve the in-class worksheets. The lectures were recorded., so this class can be taught online if needed Similarly to the NPRE/ENVS 101 class I teach, I have demonstrations during the class as well as field trip to some the same places. Since the students in this class tend to be scientists and engineers and usually do not take the other class, these tours are still of great value to them. What makes the class stand out is that there are a 2 credit and 3 credit section. The extra credit section has lectures with that go into more details on certain topics and the students have presentation and at the end of the class they do on an innovative aspect of an energy system that we may have not covered in class.

The next class that I inherited NPRE 526: Plasma Material Interactions which is taught in the Spring Semester every other year. The class originally was taught by Prof. Allain. After he left I was meant to teach it but health issues prevented me to teach it and finally in the spring of 2025 I was able to teach my first class. The course introduces students to fundamental concepts in plasma-materials interactions (PMI) and extend these concepts into practical methods for PMI. The course connects the concepts of surface science to irradiation-driven modification used in plasma nano-synthesis of advanced materials and PMI phenomena encountered in extreme environments (e.g. nuclear fusion, star and planetary formation, among others). During this course the students also get to see some of the PMI and surface techniques used in our laboratory. I also take the class on a tour of the Material Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University which houses many of the surface science techniques that are discussed in the class. This again allows the students to see a more practical side of the theory that is taught and is also a great way to showcase many of the facilities that we have access to.

The next class I inherited was NPRE 527/ECE 523: Plasma Technology of Gaseous Electronics which is taught every Fall Semester. This course was originally taught by Prof. Ruzic until his retirement. The course will help students develop an advanced theoretical understanding of Low-Temperature Plasma processing systems, industrial plasmas and atmospheric plasmas with an emphasis on the most current plasma technologies. Whereas prerequisite coursework focuses on developing framework for the analysis of low temperature plasma systems, in this course I build upon those foundations to develop more advanced theoretical models for low temperature plasma dynamics, including electron collisions, plasma transport, sheath dynamics and plasma and surface chemistry. Where applicable I also bring in and demonstrate some of the technologies discussed in class. As part of the atmospheric plasmas I have a guest lecture, Emeritus Prof. Gary Eden come in to discuss and show some of the commercial atmospheric plasma system he has developed and tie them into the lectures

The final subject in this section is a class I did not inherit as such but contribute to the teaching of the class. NPRE 423: Plasma Laboratory is every Fall Semester. This class does experiments relating to plasma engineering. Topics include: ultra-high vacuum technology, RF and DC plasmas, electric plasma probes, measurements of DC and pulsed magnetic fields and fusion plasmas. There are 9 experiments with a lecture component and a four (4) hour laboratory. Though the class is run by a colleague of mine, Prof. Mohan Sankaran, in the department, I teach the fusion aspect of the class including the lecture and laboratory component on HIDRA.

The second category of classes are the ones that I have developed from scratch. These of course are the courses I am most proud of because they allow me to showcase not just my knowledge but also my love for the topic of plasmas and fusion.

The first class that I developed is NPRE 321: Introduction to Plasmas and their Applications which I teach every Fall Semester. Early on when I first became a professor, I saw that there was a need for a very introductory course in plasmas. Once that allowed the basic concepts to be taught and not get bogged down in the derivations. That is eventually covered by the senior level courses. This course is part of the core curriculum where all NPRE students need to take it. This non plasma students still get to learn about plasmas at a fundamental level but don’t necessarily have to be weighed down by all the heavy math derivations. Hence, I created this introductory course to understanding plasmas and their applications. The course is split into two halves essentially. But, the first week is spent doing a electromagnetism refresher just to remind the students their EM basics. The course then is split into two. The first half covers all the plasma basics such as Boltzmann relation which leads into concepts like Debye length and shielding, a basic look at plasma sheaths, plasma frequency and drifts. The second half of the course then looks at plasma technology and the application of what was learnt in the first half. Several of the lectures are done in our plasma laboratory at the Center for Plasma Material Interactions (CPMI) where I demonstrate different types of plasmas that we cover in class including a DC glow discharge, a sputter plasma for material coating, and atmospheric plasma and a fusion plasma in HIDRA. Whereas the non-plasma students have this course satisfy part of their degree the students wishing to go on to the plasma concentration in particular, this course is a prerequisite for NPRE 421, NPRE 423, NPRE 429 and my NPRE 498 courses. This course is also now part of the Universities semiconductor minor, and aside form NPRE students there are many students from other departments that also take the course. From its inception where there were only about 15-20 students, the class has grown substantially to 63 students in 2025 and this years (2026) enrolments are on track to hit 80 students. This is a course I am very proud of and I have had many students tell me how much then enjoyed the course because of the clear passion for the topic that I have. Several have said that it made them want to convert into plasmas.

The next class that I developed is also one that I have a passion for and am very proud of. NPRE 498: Fusion Engineering Design and Operation is in the Spring Semester every other year. I rotate this with NPRE 526. This is a unique course in that there are not many places that teach the practical aspects of having to build a fusion reactor. I feel that this course follows the philosophy of the department in general, as it’s a nuclear engineering department where we train the fission students on how to build and operate nuclear reactors, so we should also do the same for fusion reactors. This course is designed to look at the engineering aspects and challenges of building a fusion reactor. The course concentrates mainly on magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and aspects of tokamak and stellarator research. However, it does also look in part at inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and many of the issues that MCF faces, the ICF community will also face. There are several practicums, lectures where I look at some of the technologies discussed in class on HIDRA. The students have an opportunity to get hands on with the reactor. Where possible we do some measurements to get an idea and sense of these technologies. Some of the areas looked at are magnets, vacuum systems and diagnostics. Again, this leads to my philosophy that the best way for students to learn is to have hands on experience. By the end of the class every student can have the claim that they have operated a fusion reactor. The course has two sections. A 3 credit section for undergrads and a 4 credit section for graduate students. The later section requires and extra project presentation from the students where they need to look into a new innovative piece of fusion reactor technology that is being implemented by either government facilities or private industry. These are meant to be topics that have not been covered in lectures necessarily. Right now the course is a special topics course, and in 2026 it was in its second run in its current form and will look to make it a permanent addition to the curriculum. The course has also grown substantially, with original numbers being only 5-6 to this year there were over 25 students.

With all this in mind I believe that students need to come out of the classes being able to think for themselves and asks good questions. An informed person is someone that will make good decisions and should be able to separate fact from fiction I like to think that I contribute to people being informed which allows them to make good decisions. I feel that I am a fair and engaging instructor that is able to connect with students and show them a passion for the courses I teach and open their eyes to a whole new world. I am a firm believer that making the effort to spend even just a little time to work with students and get to know them can help them learn new things and to become the best that they can.

Resident Instruction

• NPRE 527 Technology of Gaseous Electronics
• NPRE 526 Plasma Material Interactions
• NPRE 498 Fusion Engineering Design and Operations
• NPRE 423 Plasma Laboratory - fusion lecture only
• NPRE 321 Introduction to Plasmas and Their Applications
• NPRE/GLBS 201 Advanced Energy Sources
• NPRE/ENVS 101 Introduction to Energy Sources

Research Statement

It is my belief that pioneering and expanding the forefront of technology and science is the ideal way to contribute to further the development of society. There is a very poignant graph that the CIA World Fact book puts out: It is the Human Development index with respect to electricity use per capita. What it shows is that the quality of life in a country is directly related to the amount of power available. Industrialized countries such as the USA, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan and the UK are all well above 0.9 and have greater power usage > 6MWh/year per capita. This is why you see countries such as India and China on a power plant building spree. They are below < 2MWh/year per capita. These countries need energy to bring their people up to the standards of the USA and Europe.

Any future power sources will be dictated by energy and environmental factors and will have three criteria: the need to be carbon neutral, sustainable and also provide the much-needed constant large base power. Renewable technologies currently will only fulfill one or two of the three criteria. Nuclear fusion offers all three. It is not a carbon burner, thus does not release carbon products into the environment, the deuterium and lithium fuel needed to power these devices has billions of years’ worth of reserves in the earth oceans thus it is sustainable. Last it can run at base loads of 1 – 2 GW similar to current power plants and can provide it constantly. Thus, the endeavor of my career is to facilitate the development of nuclear fusion as a viable source of energy in the future.

Plasma physics and material science have the unique ability to challenge us in ways never conceived nor imagined and this has always inspired and driven me. One only need to look to the universe which tells us how to achieve fusion, that is the Sun and stars operate in the ultimate low recycling regime (ions that are lost from the plasma will interact with the wall coming back as neutral cold atoms, this is the recycled gas), and so this tells us what we need to achieve to have a working power plant. That means future advancements in fusion will need to use lithium in the vessel to reduce the recycling and handle power loads to the divertor.

The reason that I am a firm believer in lithium is that mother nature is showing us how we need to run a fusion reactor. In many discussions with fellow researchers, I ask a simple yet very important question “Why does the Sun work?â€� Often this question is mistaken for the “howâ€�, and we know well how the Sun works. But why does it work? The answer is given to us by the universe. The Sun and stars lack one thing that terrestrial fusion devices have, and that is a wall. The wall is necessary, for we need to have a vacuum to operate, however it also provides all the problems by throwing cold gas back at the plasma which becomes an energy sink and form the temperature gradients which drive many of the turbulence and instabilities seen in current devices. By having lithium inside the machine on the walls and flowing, provides a way to stop that from happening, it is a sink for the ions that come out of the plasma, yet by flowing the lithium it’s also a way we can recover any fuel atoms that would be taken up by the lithium.

Thus, developing the technologies that will safely handle and deliver lithium into a fusion device are crucial and this is something that I have been working with the last few years at the University of Illinois. These include being part of the effort to bring HIDRA (the former WEGA stellarator) to Illinois (Andruczyk at al., FST 68 (2015) 497). I was the one that initiated the conversation with my former employer about the possibility of doing this. I have had a materials analysis teststand (HIDRA-MAT) built for HIDRA (Shone et al., JFE 39 (2020) 448) where we can do material exposure to the plasma, this is a must in any current fusion device. With HIDRA-MAT we also developed our own liquid lithium droplet injector (LLDI) which allows us to precisely place known amounts of lithium onto our surfaces and also be able to insert lithium into HIDRA (Shone et al., FED 180 (2022) 113193). We are now currently building a new HIDRA-MAT probe head that has a small flowing internal loop of lithium and will allow us to test small samples of additively manufactured surfaces with a flowing lithium surface. This will allow us to have a fast turn around as well that allows iteration of different designs quickly. Furthermore, a full flowing liquid lithium loop with plasma facing component module has been designed and is currently under construction. An initial test loop will test the magnetic pumps and flow meters before being converted to a full loop for HIDRA. This system will also allow more rapid iteration of components in HIDRA since a turnaround can be done in a few weeks rather than be down for months or a year as with larger devices. Thus, several designs can be tested throughout the year with design. There will also be an initial system for seeing how much of the outdoing gas and ions are trapped in the lithium and eventually one of our distillation systems will be mounted that will allows a more precise analysis of the hydrogen concentrations.

My research, even though mostly fusion related, is split into three areas. The first is a fundamental understanding on how lithium takes up and retains working gases especially the background recycling gases in particular with helium (Andruczyk et al., PPCF 64 (2022) 085011). The second is in the technology development of flowing lithium systems such as loops and flowing divertor surfaces (Andruczyk et al., PhSc T171 (2020) 014067, Meng at al., FED 154 (2020) 111537, Zuo et al., NME 33 (2022) 101263 and Li et al., PST 24 (2022) 095104). Third is material compatibility between molten lithium with the metals and ceramics that will be in contact with the liquid metal (Andruczyk et al., PhSc T171 (2020) 014067, Meng et al., JNM 513 (2019) 282, de Castro et al., NME 25 (2020) 100829 and Meng et al, CS 200 (2022) 110202). This research is achieved through the various grants and programs that are currently underway and in the future. These are outlined below.

The last year has seen much progress in not only our understanding of the science of lithium interactions in fusion devices but also in the engineering of technology as well. As part of the US domestic Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Component Development (LMPFC) Program (Andruczyk JFE 39 (2020) 441) we have been able to verify through experiment that lithium will pump helium. This is important in solving the helium ash problem that fusion has in that there is no effective way to pump helium out. Two papers have been published on this (Andruczyk et al., PPCF 64 (2022) 085011 and Shone et al., JFE 42 (2023) 43). Also through modeling and experiment we have been able to determine where the lithium is deposited in HIDRA. This is now the basis for particle transport codes to be developed that can track where lithium will go. Currently a paper is being written on this topic (Gula et al., paper in progress). Also, measurements on the plasma parameters as they pertain to operation with and without lithium have been done. Finally, a full hydrogen and deuterium campaign to characterize the effect of lithium on hydrogen operation and retention, have also been performed. This program will end its current 3 years in July, but will look to renew in the next fiscal year. Overall, the LMPFC program has been extremely successful in determining various operational aspects of lithium, not just on HIDRA but also on the former MEME (Mock-up Entry Module for EAST) (Andruczyk et al., FST 79 (2023) 1099) device from the retentions to vapor shielding (Rizkallah et al., JFE accepted 2026).

As part of the DOE Milestone program, we have now designed and modeled a flowing liquid lithium system for HIDRA and have started to construct a test stand that will verify many of the technology needed before full deployment in HIDRA. This was successfully done in conjunction with Tokamak Energy and with phase 2 of the Milestone program will see the full deployment of the lithium loop in HIDRA. This is expected to be some time on 2027. If successful this will be the first time a flowing liquid metal loop from outside the machine to inside and back out will have been demonstrated.

I have also been awarded $4.24 Million over 4 years for the Liquid Metals: Advancing the technical Readiness of plasm-facing Materials Operational Response (LM-ARMOR) as part of the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaborative (Partners: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Savannah River National Laboratory, Penn State University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Exo-Fusion and Virginia Commonwealth University) which seeks to advance the technology of liquid lithium technology. This is has just started, but we are working towards new material development for compatibility with lithium, further flowing loop development including integration of our lithium/Metal Infused Trenches (LiMIT) system and further plasma operations in a low recycling environment as well as lithium and impurity transport modeling, which leads from the LMPFC program.

I have been awarded $450,000 as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to study additive manufacturing using tungsten in a liquid lithium environment. This project began in January 2026, and a new device has been constructed to study sample exposure to liquid lithium at over 600 Celsius. 3D printed tungsten samples have been exposed showing the cracking issues and subsequently the samples have been exposed in HIDRA for 100,000 s and show tungsten-fuzz growth. Currently a new probe head has been designed and is being manufactured for flowing lithium and will be mounted as part of our HIDRA material analysis teststand (HIDRA-MAT).

I have also been awarded $460,000 for the exploration of isotopic effects on liquid metal surfaces properties relevant to liquid plasma facing components as part of the development for NSTX-U. I am partnering with Penn State university and will be doing basic material properties of lithium-6, which is a lighter isotope of lithium, and if there are any physical differences to lithium-7, which is the more abundant isotope. This is relevant since lithium-6 will be used in the blanket and is present in natural lithium which will be flowing in PFC’s. If there are differences that will have an impact on the performance of plasma facing components (PFC’s) then it needs to be known. Currently there is little to no work that has been done on lithium-6 properties with other materials and its behavior in a plasma.

Finally, I have a small grant working with professors in the radiological area of our department and in the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering (MatSE) to develop a new ceramic that will be immune to lithium attack. Currently there are no ceramics that can withstand lithium corrosion and also be compatible in a nuclear environment. We are looking to explore the ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC) tantalum-hafnium-carbide as a solution to this. This is part of the HERCULES program that is funded by the private fusion company Helion Energy.

Though not part of the university led research, I do some consulting for 6-hours a month for a company, Hexium Inc. They use my expertise and experience with lithium to consult on technologies that they are developing.

Looking to the future, I am looking to expand on the areas I am in now and also to take up new areas of interest that I have developed over the last few years. These are briefly explained below.

On the fusion side of things I am exploring ways to use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to be able to develop a digital twin of HIDRA and do real time control of the machine and be able to explore new operational regimes with for the machine especially with a low recycling wall using lithium. I am looking to collaborate with a colleague in the Physics department Prof. Mark Neubauer and Prof. Julia Gonski at Stanford.

Secondly there is a new emergent field in stellarators called the non-resonant divertor (NRD). In stellarators there are stochastic regions that develop on resonant flux surfaces and manifest as magnetic islands. This is where current island divertors are operated. However, stellarators have the property that you can have resilient particle and heat flows in certain sections of the device. Most optimized stellarators struggle to show this non-resonant region. From recent presentations and subsequent discussion, it has been noted that HIDRA does have these regions and can be easily diagnosed. I have an interest in expanding the technology side of exploring not only the design of a NRD but one that has flowing lithium. This has the potential to change the way stellarators operate making divertor operation more reliable. There is interest from a colleague at the University of Wisconsin Madison, Dr. Dieter Boeyaert to collaborate.

Finally, due to my past battle with cancer and its treatment effects, I have developed an interest in using plasmas to do cancer treatment and medical uses for plasma. Although the use of plasma for such treatments is not new, the development of reliable plasmas and also diagnosing them to understand the physics and pathways that lead to the cancer treatment are still largely undiagnosed. I have approached my Colleague Prof. Mohan Sankaran about collaborating in this areas as he has the extensive experience in atmospheric plasmas, which are at the extreme opposite end of the plasma spectrum to where I normally work

Post-Doctoral Research Opportunities

Opportunities exist to work on HIDRA and lithium PFC development and plasma material interaction studies. Typically Post-docs will also help to supervise and guide graduate student research and manage programs such that specific milestones are met on time. The post-doc will also be required to meet with colleagues from partner institutions and present work at conferences and write papers in peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Graduate Research Opportunities

Opportunities for Graduate students to perform experiments at the forefront of fusion technology. These include, plasma material interaction studies, lithium PFC development and working on collaborative national, international and industry partners. Graduate students throughout their time here will supervise undergraduate students, to help achieve research goals. They also will have opportunities annually to present at domestic conferences and at least a couple times at international conferences. They will also be required to write papers for peer reviewed scientific publications.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

There are several opportunities for undergraduate students to work on HIDRA and THALASSA. The tasks involve helping the grad students and myself to plan and set up experiments, to help with taking data and analysis. The ability to learn about vacuum, plasma, lithium, materials and aspects of fusion (tokamak and stellarator) on a toroidal fusion device is a great opportunity for keen students wanting to go into the plasma sciences.

Research Interests

• Fusion blanket design and operation
• Plasma material interactions (PMI)
• Liquid lithium (LiLi) and liquid metals (LM) as fusion materials
• Plasma chemistry
• Plasma diagnostics
• Material diagnostics
• Nuclear fusion research (NFR)

Chapters in Books

• D. Andruczyk, D.N. Ruzic, Thermoelectric properties of Lithium, Chapter 9, In F. Tabares (Eds) Lithium Technology, Performance and Safety, Nova Scotia Publishers, Inc, pp. 255-276, (2013)

Selected Articles in Journals

• S. Gula, N. Mihajlov, G. Diaz, A. Goyal, R. Maingi, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli, Kinetic modeling of lithium impurity transport in the HIDRA stellarator during controlled lithium evaporation, Nuclear Fusion, 66 (2026) 126035
• R. Rizkallah, A. Shone, D. O’Dea, D. Curreli, D. Andruczyk, Study of liquid lithium’s behavior and effects on hydrogen and helium plasmas in the HIDRA classical stellarator, Journal of Fusion Energy, 45 (2026) 39
• A. Shone, R. Rizkallah, D. O'Dea, B. Kamiyama, D. Andruczyk, In-operando Lithium Evaporation Inducing Helium Retention in Long-Pulse HIDRA Helium Plasmas, Journal of Fusion Energy, 42 (2023) 43
• D. Andruczyk, R. Rizkallah, D. O'Dea, A. Shone, S. Smith, B. Kamiyama, R. Maingi, C. E. Kessel, S. Smolentsev, T. W. Morgan & F. Romano, Overview of Liquid-Metal PFC R&D at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Fusion Science and Technology, 79 (2023) 1099
• G. Z. Zuo, C. L. Li, R. Maingi, X. C. Meng, D. Andruczyk, P. J. Sun, Z. Sun, W. Xu, M. Huang, Z. L. Tang, D. H. Zhang, Y. J. Chen, Q. Zang, Y. M. Wang, Y. F. Wang, K. Tritz, J.S. Hu, Effect of continuously flowing liquid Li limiter on particle and heat fluxes during H-mode discharges in EAST, Nuclear Materials and Energy, 33 (2022) 101263
• D. Andruczyk, A. Shone, Z. Koyn and J. P. Allain, First lithium experiments in HIDRA and evidence of helium retention during quasi-steady-state stellarator plasma operations, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. 64 (2022) 085011
• C. L. Li, G. Z. Zuo, R. Maingi, K. Tritz, D. Andruczyk, B, Zhang, R. Liang, D. O. O'Dea, Z. Sun, W. Xu, X. C. Meng, M. Huang, Z. L. Tang, B. Gao, N. Yan and J. S. Hu, Evidence of vapor shielding effect on heat flux loaded on flowing liquid lithium limiter in EAST Plasma Science and Technology, 24 (2022) 095104
• A. Shone, Z. Koyn, B. Kamiyama, E. Perez, L. Barrus, N. Bartlett, J.P. Allain, D. Andruczyk, HIDRA-MAT liquid metal droplet injector for liquid metal applications in HIDRA, Fusion Engineering and Design 180 (2022) 113193
• X.C. Meng, L. Li, C.L. Li, D. Andruczyk, K. Tritz, R. Maingi, M. Huang, D.H. Zhang, W. Xu, Z. Sun, G.Z. Zuo, J.S. Hu, Corrosion characteristics of Mo and TZM alloy for plasma facing components in molten lithium at 623 K, Corrosion Science, Volume 200 (2022) 110202
• D. Andruczyk, R. Maingi, C. Kessel, D. Curreli, E. Kolemen, J. Canik, B. Pint, D. Youchison, and S. Smolentsev, A Domestic Program for Liquid Metal PFC Research in Fusion, Journal of Fusion Energy, 39 (2020) 441
• A. Shone, Z. Koyn, R. Rizkallah, D. O'Dea, A. Kapat, G. Golba, J. Hoffman, D. Kurukulasuriya, Q. Tang, A. de Castro, J. P. Allain and D. Andruczyk, An Overview of the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications Material Analysis Test-stand (HIDRA-MAT), Journal of Fusion Energy, 39 (2020) 448
• D. Andruczyk, D.E. Editorial, Journal of Fusion Energy, 39 (2020) 401
• A. de Castro, C. Moynihan, S. Stemmley, M. Szott, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Exploration of Sn70Li30 Alloy as Possible Material for Flowing Liquid Lithium Metal Plasma Facing Components. Nuclear Materials and Energy, 25 (2020) 100829
• G. Z. Zuo, C. L. Li, R. Maingi, X. C. Meng, Z. Sun, W. Xu, Y. Z. Quan, M. Huang, Z. L. Tang, D. H. Zhang, L. Zhang, Y. J. Chen, S. T. Mao, Y. M. Wang, H. L. Zhao, D. Andruczyk, K. Tritz, X. Z. Gong, J. S. Hu and EAST Team, Results from a New Flowing Liquid Li Limiter with TZM Substrate During High Confinement Plasma in the EAST Device, Physics of Plasmas, 27 (2020) 052506
• D. Andruczyk, R, Maingi, J. S. Hu, G. Z. Zuo, R. Rizkallah, M. Parsons, A. Shone, D. O'Dea, A. Kapat, M. Szott, S. Stemmley, Z. Sun, W. Xu, X. C. Meng, R. Lunsford, E. Gilson, A. Diallo, K. Tritz, Overview of Lithium Injection and Flowing Liquid Lithium Results from the US-China Collaboration on EAST, Physica Scripta, T171 (2020) 014067
• G. Z. Zuo, J. S. Hu, R. Maingi, C. L. Li, X. C. Meng, Z. Sun, M. Huang, W. Xu, Y. Z. Qian, D. Andruczyk, K. Tritz, X. Z Gong, J. G. Li, Improvement on the Plasma Performance via Application of Flowing Lithium Limiters in EAST Tokamak, Physica Scripta, T171 (2020) 014008
• X. C. Meng, M. Huang, C. L. Li, Z. Sun, W. Xu, R. Maingi, K.Tritz, D. Andruczyk, Y. Z. Qian, Q. X. Yuan, J. J. Huang, X. Gao, B. Yu, J. G. Li, G. Z. Zuo, J. S. Hu and EAST team, Real-time gas cooling of flowing liquid lithium limiter for EAST, Fusion Engineering and Design, 154 (2020) 111537
• R. Rizkallah, S. Marcinko, D. Curreli, M. S. Parsons, N. Bartlett, R. Gluck, A. Shone and D. Andruczyk, Mapping of the HIDRA stellarator magnetic flux surfaces, Physics of Plasmas 26, (2019) 092503
• C. E. Kessel, D. Andruczyk, J. P. Blanchard, T. Bohm, A. Davis, K. Hollis, P. W. Humrickhouse, M. Hvasta, M. Jaworski, J. Jun, Y. Katoh, A. Khodak, J. Klein, E. Kolemen, G. Larsen, R. Majeski, B. J. Merrill, N. B. Morley, G. H. Neilson, B. Pint, M. E. Rensink, T. D. Rognlien, A. F. Rowcliffe, S. Smolentsev, M. S. Tillack, L. M. Waganer, G. M. Wallace, P. Wilson & S.-J. Yoon, Critical Exploration of Liquid Metal Plasma-Facing Components in a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility, Journal of Fusion Science and Technology, 75:8, (2019) 886
• J. S. Hu, G. Z. Zuo, R. Maingi, Z. Sun, K. Tritz, W. Xu, Q. X. Yang, D. Andruczyk, M. Huang, X. C. Meng, X. Z. Gong, D. N. Ruzic, M. J. Ni, B. N. Wan, J. G. Li and EAST Team, Experiments of Continuously and Stably Flowing Lithium Limiter in EAST Towards a Solution for the Power Exhaust of Future Fusion Devices, Nuclear Materials and Energy, 18 (2019) 99
• X. C. Meng, C. Xu, G. Z. Zuo, M. Huang, K. Tritz, D. Andruczyk, Z. Sun, W. Xu, Y. Z. Qian, J. J. Huang, X. Gao, B. Yu, J. G. Li, J. S. Hu and H. Deng, Corrosion Characteristics of Copper in Static Liquid Lithium Under High Vacuum, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 513 (2019) 282
• R. Rizkallah, D. Andruczyk, A. Shone, D. Johnson, Z. Jeckell, S. Marcinko, Z. Song, D. Curreli, F. Bedoya, A. Kapat, J. P. Allain, M. Christenson, M. Szott, S. Stemmley, H. Sandefur, D. N. Ruzic, R. Maingi, J. Hu, G. Zuo and J. Schmitt, Latest Results from the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA), IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 46(7) (2018) 2695
• Z. Sun, R. Lunsford, R. Maingi, J. S. Hu, D. K. Mansfield, A. Diallo, K. Tritz, J. Canik, Z. Wang, D. Andruczyk, Y. M. Wang, G. Z. Zuo, M. Huang, W. Xu and X. C. Meng, First results of ELM triggering with a multichamber lithium granule injector into EAST discharges, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 46(5) (2018) 1076
• D. Johnson, K. Wegley, R. Rizkallah, A. Shone and D. Andruczyk, HIDRA control system (HCS): A LabView-based program to control the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications, Fusion Engineering and Design, 128 (2018) 215
• X. Meng, G. Zuo, W. Xu, Z. Sun, M. Huang, X. Yuan, C. Xu, W. Hu, D. Andruczyk, J. Hu and H. Deng, Effect of temperature on the corrosion behaviors of 304 stainless steel in static liquid lithium, Fusion Engineering and Design, 128 (2018) 75
• D. A. Gates, D. Anderson, S. Anderson, M. Zarnstorff, D. A. Spong, H Weitzner, G. H. Neilson, D. N. Ruzic, D. Andruczyk, J. H. Harris, et al., Stellarator research opportunities: A report of the national stellarator coordinating committee, Journal of Fusion Energy, 37(1) (2018) 51
• D. N. Ruzic, M. Szott, C. Sandoval, M. Christenson, P. Fiflis, S. Hammouti, K. Kalathiparambil, I. Shchelkanov, D. Andruczyk, R. Stubbers, C. Joel Foster and B. Jurczyk, Flowing liquid lithium plasma-facing components - Physics, technology and system analysis of the LiMIT system, Nuclear Materials and Energy, 12 (2017) 1324
• W. Xu, P. Fiflis, M. Szott, K. Kalathiparambila, S. Jung, M. Christenson, I. Haehnlein, A. Kapat, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli and D.N. Ruzic, Vertical flow in the Thermoelectric Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Structures (TELS) facility at Illinois, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 463 (2015), 1181
• D. Andruczyk, D. N. Ruzic, D. Curreli, J. P. Allain and the HIDRA team, HIDRA: Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications, Journal of Fusion Science and Technology 68 (2015), 497
• S. M. Kaye, T. Abrams, J.-W Ahn, J. P. Allain, R. Andre, D. Andruczyk et al., An overview of recent physics results from NSTX, Nuclear Fusion, 55 (2015), 104002
• D. Andruczyk, A. L. Roquemore, P. Fiflis, D. Mansfield and D. N. Ruzic, A method to produce lithium pellets for fueling and ELM pacing in NSTX-U, Fusion Engineering and Design, 89 (2014) 2910
• P. Fiflis, A. Press, W. Xu, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli and D. N. Ruzic, Wetting properties of liquid lithium on select fusion relevant surfaces, Fusion Engineering and Design, 89 (2014), 2827
• M. Ono, M. A. Jaworski, R. Kaita, Y. Hirooka, D. Andruczyk, T. K. Gray and the NSTX-U Research team, Active radiative liquid lithium divertor concept, Fusion Engineering and Design, 89 (2014), 2838
• S. Jung, M. Christenson, D. Curreli, C. Bryniarski, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Development of a high energy pulsed plasma simulator for the study of liquid lithium trenches, Fusion Engineering and Design, 89 (2014), 2822
• E. Ritz, Y. L. Wu, J. Hong, D. Andruczyk, T. S. Cho and D. N. Ruzic, Atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) for post-annealing of aluminum doped zinc-oxide (AZO) film, Surface and Coatings Technology. 251 (2014), 64
• P. fiflis, D. Andruczyk, A. L. Roquemore, M. McGuire, D. Curreli, and D. N. Ruzic, Lithium pellet production (LiPP): A device for the production of small spheres of lithium, Review of Scientific Instruments, 84 (2013) 063506
• P. Fiflis, L. Kirsch, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli and D. N. Ruzic, Seebeck coefficient measurements on Li, Sn, Ta, Mo and W, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 438 (2013) 224
• W. Xu, D. Currelli, D. Andruczyk, T. Mui, R. Switts and D. N. Ruzic, Heat transfer of TEMHD driven lithium flow in stainless steel trenches, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 438 (2013), S422
• P. Raman, A. Groll, P. Fiflis, D. Curreli, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Chemical sputtering studies of lithiated ATJ graphite, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 438 (2013), S655
• W. M. Lytle, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Plasma Assisted cleaning by metastable-atom neutralization, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B, 31 (2013), 011603
• H. Ye, D. Andruczyk, D. N. Ruzic, V. Jindal and P. Kearney, Origin of defects on targets used to make extreme ultraviolet mask blanks, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, 32 (2013), 021403
• S. Jung, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Laboratory testing of vapor shielding for lithium-coated molybdenum in DEVeX, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 40 (3) (2012), 730
• D. N. Ruzic, W. Xu, D. Andruczyk and M. A. Jaworski, Lithium-metal infused trenches (LiMIT) for heat removal in fusion devices, Nuclear Fusion, 51 (2011), 102002
• V. Surla, M. Tung, W. Xu, D. Andruczyk, M. Neumann, D. N. Ruzic and D. Mansfield, Seebeck coefficient measurements of lithium isotopes, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 415 (2011) 18
• S. Jung, V. Surla, T. K. Gray, D. Andruczyk and D. N. Ruzic, Characterization of a theta-pinch plasma using triple probe diagnostics, Journal of Nuclear Materials, 415 (2011) S993
• S. M. Collis, R. Dall, J. Howard, D. Andruczyk and B. W. James, Validation of collisional radiative modelling of emission line ratios for helium beam plasma diagnostics, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 110 (2009), 340
• M. Blacksell, J. Wach, D. Anderson, J. Howard, S. M. Collis, B. D. Blackwell, D. Andruczyk and B. W. James, Imaging photopultiplier array with integrated amplifiers and high speed USB interface, Review of Scientific Instruments, 79 (2008), 10F506
• S. Namba, D. Andruczyk, K. Takiyama, D. Ueno, S. Furukawa and B. W. James, Development of a supersonic metastable helium pulsed beam source for plasma diagnostics, Journal of Applied Physics, 45 (10B) (2006), 8099
• D. Andruczyk, R. N. Tarrant, B. W. James, M. M. M. Bilek and G. B. Warr, Langmuir probe study of a titanium pulsed filtered cathodic arc discharge, Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 15 (2006) 533
• D. Andruczyk, S. Namba, B. W. James, K. Takiyama and T. Oda, A short-pulsed compact supersonic helium beam source for plasma diagnostics, Plasma Devices and Operations, 14 (1) (2006), 81
• X. P. Feng, D. Andruczyk, B. W. James, K. Takiyama, S. Namba and T. Oda, Effects of discharge current and voltage on high density metastable helium atoms, Chinese Journal of Physics, 12 (5) (2003), 495
• P. X. Feng, D. Andruczyk, B. W. James, K. Takiyama, S. Namba and T. Oda, High-density metastable helium atoms produced by Penning-type discharge, Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 12 (2003), 142
• D. Andruczyk, X. P. Feng, B. W. James and J. Howard, Comparison of hollow cathode and Penning discharges for metastable He production, Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 11 (2002), 426
• R. Cross, C. Lindsey and D. Andruczyk, Laboratory Testing of Tennis Strings, Sports Engineering, 3 (2000), 219

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• R. Maingi. E. D. Emdee, R. J. Goldston, A. Khodak, Z. Sun, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli, D. O'Dea, R. Rizkallah, S. Smolentsev, M. S. Islam, J. D. Lore, B. A. Pint, M. Romedene, E. Kolemen, F. Saenz, B. Wynne, Progress in a US-based liquid metal plasma-facing component design activity for a fusion nuclear science facility, Proceedings 2023 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Paper TEC/2-3.
• R. Maingi, D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli, J. Jun, J.D. Lore, C. E. Kessel, A. Khodak, E. Kolemen, D. O'Dea, B.A. Pint, S. Smolentsev, Z. Sun, D.L. Youchison, Progress in a US-based Liquid Metal Plasma-Facing Component Design Activity for a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility, Proceedings, 2021 European Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Paper P3.1029
• J. Sporre, D. Elg, D. Andruczyk, T. Cho, D. N. Ruzic, S. N. Srivastava and D. C. Brandt, In-situ Sn contamination removal by hydrogen plasma, Proceedings of Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, 8322 (2012), 83222L-1
• T. Cardinal, D. Andruczyk, H. Yu, V. Jindal, P. Kearney, D. N. Ruzic, Modeling the ion beam target interaction to reduce defects generated by ion beam deposition, Proceedings of Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, 8322 (2012), 83222Q
• D. Andruczyk, J. Sporre, D. Elg, T. Cho, D. N. Ruzic, Energetic ion and neutral energy analyzer for extreme-ultraviolet light sources, Proceedings of Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers, 8322 (2012) 832237
• R. Sangines, D. Andruczyk, R. N. Tarrant, M. M. M. Bilek and D. R. Mckenzie, Characterization of a filtered high current pulsed cathodic arc plasma source: Plasma Transport analysis, American Institute of Physics Conference  Proceedings,  993 (2008), 337-340
• M. Otte, D. Andruczyk, J. Howard, R. Konig, L. Krupnik, H. P. laqua, O. Lischtschenko, S. Marsen, J. Urban, Y. Y. Podoba, J. Preinhalter, F. Wagner, G. B. Warr and A. Zhazhera, The WEGA stellarator: Results and prospects, American Institute of Physics  Conference Proceedings, 993 (2008), 3-10
• M. Otte, D. Andruczyk, A. Komarov, A. Kozachek, L. Krupnik, H. P. Laqua, O. Lischtschenko, S. Marsen, Y. Y. Podoba, M. Schubert, F. Wagner, G. B. Warr and A. Zhazhera, Experimental results from the WEGA stellarator, 34th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics, 31F (2007), P-2.145

Invited Lectures

• Advancing Liquid Metal Plasma-Facing Component Technologies in the LM-ARMOR FIRE collaborative program
• Lithium: A Solution for the First Wall in Fusion Reactors
• Summary of Results from the U.S. Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Components (LMPFC) Development Program
• Material Needs for Inertial Fusion Energy
• Overview of Liquid Metal Research at the Center for Plasma Material Interactions.
• HIDRA Steady State Plasmas for Plasma Material Interaction (PMI) Studies and Technology Development
• Using Liquid Lithium for Fusion Reactor Operations
• A Path Towards a Flowing Liquid Lithium Divertor
• Why the Sun and Stars work: The Case for Using Liquid Lithium for Fusion Reactor Operations
• Brief Overview of Liquid Metal Research at the Center for Plasma Material Interactions (CPMI)
• Lithium Vapor Shielding in Plasma Facing Component (PFC)
• Liquid Lithium as a Plasma Facing Material (PFM) to Drive a Path to a Viable Fusion Power Plant
• Nuclear Fusion: Putting a Star in a Magnetic Bottle
• Liquid lithium: a plasma facing material to drive a path to a viable fusion power plant
• Overview of Results from Helium Retention Experiments with Lithium in the HIDRA Stellarator
• Liquid Metal Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Increased Plasma Performance with Liquid Lithium in Quasi-steady-state Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) Plasmas
• Can the Helium Ash Problem be Solved Using Flowing Liquid Lithium?
• HIDRA and Fusion Research at the University of Illinois
• Can Using Liquid Lithium as a Plasma Facing Component (PFC) Drive a path to a Viable Fusion Power?
• Overview of Liquid Metal Research at the University of Illinois
• Why is Nuclear Fusion seen as the Energy of the Future
• Review of Single Effect Experiments for the National Liquid Metal PFC (Plasma Facing Component) Program

Magazine Articles

• D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli, J.P. Allain, D. Ruzic, Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA), US Burning Plasma Organization, eNews, Issue 96, May 31, 2015

Reports

• N. A. Pablant, D. Anderson, J. K. Anderson, S. Anderson, D. Andruczyk, et. al, “The Compelling Need for a Mid-Scale Stellarator Facility”, National Stellarator Coordinating Committee, USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), PPPL-2024-394
• Report of the National Stellarator Coordinating Committee - Stellarator Research opportunities - Wrote the section: Plasma Material Interactions (PMI) issues in 3D Fusion Systems

Journal Editorships

• Guest Editor - Journal of Fusion Energy (JoFE) - Special Issue for 9th International Symposium on Liquid Metals Applications for Fusion (ISLA-9) - 2026

Conferences Organized or Chaired

• Chair, 7th US-Japan Workshop on "Power and Particle Control in a Steady State Magnetic Fusion DEMO Reactor by Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Components" University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, February 16-18, 2028, Urbana, IL
• Technical Area Coordinator (TAC), IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS), May 16-20, 2027, Long Beach, CA
• Member local organizing committee (LOC), Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) 2026, Hilton Chicago, November 2-6, 2026, Chicago, IL
• Chair, 6th International Symposium on Liquid Metals Applications for Fusion (ISLA), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, September 30-October 3, 2019, Urbana, IL

Presentations

• D. Andruczyk, A. Shone, S. Stemmley, D. O’Dea, N. Mihajlov, S. Gula, M. Bradley, G. M. Le, J. Bramble, A. Khomiakov, G. Diaz, D. Curreli and D. N. Ruzic, Liquid Lithium as a Plasma Facing Material (PFM) to Drive a Path to a Viable Fusion Power Plant, 50th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics, Salamanca, Spain, 8-12 July, 2024
• D. Andruczyk, D. Curreli, M. Sankaran, M. R. Bradley, J. Bramble, G. Diaz, S. Gula, A. Khomiakov, G. M. Le, N. Mihajlov, D. O'Dea, H. X. Yu, D. N. Ruzic, Liquid metal research at the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions (CPMI) at the University of Illinois, 66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Atlanta, GA, October 7-11, 2024
• D. Andruczyk, R. Rizkallah, A. Shone, D. Curreli, R. Maingi, F. Romano and T. W. Morgan, Lithium Vapor Shielding in PFCs, 8th International Symposium on Liquid Metals Applications for Fusion (ISLA), Hefei, China, September 8-12, 2024
• N. Mihajlov, A. Shone, G. M. Le, M. Bradley, S. Gula, R. Maingi, D. Andruczyk, Results from the Helium Retention Mechanism Experiment in a Stellarator (HeRMES) Campaign, 8th International Symposium on Liquid Metals Applications for Fusion (ISLA), Hefei, China, September 8-12, 2024
• D. Andruczyk, M. Bradley, J. Bramble, D. Curreli, G. Diaz, S. Gula, K. Kawashimo, A. Khomiakov, G. M. Le, N. Mihajlov, B. Moore, D. O’Dea, R. Rizkallah, D. N. Ruzic, A. Shone, H. X. Yu, Brief Overview of Liquid Metal Research at the Center for Plasma Material Interactions (CPMI), 5th US-Japan Workshop on Power and Particle Control in a Steady State Magnetic Fusion DEMO Reactor by Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Components, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, February 17-19, 2025
• D. Andruczyk, N. Mihajlov, G. M. Le, H. X. Yu, S. Gula, M. Bradley, R. Maingi, Z. Sun, J. S. Hu, G. Z. Zuo, M. Morbey, T. W. Morgan and A. Shone, Overview of Helium Retention Results with Lithium, 31st Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE), Boston, MA, June 21-26, 2025
• D. Andruczyk, Liquid Metal, Material and Technology Compatibility, FES Liquid Metal Plasma Facing Components for a Liquid Metal Core Edge Program Strategy Workshop (LMCE), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ, January 22-23, 2026
• D. Andruczyk, M. Bradley, D. Curreli, A. De Castro, S. Gula, S. Kamrava, K. Kawashimo, A. Khodak, E. Kolemen, G. M. Le, R. Maingi, N. Mihajlov, M. Morbey, T. W. Morgan, D. O’Dea, L. Olson, R. Rizkallah, F. Romano, D. N. Ruzic, A. Shone, S. Smolentsev, S. Stemmley, P. Tahmasebi, Z.Sun, H. X. Yu, An Overview of Lithium and PSI/PMI Results from the HIDRA Team, 27th International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions in Controlled Fusion Devices (PSI), Regensburg, Germany, May 17-22, 2026
• D. Andruczyk, J. Cecrdle, D. Curreli, G. Diaz, S. Gula, K. Kawashimo, S. Kamrava, G. M. Le, R. Maingi, N. Mihajlov, L. Olson, D. N. Ruzic, P. Tahmasebi, Long-pulse Operation with Liquid Lithium in HIDRA, 9th International Symposium on Liquid Metal Applications in Fusion Devices (ISLA), Eindhoven, The Netherlands, September 14-18.2026
• D. Andruczyk, D. Boeyaert, S. Gula, G. M. Le, J. Cecrdle, Potential Non-Resonant Divertor (NRD) Resiliency Studies in HIDRA, 68th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, Chicago, IL, November 2-6, 2026

Professional Societies

• Member European Physical Society (EPS): 2024-Present
• Member of American Vacuum Society (AVS): 2017-Present
• Member of American Nuclear Society (ANS): 2017-Present
• Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE): 2011-Present
• Member of American Physical Society (APS):  2010-Present

Service on Department Committees

• NPRE Search Committee for Research Program Coordinator, 2024
• NPRE Search Committee for IPI Research Professor, 2023
• NPRE Search Committee for Master of Engineering in Energy Systems Teaching Faculty, 2023
• NPRE Search Committee for Visiting Research Scientists, 2019

Service on College Committees

• Served on the Grainger College of Engineering committee on Specialized Faculty Professional Development, 2022
• NPRE Representative on the College of Engineering Safety Committee, 2018-Present

Service on Campus Committees

• Served on an integrity committee looking into research misconduct, 2025

Service to Federal and State Government

• NSTX-U Program Advisory Committee (PAC) 43, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), 2025-Present
• Committee for the national strategy for liquid metal research, Department of Energy (DOE), 2019
• Discussion Panel Leader for the National Academy of Sciences Working Group 1. This was part of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research, 2018

Other Outside Service

• Senior Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) for Renaissance Fusion 2026-2028
• Fusion Technology Standing Committee (FTC) of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, 2021-2024
• University Fusion Association (UFA) Executive Committee Member, 2020-2022

Teaching Honors

• Outstanding Teacher Ranking (Fall 2017)

Improvement Activities

• Grainger Research Exploration Fair, Fall 2026
• Faculty Development - Building the Base: Principles of Productive Discourse, 2025
• Engineering Research Fair and International Research Symposium, Fall 2023

Recent Courses Taught

• ENG 572 - Professional Practicum
• ENG 573 - Capstone Project
• NPRE 101 (ENVS 101) - Introduction to Energy Sources
• NPRE 201 (GLBL 201) - Energy Systems
• NPRE 321 - Intro to Plasmas & Application
• NPRE 498 FG4 (NPRE 498 FU3) - Fusion Engr & Device Operation
• NPRE 526 - Plasma-Material Interactions
• NPRE 527 (ECE 523) - Plasma Tech of Gaseous Elec