Dr. Gaiven Varshney
Research Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Dr. Varshney is a Research Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering in the Department of Engineering Physics (ENP) at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). She is the Co-Chair of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) distance learning Graduate Certificate Program and affiliated member of Nuclear Expertise for Advancing Technologies (NEAT) Center. Her current research focuses on the investigation of debris from nuclear weapons accidents and cold nuclear tests for detecting nuclear forensics signatures assisting in the nuclear-related mission of the U.S. This work strengthens nation’s capability to preserve nuclear forensic evidence and utilize forensics techniques for nuclear attribution. In addition, Dr. Varshney’s research interests also include characterization of actinide oxide-based semiconductors for solid-state neutron detection, nanomaterials, organic pollutants, and environmental remediation.
Education
Ph.D., Applied Chemistry Department of Applied Chemistry, Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, A.M.U. Aligarh, India, 2008
M.P., Applied Chemistry, Department of Applied Chemistry, Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, A.M.U. Aligarh, India, 2004
M.S., Analytical Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, 2003
Awards
Academic
- Graduate School 3rd Quarter Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Team Award (2022)
- Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) Promising Professional Award. Recognized in SASE’s magazine and website (2021)
- Recognized by Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)/Nuclear Science Engineering Research Center (NSERC). (2020)
- Graduate School 3rd Quarter CY20 Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Team award. (2020)
- AETC Nuclear Deterrence Operations Professional Team of the Year Award. (2019)
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
[12] Aaron Heffelfinger, Gaiven Varshney, Abigail Bickley and James Petrosky, “Study of radioactive particles in soil contaminated by the BOMARC nuclear weapon accident”, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 331, 5393–5400 (2022)
[11] James Petrosky, Gaiven Varshney, Jeremy Slagley, Sara Shaghaghi, “Reinvigorating a Technical Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Distance Learning Graduate Certificate Program”, USANCA Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Journal, Issue 23, in December 2021
[10] Gaiven Varshney, James C Petrosky, Sushil Kanel, and Mallikarjuna Nadagouda, “A Review on the Removal and Recovery of Uranium (VI) from Nuclear Wastes, Soil and Water”, (Manuscript is under preparation for the submission to the journal of Groundwater for Sustainable Development)
[9] G. Daniel, G. Varshney, A. Holland, J. McClory and A. Bickley, “A machine learning approach to characterizing particle morphology in nuclear forensics”, Journal of Radiation Effects, Research and Engineering, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 141-148, April 2021
[8] J. Cezeaux, G. Varshney, A. Bickley and J. C. Petrosky, “Morphological Classification and Analysis of Fuel Bearing Debris from a Non-Critical Event”, Journal of Radiation Effects, Research and Engineering, Vol 1, 2020. (S//RD)
[7] Gaiven Varshney, Jason Cezeaux, and James C Petrosky, “Investigation of Fissile Materials Collected from a Non-Critical Nuclear Explosion Site using Non-destructive Analytical Techniques”, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 2018, 318 (1) 505-513.
[6] Gaiven Varshney, David M. Kempisty, Sushil R. Kanel, Endalkachew S. Demessie, Rajender S. Varma, Mallikarjuna Nadagouda, Abinash Agrawal, and Vikas Varshney, “A Nanoscale TiO2 films and their Application in Remediation of Organic Pollutants”, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 2016, 306, 43-64
[5] Charu Varshney, Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, Khwaja Ishratullah, and Subhash Chandra Mojumdar, “Synthesis, Characterization, Fungicidal and Bacterial Activity of Metal diethyldithiocarbamate Fungicides”, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 2008, 94 (1), 75
[4] Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, Khwaja Ishratullah, “Assessment of the Movement of some Dithiocarbamate Fungicides by Soil Thin-Layer Chromatography”, Indian Journal of Chemical Technology, 2007, 14 (2), 400.
[3] Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, Khwaja Ishratullah, “A Simple Suspension Phase Volumetry for the Determination of some Dithiocarbamate Fungicides in their Formulations”, Journal of Rural Technology, 2007, 3(3), 93-99
[2] Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, Subhash Chandra Mojumdar and Saleh M. T. Synthesis, “Characterization and Fungicidal Activity of Zinc diethyldithiocarbamate and Phosphate”, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 2007, 90 (3) 681
[1] Gaiven Varshney and Hamir Singh Rathore, “A New Spot Test for the Detection of Dithiocarbamate Fungicides in Soil and Water”, Journal of Indian Chemical Society, 2005, 82, 926
Presentations & Conference Proceedings
[19] Gaiven Varshney, American Chemical Society ACS Conference, August 21–25, 2022 attended.
[18] Gaiven Varshney, XXX International Materials Research Congress Conference, Cancuun, Mexico, August 14-19, 2022, attended.
[17] Gaiven Varshney, Optical Sensors and Sensing Congress Conference, July 11–15 July 2022 attended.
[16] Gaiven Varshney, Aaron Heffelfinger, Abigail Bickley and James Petrosky “Study of weapons accident debris for nuclear forensics” for the oral presentation at the Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC XII) Conference, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, April 2022.
[15] Gaiven Varshney, HEART conference, March 2022 attended with AFIT faculty and Students.
[14] Gaiven Varshney, Aaron Heffelfinger, Abigail Bickley and James Petrosky “Analysis of BOMARC non-critical weapons accident debris” virtual oral presentation at the NuFor 2021Nuclear Forensics Conference, Institute of Physics, London, United Kingdom, Oct 13-14, 2021.
[13] Gaiven Varshney, Aaron Heffelfinger, Abigail Bickley and James Petrosky, “Analysis of BOMARC non-critical weapons accident debris”, oral presentation at the American Chemical society Fall 21 Conference.
[12] G. Daniel, G. Varshney, A. Holland, J. McClory and A. Bickley, entitled “A machine learning approach to characterizing particle morphology in nuclear forensics” for the presentation at HEART conference, 2020. *Abstract was accepted for the presentation at the conference, but conference got cancelled due to Covid19 but presented in 2021).
[11] Gaiven Varshney, Jason R Cezeaux, Abigail Bickely and James C Petrosky, “Detection, Morphological Characterization, and Classification of Environmental Actinide Bearing Particles Formed by a Non-critical Weapon Test”, Joint DTRA/CWMD NPTR Meeting Sept 23- 27, 2019
[10] Jason Cezeaux, Gaiven Varshney, Abigail Bickley and James Petrosky “Morphological Classification and Analysis of Fuel Bearing Debris from a Non-Critical Event”, presented at HEART conference, April 2019 (S//RD).
[9] Gaiven Varshney, Jason R Cezeaux, Abigail Bickley, and James C Petrosky. Presentation on “Morphological and Elemental Characterization of Environmental Actinide Bearing Particles Formed by a Non-Nuclear Weapon Accidents”, Spring 2019 ACS conference, Orlando FL.
[8] Gaiven Varshney, Jason R Cezeaux, and James C Petrosky, Poster presentation on “Investigation of Fissile Materials Collected from a Non-critical Nuclear Explosion Site using Non-destructive Analytical Techniques”. Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC XI) Conference, April 2018, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
[7] Jason R Cezeaux, Gaiven Varshney, and James C Petrosky. Poster presentation on “A Comparison of Nuclear Accident Particles”, Methods and Applications of Radioanalytical Chemistry (MARC XI) Conference, April 2018, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
[6] Gaiven Varshney, Jason Cezeaux, and James C Petrosky. Oral presentation on “Separation and Characterization of Fissile Materials in Non-Nuclear Detonations for Nuclear Forensic Analysis”. Interagency Technical Nuclear Forensics Program Review (ITNFPR), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, July 2017, Oak Ridge, TN.
[5] Gaiven Varshney, Elisabeth Martin, Soryong Chae, Nikki Kesav, and Maillarjuna Nadagouda, Poster presentation on “Phosphate Removal and Recovery using Drinking Water Plant Waste Residuals” 47th Central Regional Meeting of American Chemical Society, May 2016, Covington, KY
[4] Gaiven Varshney, Mallikarjuna Nadagouda, Changseok Han and Nikki Kesav, Poster Presentation on “Resource Recovery and Reuse: Recycled Magnetically Separable Iron-based Catalysts for Phosphate Recovery and Arsenic Removal”, 251st American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, March 2016, San Diego, CA.
[3] Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, and Khwaja Ishratullah, “Mobility and Adsorption of Diethyldithiocarbamate on Soil and Soil Containing Charcoal”, 25th Conference of Indian Council of Chemists at Birla College of Arts, Science and Commerce, December 2006, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA.
[2] Gaiven Varshney, Charu Varshney, and Hamir Singh Rathore. “A Simple Suspension Phase Volumetry for the Determination of Dithiocarbamate Fungicides in their Formulations”, 25th Conference of Indian Council of Chemists at Birla College of Arts, Science and Commerce, December 2006, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA.
[1] Subhash Chandra Mojumdar, Gaiven Varshney, Hamir Singh Rathore, and M.T. Saleh, “Synthesis, Characterization and Fungicidal Activity of Zinc Diethyldithiocarbamate and Phosphate” 16th Annual Workshop & Exhibition, Canadian Thermal Analysis Society, May 2006, Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA.