Lt Col Jesse Foster, PhD
Deputy Department Head/Assistant Professor of Applied Physics
Lt Col Foster is an experienced Air Force officer and has held various leadership roles in his 19-year career to include time with the F-22 program office, the Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. Currently, he leads as the Deputy Department Head, teaches physics and nuclear engineering courses, and advises several graduate students. He is also a member of the American Nuclear Society, Tau Beta Pi, IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society, and the American Physical Society. Lastly, he is a reviewer for the Physics of Plasmas and IEEE's Transactions on Plasma Science journals.
Lt Col Foster's research areas include: pulsed power, diode physics, plasma physics, radiation effects on electronics, and nuclear weapon effects. He is always seeking interested graduate students (MS and PhD) to perform either experimental and/or computational research. Much of this work is performed in collaboration with a variety of organizations including, but not limited to, the Air Force and Naval Research Laboratories and Sandia National Laboratory. Please contact him via email (jesse.foster@us.af.mil) if you are interested in learning more.
Education
PhD, Applied Physics, Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), 2023
- Dissertation: "Investigations of Ion Beam Quality From Cylindrical and Planar Pulsed Power Pinched-Beam Diodes
MS, Nuclear Engineering, AFIT, 2011
- Thesis: "Radiation Effects on the Electrical Properties of Halfnium Oxide Based MOS Capacitors"
BS, Nuclear Engineering, Purdue Univeristy, 2005
Awards
Military
- Meritorious Service Medal (2016, 2019)
- Air Force Commendation Medal (2009, 2014, 2018)
- Air Force Achievement Medal (2013)
- Meritorious Unit Award (2018)
- Air Force Organizational Excellence Award (2013, 2015, 2017)
Academic
- Military Officer Association of America's (MOAA) Outstanding Military Professor Award for 2023
- Student paper award finalist (Top 5/100 papers) at IEEE's Pulsed Power Conference (2023)
- Nominated for IEEE Arthur H. Guenther Pulsed Power Student Award (2023)
- Nominated for IEEE Igor Alexeff Outstanding Student in Plasma Science Award (2022)
- Best Student Paper Honorable Mention, IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (2022)
- American Nuclear Society's Thesis Award - Best Master's Thesis (2011)
Publications
[3] J. C. Foster, J. W. McClory, S. B. Swanekamp, and P. F. Ottinger “Particle-In-Cell Simulations of Ion Beam Properties Produced from a Planar Pinched-Beam Diode,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 90-103, Jan. 2023 doi: 10.1109/TPS.2022.3229285
[2] J. C. Foster, J. W. McClory, S. B. Swanekamp, D. D. Hinshelwood, A. S. Richardson, P. E. Adamson, J. W. Schumer, R. W. James, P. F. Ottinger and D. Mosher, “Particle-in-cell simulations of ion dynamics in a pinched-beam diode,” Physics of Plasmas, 29, 053103, May 2022 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0089904
[1] J. C. Foster, J. W. McClory, J. C. Petrosky, E. Bielejec, “Radiation Effects on the Electrical Properties of Hafnium Oxide Based MOS Capacitors”, Journal of Radiation Effects, Research and Engineering, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 113-118, February 2012