Işıl Alev
Ph.D. Student
Industrial & Systems Engineering
Ms. Işıl Alev is a Ph.D. Candidate in the H. Milton Steward School of Industrial & Systems Engineering. She earned a B.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering at Middle East Technical University in Turkey in 2009 and a M.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2012. Her current research interest is in sustainable operations with the focus on environmental and public health policies. She mainly focuses on the effective implementation of environmental and public health policies for different product categories such as electronics and pharmaceuticals. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Işıl is interested in studying the effect of environmental and public health policies on the technology development and security and hopes to extend her research interests by discovering research needs in this field
Philip Baxter
Ph.D. Student
International Affairs, Science, and Technology
Mr. Philip Baxter is currently a Ph.D. student in the International Affairs, Science, and Technology program in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. He completed a B.A. in Political Science and History at Grove City College in Pennsylvania and earned a Master's degree in Public Policy, with a focus in national security policy, from George Mason University in Virginia. Prior to joining the Nunn School, Phil worked in a variety of international security related positions in Washington, D.C., including serving as a researcher at the National Defense University and as a Nonproliferation Fellow at the National Nuclear Security Administration. His current research focuses on international security issues, with a particular emphasis on nuclear proliferation, arms control, tacit knowledge transfers, energy policy, US/China/Russia relations, nuclear safeguards, and social network theory.
Jennifer Beveridge
Ph.D. Student
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ms. Jen Beveridge is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2011. Her current research involves lipid-phase catalysis for bioorthoganal click chemistry reactions. As a Sam Security Nunn Fellow, Jen is eager to study the influence of bioterrorism and cyber attacks on national and international policy and research priorities.
Ian Campbell
Postdoctoral Fellow
Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Ian Campbell is a postdoctoral fellow in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, where he also received his Ph.D. He also holds a position in Rehabilitation Research & Development at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Ian works with Dr. C. Ross Ethier at Georgia Tech and with Dr. Machelle Pardue at the Atlanta Veterans Administration (VA) researching novel biomechanically-inspired treatments for glaucoma, a currently incurable disease affecting almost 60 million people worldwide. Previously, he has worked as a science journalist at The Oregonian, a daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, he hopes to better develop his understanding of biotechnology policy as well as national scientific funding priorities.
Marc Canellas
Ph.D. Student
Aerospace Engineering
Mr. Marc Canellas is Ph.D. student in the School of Aerospace Engineering. He earned an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2014 and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 2012. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Goizueta Foundation Fellow, Marc is currently performing research in both the Cognitive Engineering Center (CEC) and the German Research Group (GRG). For the CEC, he is simulating how incomplete information affects the accuracy and effort of decision making strategies in order to design novel decision support techniques. For the GRG, he is modeling business cases and aviation technologies to develop value models for future on-demand aviation systems. In 2011, Marc spent a summer in Washington, D.C., studying U.S. human space exploration policy. As a Sam Nunn Security Security Fellow, Marc is excited to be studying technology policy again and plans to explore the use of military UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), or drones, in international conflicts.
Ninrat Datiri
Ph.D. Student
Electrical Engineering
Mr. Ninrat Datiri is a Ph.D. Student in Electrical Engineering. Ninrat received an B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. His current research is in low-power VLSI design while primarily focusing on the design and implementation of fully integrated voltage regulators (IVR) for enhanced distributed power delivery and management units (PDU) architectures for 2D and 3D Integrated Circuits 3DICs. In addition, he has had industrial lab experience at IBM’s pSeries Server Disk Drive Qualification and Integration Lab, Hewlett Packard’s System VLSI Lab, and Intel Corporation’s Massachusetts Microprocessor Design Center. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Ninrat hopes to study and explore policies that impact the interoperability, scalability, and global connectivity of Visible Light Communication for potential future use attributed to societal adaptation.
Brian Doyle
Ph.D. Student
Materials Science and Engineering
Mr. Brian Doyle is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. After graduating from Rutgers University in 2012 with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering, his research has focused on interfacial conduction mechanism for electrolytes in solid oxide fuel cells. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, he looks forward to studying the national and international implications of energy generation strategies and policies.
Yeong Jae Kim
Ph.D. Student
Public Policy
Mr. Yeong Jae Kim is a 4th year Ph.D. student in the School of Public Policy. He received an M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University and his B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University in South Korea. His current research interests lie in connections between policies promoting energy efficiency and the pace and direction of technological innovation. It is crucial to understand how energy efficiency policies could promote technological innovation or lag behind the development of technologies. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Yeong Jae is interested in investigating the impact of ENERGY STAR, a voluntary energy labeling program, on technology development.
Lin Li
Ph.D. Student
Aerospace Engineering
Ms. Lin Li is a graduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology studying Aerospace Engineering. Before attending Georgia Tech, Lin earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology. She is a member of the Space Systems Design Laboratory under mentorship of Dr. Robert Braun. Lin received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue research focused on the development of new Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator configurations to enable future high mass missions to Mars. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Lin hopes to gain a greater understanding of how national policies and funding affect the technological development of NASA and industry in the United States.
Nassir Mokarram-Dorri
Ph.D. Student
Biomedical Engineering
Mr. Nassir Mokarram is a PhD student in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received a B.S. degree in Polymer Engineering and an M.S. degree in Polymer Nanotechnology from Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran. His current research is on developing advanced materials for translatable bioengineering application, particularly for neural-tissue engineering and understanding how modulating the immune response immediately after injury influences the healing process. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Nassir is interested to explore issues at the intersection of biomedical research, biosecurity, and public policy.
Drew Owen
Ph.D. Student
Mechanical Engineering
Mr. Drew Owen is a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering program, with a home school in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. His thesis work is the design, fabrication and testing of a new method for extracting Salmonella from complex fluid samples in a manner that is faster, cheaper and more portable than what is currently used in food safety testing. Drew obtained a BSME from Georgia Tech, with a supplementary focus in anatomy and biology. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Drew is interested in studying the costs of healthcare and the potential impact of point-of-care medical diagnostics.
Ben Rainwater
Ph.D. Student
Materials Science and Engineering
Mr. Ben Rainwater is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2006 and a M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2012. Ben is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and is studying in the areas of ceramics processing, electrochemistry, and solid state ionics. His research includes development of materials for durable and inexpensive alternative energy technologies with a focus on batteries and fuel cells. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Ben is interested in the role of science and technology for economic development at the state, national, and international levels.
Mehdi Rashidi
Ph.D. Student
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Mr. Mehdi Rashidi is a Ph.D. student in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He earned a B.Sc. from Isfahan University of Technology, a M.Eng. Sharif University of Technology, and a M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University, all in Civil Engineering. His current research includes using of nonlinear ultrasound for microcrack detection in the cementitious materials. As a Sam Nunn Security Fellow, Mehdi is interested in studying the policy issues in the process of extending research from academia to the industry and construction codes.