CHEE Seminar: Michael McBride
Monday, November 20, 2023 – 3:00 p.m.
Michael McBride, PhD
Staff Scientist
Los Alamos National Laboratory
“Applied Electrochemistry to Shock Physics, Scintillator Arrays and Beyond”
Speech & Hearing Building, Room 205
Social Hour immediately following the seminar in Old Engineering 157 (Graduate Student Lounge) at 4:00 p.m.
ABSTRACT
What is the connection between electrochemistry and shock physics, scintillator arrays, and space instrumentation? This talk will discuss the application of electrodeposition/electroplating to these topics in terms of R&D occurring at Los Alamos National Laboratory. While electroplating has made significant progress since its discovery in the early 1800’s, many fundamental mechanistic questions remain. This talk will focus on controlling nucleation and growth processes at the cathode interface to deposit a range of metals including copper, gold, silver, and rhenium at thicknesses from the micron to mm scale. Specifically, both electrolyte development and electrochemical process development will be discussed.
BIOSKETCH
Dr. Mike McBride earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona before pursuing a Ph.D., also in chemical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His graduate work focused on solution control of conjugated polymer self-assembly processes for organic electronic applications. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Electrochemistry and Corrosion Team before converting to a full-time scientist. He continues to work in process development with activities ranging from the beaker to manufacturing scale.