ABOUT US

Dr. Gregory Piefer - Founder

Dr. Piefer holds a Ph.D in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison which he completed in December of 2006. He also holds BS degrees in Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While completing his Ph.D he served as Chief Technical Officer to Gillware Inc., a leading data recovery and backup company. In Nov. of 2005 he founded Phoenix Nuclear Labs LLC, which was created to commercialize breakthrough sources of nuclear particles. He is privileged to work on many scientific developments that now offer the opportunity to serve humanity.

Dr. Ross Radel - President

Dr. Radel holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison which he completed in May of 2007. While at the UW, Dr. Radel worked to develop fusion-based neutron sources for use in detection of clandestine material, including highly enriched uranium. After graduation, he accepted a position at Sandia National Laboratories, where he worked on experimental and computational projects related to space nuclear reactors, radiation damage, and advanced power conversion systems. Dr. Radel has been with PNL since October 2010, and became President in July 2011.

Theodore J. Staub, P.E - Director of Engineering

Ted brings to PNL his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and thirty years of experience in designing and building reliable high voltage power supplies for tough environments.  Ted started his career path in the production of air-to-air missile electronics for Raytheon. After producing highly-reliable airborne high voltage power supplies used in US Navy radar transmitters for Texas Instruments, Ted designed the power subsystem for two NASA missions to Mars for Lockheed Martin.  As a Senior Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Ted advanced the high voltage power supply technology for downlink transmitters used on numerous commercial spacecraft. For the past eight years, Ted has been designing and building highly reliable high voltage power supplies used in satellite uplink microwave transmitters for MCL, Inc. Ted has been a member of the I.E.E.E. for 31 years and is a registered professional engineer.

Dr. Evan Sengbusch - Director of Business Development

Dr. Sengbusch holds an MS and PhD in Medical Physics and an MBA in Strategic Management in the Life and Engineering Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While at the UW, he received fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense. He has worked in business development on a consulting basis for several early stage technology companies with applications including ultrasound imaging, vital signs monitoring, radiation therapy, and medical radioisotope production. Dr. Sengbusch has technical experience developing a new accelerator and treatment system for proton therapy, working in the Accelerator Technology Division at CERN, and conducting research at the Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Center at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Thomas "Rock" Mackie - Advisor

Dr. Thomas "Rock" Mackie received his BSc degree in Physics from the University of Saskatchewan in 1980. He has a doctorate in Physics from the University of Alberta in 1984. His expertise is in radiation therapy treatment planning and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. He is an inventor and algorithm designer for the TomoTherapy concept. Dr. Mackie is a professor in the departments of Medical Physics, Human Oncology, and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Mackie has around 130 peer-reviewed publications, 25 patents, and has been the supervisor for more than 25 Ph.D. students. His research recently has concentrated on proton intensity modulated radiotherapy and the dielectric wall accelerator concept for creating a compact proton source for radiotherapy. Dr. Mackie is a member of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists and the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and a member at large of the AAPM Science Council. Dr. Mackie has won the Farrington Daniel’s award (twice) from the AAPM and the Sylvia Fedoruk award from the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists. Dr. Mackie’s group and first spin-off company developed the Pinnacle™ treatment planning system marketed by Philips Medical. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of TomoTherapy, Inc. that employs about 650 people and is based in Madison. He is also on the Boards of BioIonix, Cellectar, and ESCAPX corporations and on the advisory boards of 5D Research and Phoenix Nuclear. He is a co-manager of the Wisconsin Investment Partners, a Madison-based angel investment group.

Dr. Harrison Schmitt - Advisor

Dr. Harrison Schmitt has a diverse professional background having served as a geologist, pilot, astronaut, businessman, writer and United States Senator. Selected for the Scientist-Astronaut Program in 1965, he organized the lunar science training for the Apollo astronauts, represented the crews during the development of hardware and procedures for lunar surface exploration, and oversaw the final preparation of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage. He served a Mission Scientist in support of the Apollo 11 mission. After training as back-up Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, Dr. Schmitt flew in space as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 17 – the last Apollo mission to the Moon. He was the only scientist and the last of twelve men to step onto the Moon. He served in the U.S. Senate, continues to work in science, aerospace and business, and chaired the NASA Advisory Council from 2005-2008. Schmitt is the author of “Return to the Moon” (Copernicus-Praxis 2006), a book advocating a private sector initiative to develop lunar helium-3 fusion power for use on Earth.

Phoenix Nuclear Labs team in front of the FLAME neutron generator. From left: Chris Seyfert, Ted Staub, Arne Kobernik, Pam Uchytil, Ross Radel, Casey Lamers, Logan Campbell, Greg Piefer.