Ammon Williams (Ph.D. '16) has been selected to receive the award for best paper published in Applied Spectroscopy in 2018 on the topic of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Williams is a graduate of VCU’s dual mechanical and nuclear engineering doctoral program, the only such Ph.D. program in the U.S.

Williams, now a staff scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory, authored “Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Measurement of Uranium in Molten Salt,” which appeared in the June 2018 issue of Applied Spectroscopy. Supathorn Phongikaroon, Ph.D., associate professor of nuclear engineering and director of nuclear engineering programs at VCU, co-authored the paper.

The award will be formally presented in a special ceremony at the Society for Applied Spectroscopy’s national meeting in Palm Springs, California, Oct. 15, 2019.