S.M.A.R.T. Lab -

Holly K. Gersch
MS-NE 2002; Holly Gersch graduated with a Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the SMART Lab in 2002, before the lab was moved from the University of Michigan to Kansas State University. Holly was the first SMART Laboratory student, and did much to help build up the SMART Lab reputation and size. She was also a recipient of a prestigious DOE Nuclear Energy Fellowship. Holly's master's research involved radiation hardness studies of GaAs-based thermal neutron detectors, where she measured the responses of the devices to various levels of thermal and fast neutrons, and to various doses of gamma ray irradiation. She was meticulous with every detail, and an outstanding researcher. With great sadness for us all, Holly died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on June 30, 2008. Advisor: Douglas S. McGregor

Holly Gersch is operating an MCA to take data from a boron-coated GaAs neutron detector at a nuclear reactor beam port (Ford Nuclear Reactor).