Dr. Henry Chu helps save lives by blowing things up. He has been an armor researcher at INL for over 25 years.

INL engineers and materials scientists are designing, validating, and manufacturing unique armor prototypes that increase protection while simultaneously reducing weight and production costs. Over the last 25 years, many of the lab’s armor designs have been used around the world to safeguard people, vehicles, and facilities.

Amber Hoover is a research scientist for the Idaho National Laboratory’s Biofuels and Renewable Energy Technologies Department. Her research focuses on the challenge of using non-grain, lignocellulosic biomass for conversion to fuels and products. Hoover’s team at INL specifically measures physical and chemical characteristics of a variety of crops to determine how these characteristics impact the conversion using a biochemical pathway.

She received two degrees in biology – her bachelor’s degree from Penn State University and her master’s degree from Idaho State University.

Hoover sees her work at INL as a part of a larger overall effort to develop technologies for advanced biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass (i.e., non-grain plant material). When difficulty presents itself in Hoover’s work tasks, she turns her focus toward a project or a part of her job that brings excitement in order to become re-inspired, allowing her to revisit the difficult project or situation with renewed energy.

In giving advice to one seeking a similar career path, Hoover said, “I would suggest taking advantage of opportunities to gain hands-on experience. You can get insight into the types of skills you need to work in this field by doing research at a university or other research lab, participating in internship programs, or taking part in other real-world experiences. It also gives you context for the coursework you may be doing in school.”

Aaron Wilson recently led a team that developed Switchable Polarity Solvent Forward Osmosis (SPS FO), which combined two known processes to create an innovative new water-filtration system for highly concentrated industrial wastewater.

This technology can turn wastewater back into potable water more efficiently and less expensively than existing methods. The team won a 2013 R&D 100 Award and an Outstanding Technology Development Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium Far West Region.

Growing up in Brunswick, Maine, Wilson said he enjoyed science, math and art. “I’ve always been generally curious,” he said.

Wilson attended graduate school at the University of Colorado Boulder and postdoctoral appointments at the California Institute of Technology and National Institutes of Health were where his passion for learning and understanding things came into full flower. He found he enjoyed “just purely exploring stuff and publishing.”

Yoshiko Fujita is a researcher at Idaho National Laboratory. She works in the field of environmental biogeochemistry, or the study of how microbial processes can affect geochemical processes and vice versa. The primary focus of her research at INL has been on how the interaction of these processes affects the fate and transport of trace pollutants in the subsurface or in engineered systems such as wastewater treatment.

Yoshiko received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Williams College and a master’s and Ph.D. in civil engineering from Stanford University.

Fujita sees her work as highly interdisciplinary, and had enjoyed the opportunity to work with researchers from many different fields, both at INL and outside of the laboratory. She also enjoys mentoring students and junior staff and encourages students to consider careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Dr. Rebecca Fushimi is a research scientist at the Idaho National Laboratory working in the area of interfacial chemistry and catalysis. Her background includes selective oxidation, dehydrogenation and reforming reactions on supported metals and mixed metal oxide catalysts. She has been working with the Temporal Analysis of Products (TAP) transient kinetic technique for more than 15 years and is the leading expert in the TAP experimental methodology.

A key focus of her work is to apply this unique tool to accelerate industrial catalyst development. In addition, new work is underway to expand the TAP technique beyond catalysis where probe molecule characterization can be used more broadly in materials development.

She earned her doctorate in chemical engineering from Washington University and did postdoctoral training at the University of Houston. She is affiliated with the American Chemical Society, the North American Catalysis Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.​