Nuclear reactor at NC State University. Photo by Marc Hall

The Department Welcomes Two New Faculty Members

The Department is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Katharina Stapelmann and Dr. GeYang as faculty members starting this fall. Dr. Stapelmann joins the Plasma area and Dr. Yang will be part of the Radiation Detection and Applications area.


                                                                         Dr. Katharina Stapelmann

Dr. Stapelmann received her diploma in electrical engineering from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. During her studies she conducted a research stay at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Ispra, Italy, in 2007/2008. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Ruhr University Bochum. Prior to joining the NC State faculty, she was assistant professor of biomedical applications of plasma technology at Ruhr University Bochum.

Presently, she studies the interactions of technical plasmas with biological systems on a macromolecular level. Her focus is on the characterization and optimization of plasma discharges used for biomedical applications and the understanding and improvement of plasmas used e.g. in medicine. The applications range from wound healing to air purification, sterilization of medical instruments as well as for planetary protection purposes. Furthermore, plasma-liquid interactions and plasma discharges in liquids belong to the repertoire.


 Dr. Ge Yang

Dr. Yang received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University. Prior to joining the NC State faculty, he spent ten years at U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), working in Advanced Radiation Detector R&D Group. During the period, he has been promoted through the ranks (Research Associate, Assistant Scientist, Associate Scientist and Scientist) because of his outstanding performance. Dr. Yang’s research has yielded 7 patents, 124 publications in top-ranked scientific journals and conference proceedings, and numerous invited presentations at various professional conferences. He is a two-time recipient of the prestigious R&D 100 Award, in 2009 and 2014, together with his collaborators for developing various compact sensors to detect and image radiation.

Dr. Yang’s research interests have revolved around the opportunities at the intersection of nuclear engineering, materials science and engineering and electrical engineering. Special emphasis is placed on developing new materials and devices for improving radiation detection and imaging technologies, which are widely needed in medical imaging, nonproliferation, nuclear security, industrial process monitoring, environmental safety survey and remediation, astronomical observation instrumentation and high energy physics R&D. Dr. Yang is also interested in investigating radiation effects in electronic, optical and structural materials and developing radiation-resistant materials. All of these topics are investigated using both theory and experimental techniques.