Amina Hussein, MS, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Plasma Physics Laser-matter Interactions Photonics and Plasmas

About

I completed my PhD in Applied Physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2019, where I was a member of the Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science and conducted experiments using the (former) most intense laser system in the world. Before that, I received a MS in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University and a BSc in Honours Physics from McGill University. I was a University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California Irvine from 2019-2020 before joining the faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering as an Assistant Professor in 2020.

I am a Canada Research Chair in Laser-Plasma Interactions. In 2021, I was elected Co-Chair of the User's Committee for the largest consortium of high-power laser facilities in North America, the US Department of Energy led LaserNetUS. I am also a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the highest power laser system in Canada - the Advanced Laser Light Source in Varennes, Québec. In 2021, I was elected to the Executive Council of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Jupiter Laser Facility Users' Group. I was formerly a member of the Board of Directors of the Fusion Energy Council of Canada. 

I serve as a Co-Director of Outreach/Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Alberta and a member of the American Physical Society Women+ in Plasma Physics committee. I am actively involved with University of Alberta Energy Systems Signature Area as a founding member and organizer of the COP Hack: Student Engagement initiative, and a member of the Energy Systems Signature Area Curriculum Committee - check out our series Exploring Energy Systems!

I'm always excited to support student initiatives and have been a faculty mentor for the AlbertaSat student team developing the Iris multispectral imager since 2020. I'm also a member of the Institute of Space Science, Exploration and Technology and an active supporter of Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology at the UofA.

Please feel free to drop me an email if you'd like to talk about research, courses or anything else. I'm always happy to chat!

Research

I conduct research in high-intensity laser-matter interaction, including laser-driven beam and radiation sources, with applications in fundamental physics and industry. My research team collaborates broadly across the UofA, Canada and internationally. My research program is supported by an NSERC Discovery Grant and currently explores the following topics:

The generation and application of femtosecond duration radiation bursts from laser-plasma accelerators.

• Developing high-repetition rate plasma accelerator beam-lines:
  • LWFA acceleration using the 15 TW, 10 Hz high-power laser system at the University of Alberta, supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation
  • Developing a platform for 10s of MeV electrons and keV X-ray bursts using a kHz Ti:Sapphire system (online Spring 2023), supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation
• Applying laser-driven betatron X-rays for high-resolution imaging of dynamic phenomena
  • Additively Manufactured (AM) metallic alloys: 
    • Recent experiments conducted using the ALLS facility at INRS in Quebec through support from US Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, LaserNetUS and a subcontract from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to probe fracture dynamics of AM materials 
    • Exploring in-situ X-ray diagnostics for AM materials, with support from the NSERC Alliance - Alberta Innovates Advance Program
  • Plasma-liquid interactions: Upcoming experiments (2023) using the ALLS facility to examine pulsed discharges in water, through support from US Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, LaserNetUS; plasma-liquid interactions are relevant to environmental remediation through plasma water treatment technologies, nanoparticle production, and medical applications of plasma-activated water.

Understanding exotic states of matter generated using high-intensity laser pulses, relevant to fusion energy devices.

• Recent experiments conducted using the ALEPH laser at Colorado State in December 2020 through facility access and research support from the US Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, LaserNetUS and a subcontract from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 
  • Our results, published in Physical Review Letters in 2022, provided a new platform for probing hot, dense plasmas!
• Upcoming time-resolved experiments of hot, dense plasmas (2023) using the Jupiter Laser Facility, through facility access and research support from the US Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, LaserNetUS

The development of laser-based probes for precision agriculture.

• Development of a portable soil sensor based on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), supported by the Alberta Innovates, Smart Agriculture and Food Digitization and Automation Challenge
• Optimizing LIBS for rapid detection of toxins in wheat grains, in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, with support from the Western Grains Research Foundation and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission

Simulations of intense laser-matter interactions using Particle-in-Cell codes.

• Resources awarded by Compute Canada.

Teaching

ECE 202 - Electrical Circuits I (Fall 2021)

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Fusion Energy & Plasma Physics Course - Single Particle Motion (June 2021)

ECE 209 - Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering (Winter 2021)

Open positions for students and postdoctoral fellows will be listed here.

I am currently recruiting MSc/PhD students to work on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy projects for environmental sensing, starting in Fall 2025 and with the option to convert to a PhD after starting. Please send me a short email expressing your interests in this position, with your CV attached, and using the email title "Graduate studies in LIBS for environmental sensing".

I am not currently recruiting postdoctoral fellows. I recruit undergraduate students to join my group, throughout the year.