Principal Investigator
Jesse A. Rodríguez is an assistant professor and Nesbitt Faculty Scholar in Energy Engineering in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University. He recently completed a postdoctoral research appointment at the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning at Princeton University under Dr. Bill Tang; Principal Research Scientist at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. His postdoctoral research was focused on using deep learning to predict turbulent disruption events in tokamak fusion reactors, as well as tokamak digital twins.
Jesse completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a PhD Minor in Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford University under Dr. Mark Cappelli in August 2023, his dissertation focusing on manipulating electromagnetic waves with plasma metamaterials. Rodríguez obtained his MS in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on fluid mechanics at Stanford University in 2020, and a triple honors BS in Physics, Mathematics, and Nuclear Engineering at Oregon State University in 2018. When not working, Jesse splits his time between his family, watch collecting, snowboarding, rock climbing, running, and going to the cinema.
Graduate Students
Katherine Bronstein received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University. She loves riding her motorcycle (rain or shine), cliff jumping, half marathon running with her border collie, lifting, and swimming. Feel free to ask her about the tragic death of her first D&D character or the best Final Fantasy game. Her research interests include the application of plasma physics in optical computing and electric propulsion.
Noah Harris received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Energy and Fluid Systems at Oregon State University. An interest in fluid dynamics and physics naturally pulled him toward plasma and turbulence research, where he now applies machine learning to tokamak fusion. Outside the lab, he enjoys mountain biking, hiking, and spending time at the gym. A longtime Formula 1 fan, he likes to joke that he’s been following the sport since before it was cool.
Undergraduate Researchers
Jason Jain is an ex-NASA software developer who worked on applications used by the Roman Space Telescope, PACE, ESDIS, and more. Currently, Jason is an SDE at Amazon and a student at Oregon State pursuing a B.S in Physics. In our lab, Jason is working to develop deep learning models that can recognize disruptions in nuclear fusion reactors. They love science, working out, the hit anime One Piece, and their cat, Winnie (the best cat in the world).
Aleczander Harder is an undergraduate currently working towards his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering at Oregon State University. His research interests include fusion reactor design, plasma confinement, and optical computing. He loves hockey, music, especially playing bass, snowboarding, and traveling. Ask him anytime about his favorite bands or fun animal facts.
Abigail Crowe is working on completing her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with an Energy and Fluid Systems option at Oregon State. Abi has served as both President and VP of Events on the Engineering Student Council, she is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Pi Sigma Rho, as well as the Leadership Empowerment and Purpose Program. Abi is passionate about helping solve climate change through sustainable energy solutions. In her free time, she loves creating art, listening to music, hiking with her Australian Labradoodle Blossom, and traveling!
Are you interested in working with us? We are always looking to foster new collaborations. Feel free to reach out to Professor Rodríguez at any time.
Preparation (undergrads + incoming grads)
If you are an undergraduate or incoming grad interested in getting involved within the lab, use the following course lists to prepare and/or assess your preparation to contribute. These are not hard requirements, only a guideline to give you an idea of what skills will help you contribute in our lab. See Prof. Rodríguez about waiving prerequisite requirements.
Bare Minimum
- CS 161 Intro to CS I
- CS 162 Intro to CS II
- PH 21X Physics w/ Calculus sequence
- MTH 255 & 256 ODEs + Vector calc
Get Involved
- ST 314 Intro to Stats for Engineers
- MTH 341 Linear Algebra
- PH 431 Electromagnetism
- PH 411 Electronics
- PH 481 Physical Optics
Fully Research-Ready
- ME 517 Optimization in Design
- ME 540 Intermediate Thermodynamics
- Prof. Rodríguez Plasma sequence (in development)
For Computational Work
- CS 475 Intro to Parallel Programming
- AI 534 Machine Learning
- AI 535 Deep Learning
Academic Lineage
Prof. Rodríguez’s direct line of advisors goes all the way back to Sir Isaac Newton, who is his 14th great grand-advisor! Our academic family tree can be found here. Prof. Rodríguez’s Erdős and Einstein numbers are both 6 at most.
