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Faculty Spotlight
Faculty Spotlight: Elizabeth Sooby
By Amanda Korsah
Elizabeth Sooby says her career started when a soccer teammate’s uncle hired her for an internship at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Then an undergraduate student at Millsaps College, Sooby was majoring in physics and minoring in both mathematics and business administration. “I credit soccer for kick-starting my research career,” she said.
The NASA internship was Sooby’s first introduction to a research laboratory. At NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Sooby collaborated with engineers to make adequate cable-shielding procedures. She also worked with aerospace researchers on oscillations and the effectiveness of Hall-effect thrusters. This is where she found her love of experimental research and realized she wanted to pursue a Ph.D. and lead her own research programs.
Sooby went on to earn both her master’s and Ph.D. in physics from Texas A&M University. While earning her graduate degrees, Sooby worked her way up from graduate research assistant to become the G.T. Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico. Her research there included performing methodical experimental research and data analysis of advanced reactor fuels including molten-salt reactor fuels and high uranium density compounds for water-cooled reactors in LANL’s Fuels Research Laboratory. She also collaborated with the Ion Beams Material Laboratory to formulate experiments and test concurrent effects of irradiation and molten-salt corrosion.
In 2017, Sooby came to UTSA as an assistant professor. “I joined UTSA to teach the courses I love while having a great deal of support to do the nuclear materials research I’m passionate about,” she said. “It is the absolute perfect fit for me.”
Sooby’s research expertise includes nuclear energy, nuclear fuels, material science and high-temperature corrosion. She is coordinating two advanced nuclear energy technology research projects with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy. The awards support UTSA’s research efforts to advance nuclear energy technology by developing and testing fuel forms that make nuclear power safer and more cost-effective. “The infrastructure funding enables the development of a new capability here at UTSA for production of these research and development-scale fuel samples,” Sooby said. “Being part of the Nuclear Science User Facilities network means UTSA will now be listed among a national network of facilities contributing to the DOE’s mission.”
Sooby’s first project is a Nuclear Energy University Program Research & Development award in collaboration with the UTSA Department of Computer Science, Kleberg Advanced Microscopy Center (KAMC) and Boise State University. The two-year project will be supported by $800,000 in grant funding, which will provide new opportunities for student researchers.
“We’re going to be funding graduate students and several undergraduates to conduct research in support of the project,” Sooby added. “It’s going to be very hands-on, and student engagement in research is one of the things we’ve identified as a key player in STEM student success, especially at the undergraduate level.”
Sooby’s other most recent DOE-NE research project will be to design and commission a fuel fabrication line for reactor fuel research. In total, Sooby is currently leading four DOE-NE projects at UTSA and is also a co-PI on a National Nuclear Security Administration consortium. She plays an integral role in the university’s discovery enterprise, especially regarding her research contributions in nuclear energy and novel materials.
Favorite spot on campus: The Sombrilla, where I like to have coffee and catch up with my colleagues and students.
Favorite drink: Soy latte
Number of published journal articles and transactions: 50+