McBride, Ryan

Biography

Professor McBride received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2009. There he conducted experimental research on magnetically driven, cylindrically imploding plasmas using the 1-MA COBRA pulsed-power facility. In 2008–2016, Prof. McBride was with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, where he held appointments as both a staff physicist and a department manager. At Sandia, Prof. McBride conducted research in nuclear fusion, radiation generation, and high-pressure material properties experiments using the 20-MA Z pulsed-power facility (the world’s most powerful pulsed-power device). Most recently, Prof. McBride’s research has been focused on both theoretical and experimental studies of an exciting new concept called magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF). MagLIF is one of the United States’ three mainline approaches to studying controlled inertial confinement fusion (ICF) in the laboratory. In August of 2016, Prof. McBride joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences (NERS). His primary research interests are in plasma physics, nuclear fusion, radiation generation, pulsed-power technology, plasma diagnostics, and the dynamics of magnetically driven, cylindrically imploding systems. This research is conducted within the Plasma, Pulsed-Power, and Microwave Laboratory, and it has applications relevant to the MagLIF program at Sandia and to ICF in general.