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Edward Cazalas, Ph.D.

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I am an Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Utah. My research and academic group (CAZ-RAD) works to understand the physics and engineering of nuclear and radiation interactions, tools, and instruments for radiation detector development, advancement of the field of dosimetry, and investigation of radiation effects. This work goes into application by supporting the fields of nuclear engineering, radiation and nuclear physics, nuclear security, and radiation damage and hardness effects in electronics.

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If you are a potential student looking to join our group, please contact me by email and expect a phone, Zoom, or in-person interview. Please see Join/Contact page.

 

I actively invite potential collaborators from other universities/colleges, industry, national labs, and government to contact me for research collaboration opportunities.

Why University of Utah?

U.S. News and World Report ranks Utah as the best state to live in 
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings​
 
 Wall Street Journal ranks University of Utah #1 Public University in Western U.S.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/top-public-private-colleges-western-u-s-81eb8632?mod=education_more_article_pos11
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News Feed

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  • June 2024: Prof. Cazalas, Jacob Strong, and Jesse Snow present on "Cherenkov-Based Neutron Detector Design and Development for Advanced Reactors," at American Nuclear Society Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

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  • June 2024: Prof. Cazalas chairs session on "Radiation Effects on Materials and Advanced Sensors," at American Nuclear Society Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
     

  • June 2024: Prof. Cazalas and InnoSys Inc. awarded grant from DOE (Phase I) for Rad Effects in Stepper Motors (~$62K to UU).

 

  • May 2024: Prof. Cazalas and InnoSys Inc. awarded grant from DoD (Phase I) for Electron/Photon Machine Development (~$52K to UU).

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  • May 2024: Prof. Cazalas hires M.S. student Logan Jackson and 3 Undergraduates, Peter Schutz, Alex Gilbreath, and Victor Boyer on to group along with managing the Honors Thesis of Brandon Peterson. This expansion supports in-coming and currently funded projects.

 

  • April 2024: Prof. Cazalas and InnoSys Inc. awarded Navy phase I grant for Rad Effects on Exploding Foil Initiators (EFIs) (~$13K to UU).

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  • December 2023: Teancum Quist and Codey Olson graduate with Ph.D.'s in Nuclear Engineering from University of Utah with Prof. Cazalas as primary advisor. Congrats, Teancum and Codey!

 

 

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  • November 2023: Codey Olson successfully defends Ph.D. dissertation, "Computational and Experimental Characterizations of Radiation Sources and Detection Systems." Congratulations, Codey!

 

  • October 2023: Prof. Cazalas establishes 'spin-off' company Radiation Research.

 

  • September 2023: Prof. Cazalas mentioned in article about Wasatch Thunder - a training exercise held by Department of Energy (DOE) with University of Utah, State of Utah, and FBI on handling terrorist attacks on radiation sources. https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/wasatch-thunder/

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  • August 2023: Teancum Quist successfully defends Ph.D. dissertation, "Modernizations in the Measurement and Analysis of Low-Flux Neutron Sources." Congratulations, Teancum!

 

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  • Oct 2022: Dr. Cazalas and InnoSys Inc. awarded Phase II STTR grant by DoD with $500K going to University of Utah. Project entitled, "Methodologies to Develop Radiation Testing Environments for Survivable Microelectronics."

 

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  • July 2022: It is with great sadness that I report one of my students, Scott Miller, has passed away. I am very grateful to have known him and he will be remembered.

 

  • May 2022: William Bates graduates with M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from University of Utah (Cazalas advising). Congratulations Will!

 

  • May 2022: Scott Miller graduates with M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from University of Utah (Cazalas advising). Congratulations Scott!

 

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  • Dec. 2021: Dr. Cazalas awarded $80k (to UU) as PI with industry partner InnoSys Inc. entitled, "Methodologies to develop radiation testing environments for survivable microelectronics," as a Phase I STTR from DOD.

 

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  • Dec. 2021: Codey Olsen presented at ANS Winter Conference, entitled, “Retrieval and characterization of plutonium beryllium source for new irradiation facility."

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  • Oct. 2021: Jesse Snow presented at IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, entitled, “An Organic Perovskite-Graphene Device for Radiation Detection.”

 

  • Oct. 2021: Dr. Cazalas awarded $40k (to UU) as Co-PI on "Perovskite-Graphene Energy Integrating Detector for X-ray Imaging," from NIH SBIR Phase I, with PI: Kendon Shirley (Kairos Detectors LLC.).

 

  • Aug. 2021: Jesse Snow becomes Ph.D. student in CAZ-RAD group (Dr. Cazalas as committee chair).

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  • July 2021: Dr. Cazalas assumes role as Faculty Advisor for the UU Chapter of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM).

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  • July 2021: Teancum Quist presents at the LANL MCNP User Symposium, entitled, "Utilizing PTRAC for Time of Flight Detector Characterization."

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  • May 2021: Jesse Snow graduates with M.S. in Nuclear Engineering (Dr. Cazalas as committee chair). Congrats, Jesse!

 

  • May 2021: Teancum Quist and Codey Olson accepted into PNNL's Radiation Detection for Nuclear Security Summer School.

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  • Feb. 2021: Teancum Quist receives "Best Student Paper" award, as given by the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division of ANS for his presentation on “MCNP modeling of a multi-volume neutron spectrometer,” at the 2020 Winter ANS Conference. Congrats, Teancum!

 

  • Dec. 2020: Will Bates joins CAZ-RAD group as an M.S. researcher

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  • Nov. 2020: Teancum Quist presents, "MCNP Modeling of a multi-volume neutron spectrometer," at the ANS Virtual Winter Conference, E. Cazalas as co-author.

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  • Aug. 2020: Proposal team led by Dr. Cazalas awarded DOE NEUP grant ($617K total with $130K cost share) to upgrade the UUTR cooling system to 1 MW capacity. 

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  • Jun. 2020: K. Powell et al., presents, "Photovoltaic Response of Thin-Film CdTe Solar Cells under Accelerated Neutron Radiation in a TRIGA Reactor," at the Electronic Materials Symposium (NSF), E. Cazalas as co-author.

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  • Jun. 2020: Ryan Godin graduated from UU with a B.S. in E.E. Congrats Ryan!

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  • May 2020: Aaron Fjeldsted graduates from the University of Utah with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Congratulations, Aaron!

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  • Jan. 2020: Aaron Fjeldsted joins CAZ-RAD as an undergraduate researcher.

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  • Aug. 2019: Dr. Cazalas formally institutes CAZ-RAD (Cazalas Group of Radiation Detection, Effects, and Dosimetry).

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  • Aug. 2019: Jesse Snow becomes an M.S. student in the Nuclear Program at UU.

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  • July 2019: Maj. Matthew Recker (Air Force, AFIT) graduated from AFIT with Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering.

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  • Jun. 2019: Codey Olson joins CAZ-RAD as a Ph.D. student.

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  • Jun. 2019: Ryan Godin joins CAZ-RAD as an undergraduate researcher.

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  • April 2019: William Erwin (AFIT, Ph.D. - Dr. Cazalas advising), Dr. Cazalas co-author, publishes "The gamma emission spectrum from the Fast Burst Reactor." Distribution DOD limited.

 

  • Feb. 2019: Jesse Snow joins CAZ-RAD as an undergraduate researcher.

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  • Dec. 2018: Teancum Quist joins CAZ-RAD as a Ph.D. student.

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  • Aug. 2018: Dr. Cazalas hired into the Nuclear Engineering Program as Assistant Professor at the University of Utah.

Prof. Cazalas serves as Faculty Advisor to...


ANS (American Nuclear Society)
University of Utah Chapter (2020 - present).

INMM (Institute of Nuclear Materials Management)
University of Utah Chapter (2021 - present).




ANS UU Chapter President is Joseph Johnson  (2024 - present).
INMM UU Chapter President is Matthew Newton (2021 - present).

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