As a PhD Student at Eindhoven University of Technology, Calum Ryan investigated the fluid mechanical properties of various liquid targets, with a focus on water samples, undergoing interactions with non thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJ), and how the flow can be manipulated by varying the parameters of both the plasma jet and liquid target that are being used. The topic of flow had a limited exploration within research in this field prior to Ryan's investigations, and understanding the basic fluid properties in interactions is of paramount importance to then being able to optimise the system. From wound treatment in medical physics, to enhancing seed germination in agriculture, growing our understanding of these systems would be a benefit that a wide variety of fields could take advantage of. Ryan performed his PhD within the group Elementary Processes in Gas Discharges.

Having previously worked within plasma physics during his time as a Masters student at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, Ryan achieved the integrated Masters degree of MPhys in Physics with distinction. During his time at Strathclyde he worked on the theory of properties of plasmas generated in intense laser-solid interactions, and on the correlation of varying target properties to the growth rate of quasi-static magnetic field structures, whose growth have previously been shown to relate to the growth of plasma instabilities within these systems. By working out how to create targets that will reduce the growth of these instabilities, the efficiency of laser-solid interactions for thin target systems, and the subsequent generation of proton beams, can be improved.

Affiliated with the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems and the J.M. Burgers Center for Fluid Mechanics