Manuel joined the NuCoMP group as a fifth year co-terminal student in Fall 2016. He graduated in May 2017. He has previously completed his undergrad coursework at RPI as a dual Nuclear-Mechanical Engineer. For his master’s work his project focuses on radiation damage effects in silicon. More specifically how single ion strikes will change the 3D reciprocal space in the crystal lattice of silicon. As humanity pushes deeper into space is important to know how materials will behave at the atomistic level in such harsh radiation environments.