Ahmad M Ibrahim

Biography

Bio Nuclear Engineer (PhD) with experience in development and application of advanced computational methods and tools for radiation transport analysis of a wide range of applications including fission and fusion energy systems; particular expertise in Monte Carlo and deterministic radiation transport modeling, Monte Carlo variance reduction techniques, hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic methods, processing nuclear data libraries, and geometric modeling of complex systems using computer-aided design (CAD); experience in documenting and reviewing complex analyses; experience in developing and implementing new methods in production-level simulation codes; experience in developing and procuring funding proposals; and special interests in automation and optimization of simulation methods for full-scale modeling of large and geometrically complex systems. Awards ANS Radiation Protection and Shielding Division Best Student Paper Award, 2012 ANS Winter Meeting, San Diego, CA: “Automatic Mesh Adaptivity for Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Neutronics Modeling of Difficult Shielding Problems.” Best Paper/Presentation Award, 2011ANS Student Conference, GA: “Global Evaluation of Prompt Dose Rates in ITER Using FW-CADIS.” Inducted into Alpha-Nu-Sigma, 2006-present. Certificate of Distinction from Engineering Dean and Young Scientists of America for community service-2006/2009, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Shield of Engineering Syndicates awarded in the graduation ceremony to the top student of each department in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Alexandria, Egypt. Mohamed Sawan prize for the top nuclear engineering student with accumulated grade of “Distinction with First Degree of Honor”. Top of Batch Award in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Alexandria, Egypt for the academic years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 The Distinction Award in The University of Alexandria, Egypt for the academic years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 Projects Research and Development Staff, Radiation Transport (RT) Group, Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division (RNSD), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) – June 2014-present Shielding Assessment of Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) Target Station with Proton Power Uprate Assessed the adequacy of the SNS target station shielding configuration with the increase of the proton energy to 1.3 GeV and the increase of SNS power to 2.3 MW. Validated original analysis that were conducted prior to 2001 to assess the adequacy of the SNS target station shielding configuration with updated methodologies, codes and data. Expansion of the ORNL's participation in fusion neutronics Performed and demonstrated a variety of ITER neutronics analyses that led to the procurement of many funding grants from the ITER International Organization (ITER IO) and the US ITER domestic agency (US ITER). Executed and documented many analyses critical to the ITER design such as the calculation of the detailed distribution of the nuclear heating in the ITER toroidal field coils, the calculation of the shutdown dose rates everywhere inside the ITER bioshield, and the calculation of equivalent dose rates and dose to electronics resulting from the activated water. Completed the development of the Multi-Step Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (MS-CADIS) novel hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic methods for shutdown dose rate simulations. Implemented MS-CADIS in ADVANTG and demonstrated it using the Laboratory Directed Research and Development “transformational integrated fusion neutronics modeling and simulation” funding. Post-Doctoral Research Associate, RT Group, RNSD, ORNL – July 2012- June 2014 Expansion of the ORNL's participation in fusion neutronics Led the ORNL efforts in submitting a proposal to support the neutronics analysis of the ITER International Organization that guided the procurement of the TA between the ITER IO and US ITER. Led the ORNL and US ITER efforts in reviewing the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory report “Survey of Interspace Dose Rates for US-ITER Equatorial Port Diagnostics” for a DOE Performance Plan Milestone. Development of the Multi-Step CADIS hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic technique Developed the novel Multi-Step CADIS (MS-CADIS) hybrid Monte Carlo (MC)/deterministic technique that uses the Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) method but focuses on multi-step shielding analyses. Successfully demonstrated the ability of the MS-CADIS method to accurately perform the traditionally impractical shutdown dose analyses using full-scale 3-D Monte Carlo simulations. Development and support of the AutomateD VAriaNce reducTion Generator (ADVANTG) code Added the unfolding capability to the ADVANTG 3.0 geometric mapping routines to enable ADVANTG to analyze Monte Carlo models with reflecting boundaries. Adding the weight-window coarsening mesh adaptivity algorithm to ADVANTG 3.0. Fission source convergence for used nuclear fuel criticality safety analysis Contributed to adding some fission source convergence diagnostics to the SCALE code system. Contributed to leading the development of the Sourcerer sequence which deterministically calculates an appropriate, problem-dependent fission distribution to be used as the starting source in Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations. Demonstrated the necessity of the Sourcerer approach to criticality safety analysis of canister-specific (as-loaded) used nuclear fuel problems. Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW-Madison) 2006-2012 Dissertation Developed the macromaterials, the deterministic mesh refinement algorithms, and the weight-window coarsening algorithm to enhance the reliability and efficiency of the CADIS and FW-CADIS hybrid techniques to enable the accurate full‑scale shielding simulations of very large and geometrically complex problems. Demonstrated the ability of accurately calculating the prompt dose rate throughout the entire ITER experimental facility using an FW-CADIS simulation that uses the three mesh adaptivity algorithms, eliminating the need for a world-class super computer in performing such an extremely difficult simulation. Summer Intern, ORNL – RNSD, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Development and support of the SCALE package Added the macromaterials capability, which enhances the geometry representation of the deterministic models, to SCALE/MAVRIC. Extended the macromaterials approach to automatically define the adjoint sources for space‑dependent responses in SCALE/MAVRIC. Added the capability of calculating the Shannon entropy to SCALE/KENO for Monte Carlo eigenvalue calculations. Demonstrated the significant increase in the reliability and the efficiency of eigenvalue Monte Carlo calculations using deterministic‑based starting sources. Evaluated candidate hybrid methods for optimizing the calculation of space- and energy-dependent reaction rates in eigenvalue Monte Carlo calculations. Created a specialized development tool to SCALE for writing the variance reduction parameters created by SCALE/MAVRIC in MCNP format Development and support of the ADVANTG code Added several new features to ADVANTG 2.0 such as response weighting, the Macromaterials approach, cell-based sources and cell‑based adjoint sources, and adjoint flux collapsing. Created a 46 neutron/21 gamma group FENDL2.1 library for the Denovo code in ANISN format, which is used by ADVANTG. Global neutronics modeling of ITER: Demonstrated the applicability of coupling the CADIS and FW-CADIS hybrid Monte Carlo/deterministic techniques with CAD based Monte Carlo methods by applying ADVANTG and DAG-MCNP for calculating the nuclear heating at the ITER magnet using the UW-Madison CAD model of ITER. Assessed the prompt dose rates throughout the entire ITER plant using ADVANTG. Publications Journal Papers A. Ibrahim, Eduard Polunovskiy, Michael J. Loughlin, Robert E. Grove, Mohamed E. Sawan, “Acceleration of Calculation of Nuclear Heating Distributions in ITER Toroidal Field Coils Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Techniques,” Fusion Engineering and Design, in press. (2016). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Douglas E. Peplow, Robert E. Grove, Joshua L. Peterson, Seth R. Johnson, “The Multi-Step CADIS Method for Shutdown Dose Rate Calculations and Uncertainty Propagation,” Nuclear Technology, 192, 286-298 (2015). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Douglas E. Peplow, Joshua L. Peterson, Robert E. Grove, “Shutdown Dose Rate Analysis Using the Multi-Step CADIS Method,” Fusion Science and Technology, 68, 700-704 (2015). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Paul P.H. Wilson, Mohamed E. Sawan, Scott W. Mosher, Douglas E. Peplow, John C. Wagner, Thomas M. Evans, and Robert E. Grove, “Automatic Mesh Adaptivity for Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Neutronics Modeling of Difficult Shielding Problems,” Nuclear Science and Engineering, 181, 1-13 (2015). A. Ibrahim, D. Peplow, and R. Grove, and P. Wilson, “Novel Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Technique for Shutdown Dose Rate Analyses,” Fusion Engineering and Design, 89, 1933-1938 (2014). A. Ibrahim, P. Wilson, M. Sawan, S. Mosher, D. Peplow, and R. Grove, “Assessment of Fusion Facility Dose Rate Map Using Mesh Adaptivity Enhancements of Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Techniques,” Fusion Engineering and Design, 89, 1875-1879 (2014). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Mohamed E. Sawan, Scott W. Mosher, Thomas M. Evans, Douglas E. Peplow, Paul P. H. Wilson, and John C. Wagner, “Global Evaluation of Prompt Dose Rates in ITER Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Techniques,” Fusion Science and Technology, 60, 676-682 (2011). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Scott W. Mosher, Thomas M. Evans, Douglas E. Peplow, Mohamed E. Sawan, Paul P. H. Wilson, and John C. Wagner , “ITER Neutronics Modeling Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/SN and CAD-based Monte Carlo Methods,” Nuclear Technology, 175, 251-258 (2011). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, D. L. Henderson, L. A. El-Guebaly, P. P. H. Wilson, M. E. Sawan, "Three Dimensional Analysis of Radiation Streaming Through ARIES-CS He-Access Pipes," Fusion Science and Technology, 56, 726-730 (2009). B.T. Rearden, L.M. Petrie, D.E. Peplow, K.B. Bekar, D. Wiarda, C. Celik, C.M. Perfetti, A.M. Ibrahim, S.W.D. Hart, M.E. Dunn, W.J. Marshall, “Monte Carlo capabilities of the SCALE code system, “Monte Carlo capabilities of the SCALE code system,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, 82, 130-141 (2015). M.E. Sawan, A. M. Ibrahim, P.P.H. Wilson, E.P. Marriott, R.D. Stambaugh, C.P.C. Wong, "Neutronics Analysis in Support of The Fusion Development Facility Design Evolution," Fusion Science and Technology, 60, 671-675 (2011). M. E. Sawan, A. M. Ibrahim, T. D. Bohm, and P. P. Wilson, "Nuclear Assessment of Shielding Configuration Options for Final Optics of HAPL Fusion Power Plant," Fusion Science and Technology, 56, 756-760 (2009) M. Sawan, A. Ibrahim, T. Bohm, and P. Wilson, "Three-dimensional nuclear analysis of the final optics of a laser driven power plant," Fusion Engineering and Design, 83, 1879-1883 (2008). M. E. Sawan, M. W. Mcgeoch, A. M. Ibrahim, P. P. Wilson, "Nuclear Assessment of Final Optics of a KrF Laser Driven Fusion Power Plant," Fusion Science and Technology, 52, 938-942 (2007). L. El-Guebaly, P. Wilson, D. Henderson, M. Sawan, G. Sviatoslavsky, T. Tautges, R. Slaybaugh, B. Kiedrowski, A. Ibrahim, C. Martin, R. Raffray, S. Malang, J. Lyon, L. P. Ku, X. Wang, L. Bromberg, B. Merrill, L. Waganer, F. Najmabadi, and ARIES-CS Team, “Designing ARIES-CS Compact Radial Build and Nuclear System: Neutronics, Shielding, and Activation,” Fusion Science and Technology 54, 747-770 (2008). F. Najmabadi, A. R. Raffray, ARIES-CS Team: S. I. Abdel-Khalik, L. Bromberg, L. Crosatti, L. El-Guebaly, P. R. Garabedian, A. A. Grossman, D. Henderson, A. Ibrahim, T. Ihli, T. B. Kaiser, B. Kiedrowski, L. P. Ku, J. F. Lyon, R. Maingi, S. Malang, C. Martin, T. K. Mau, B. Merrill, R. L. Moore, R. J. Peipert, Jr., D. A. Petti, D. L. Sadowski, M. Sawan, J. H. Schultz, R. Slaybaugh, K. T. Slattery, G. Sviatoslavsky, A. Turnbull, L. M. Waganer, X. R. Wang, J. B. Weathers, P. Wilson, J. C. Waldrop III, M. Yoda, M. Zarnstorff, “The ARIES-CS Compact Stellarator Fusion Power Plant,” Fusion Science and Technology, 54, 655-672 (2008). Conference Papers Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Douglas E. Peplow, Joshua L. Peterson, Robert E. Grove, “Analysis of Shutdown Dose Rate in Fusion Energy Systems Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Techniques,” Presented at dedicated session for “Best of Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2014”, Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 112, 609-612 (2015). Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Douglas E. Peplow, and Robert E. Grove, “Acceleration of Shutdown Dose Rate Monte Carlo Calculations Using the Multi-Step CADIS Method,” Proceedings of Joint International Conference on Mathematics and Computation (M&C), Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications (SNA) and the Monte Carlo (MC) Method, Nashville, TN, April 19-23, 2015, American Nuclear Society (2015). A. M. Ibrahim, D. Peplow, R. Grove, and S. Johnson, “The Multi-Step CADIS Method for Shutdown Dose Rate Calculations and Uncertainty Propagation,” American Nuclear Society Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2014 Topical Meeting, Knoxville, TN, September 14-18 (2014). A. M. Ibrahim, D. Peplow, Peterson, and R. Grove “Analysis of Shutdown Dose Rate in Fusion Energy Systems Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Techniques,” American Nuclear Society Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2014 Topical Meeting, Knoxville, TN, September 14-18 (2014). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, K. B. Bekar, C. Celik, D. Ilas, J. M. Scaglione, J. C. Wagner, “Hybrid Technique in SCALE for Fission Source Convergence Applied To Used Nuclear Fuel Analysis,” 2013 Topical Meeting on Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCSD 2013), Wilmington, NC, September 29– October 3, 2013. A. M. Ibrahim, Paul P. H. Wilson, Mohamed E. Sawan, Douglas E. Peplow, Scott W. Mosher, John C. Wagner, and Thomas M. Evans, “Automatic Mesh Adaptivity for CADIS and FW-CADIS Neutronics Modeling of Difficult Shielding Problems,” Proceedings of 2013 International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics, Sun Valley, ID, May 5–9, 2013, American Nuclear Society 1411-1428 (2013). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, and Robert E. Grove “Novel Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Technique for Shutdown Dose Rate Calculations,” Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 108, 647-650 (2013). A. M. Ibrahim, Paul P. H. Wilson, Mohamed E. Sawan, Douglas E. Peplow, John C. Wagner, Scott W. Mosher, and Thomas M. Evans, “Automatic Mesh Adaptivity for Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Neutronics Modeling of Difficult Shielding Problems,” Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 107, 934-937 (2012). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, J. C. Wagner, S. W. Mosher, T. E. Evans, "Acceleration of Monte Carlo Criticality Calculations Using Deterministic-Based Starting Sources," Proc. PHYSOR 2012, Advances in Reactor Physics, Knoxville, TN, April 15-20 (2012). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, J. C. Wagner, S. W. Mosher, T. E. Evans, "Acceleration of Monte Carlo Criticality Calculations Using Deterministic-Based Starting Sources," Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 105, 539-541 (2011). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, T. M. Evans, P. P. H. Wilson, and J. C. Wagner, “Improving the SN Adjoint Source and Geometry Representation Capabilities in the SCALE Hybrid Shielding Analysis Sequence,” American Nuclear Society Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2010 Topical Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, April 18–23 (2010). A. M. Ibrahim, S. W. Mosher, T. M. Evans, D. E. Peplow, M. E. Sawan, P. P. H. Wilson, J. C. Wagner, “ITER Neutronics Modeling Using Hybrid Monte Carlo/SN and CAD-Based Monte Carlo Methods,” American Nuclear Society Radiation Protection and Shielding Division 2010 Topical Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, April 18–23 (2010). A. M. Ibrahim, D. E. Peplow, T. E. Evans, J. C. Wagner, P. P. H. Wilson, "Improving the Mesh Generation Capabilities in the SCALE Hybrid Shielding Analysis Sequence," Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 100, 302-304 (2009). Elliott D. Biondo, Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Scott W. Mosher, and Robert E. Grove, “Accelerating Fusion Reactor Neutronics Modeling by Automatic Coupling of Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Transport on CAD Geometry,” Proceedings of Joint International Conference on Mathematics and Computation (M&C), Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications (SNA) and the Monte Carlo (MC) Method, Nashville, TN, April 19-23, 2015, American Nuclear Society (2015). B. T. Rearden, L. M. Petrie, D. E. Peplow, K. B. Bekar, D. Wiarda, C. Celik, C. M. Perfetti, A. M. Ibrahim, S. W. D. Hart, and M. E. Dunn, “Monte Carlo Capabilities of the SCALE Code System,” Joint International Conference on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications and Monte Carlo 2013 (SNA + MC 2013), La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris, France, October 27-31 (2013). D. E. Peplow, A. M. Ibrahim, and Robert E. Grove “Propagation of Uncertainty from a Source Computed with Monte Carlo,” Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc., 108, 643-646 (2013). Technical Reports S. W. Mosher, A. M. Bevill, S. R. Johnson, A. M. Ibrahim, C. R. Daily, T. M. Evans, J. C. Wagner, J. O. Johnson, and R. E. Grove, “ADVANTG—An Automated Variance Reduction Parameter Generator,” ORNL/TM-2103/416, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (2013). Douglas E. Peplow, Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Kursat B. Bekar, Cihangir Celik, and Bradley T. Rearden, “Sourcerer: Deterministic Starting Source for Criticality Calculations,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory report will be released with SCALE 6.2. Katherine E. Royston, Ahmad M. Ibrahim, Joel M. Risner, Stephen C. Wilson, “Analysis of Radiation Transport Due to Activated Tokamak Cooling Water,” US-ITER report, iDOCS UID US_D_22YRRK_v2.0. Mohamed Sawan, Ahmad Ibrahim, Tim Bohm, “Assessment of Toroidal Field Coils (TFC) Heating,” US-ITER report, iDOCS UID US_D_23DCY8. A. Ibrahim, D. L. Henderson, L. A. El-Guebaly, P. P.H. Wilson, M. E. Sawan, “Assessment of Radiation Streaming Through ARIES-CS HE-Access Pipes using Two- and Three-Dimensional Analyses”, University of Wisconsin-Madison Fusion Technology Institute report, UWFDM-1331, Madison, WI (2007).  

Research Interest

 Computation