SSL Staff

Ben was born in Arizona, but eventually moved to Idaho and attended elementary through high school in Meridian. Growing up, he was inspired by robotics and had the goal of becoming an aerospace engineer. After completing his Associates degree in high school, he went on to become a mechanical engineering student at Boise State University. During his freshman year, Ben was employed at a robotics innovation company in Nampa – after his first year, he decided to change majors to Materials Science & Engineering (MSE). This change was motivated by his friends, professors, and a greater overarching interest in materials engineering that took precedence over robotics. Ben is greatly excited to continue pursuing a career in aerospace, and hopes to co-author as many papers as possible through the Surface Science Laboratory by the time he finishes his Bachelors degree.

Victor is a Staff Sergeant in the Air National Guard. Growing up in Meridian, Victor graduated from Rocky Mountain High School and enrolled in the United States Air Force in 2016. Following his separation from active duty, Victor began working in the SSL in the winter of 2020. Gaining experience from his ongoing internship in Micron’s SSL and by shadowing projects he is learning a wide range of AFM techniques. His inspiration for science, specifically space, stemmed from the movies Interstellar and October Sky, which portray humanity advancing towards a seemingly unreachable goal. Accordingly, Victor hopes to work for either SpaceX or NASA after graduating with his degree in Business and Economic Analytics.

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Nolan grew up with a love for the outdoors, backpacking and hiking often with his father. Drawn to STEM early, Nolan recalls eagerly waiting at home for his older brother to return from school and teach him what he had learned that day in science class. This love of learning followed Nolan throughout high school; where he graduated with his Associates of Arts in addition to his high school diploma. In high school, Nolan initially planned on pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering, but he discovered a passion for computers after researching and building his own system during junior year. Nolan matriculated at Boise State in 2021, and began pursuing a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, hoping to learn more about semiconductors and semiconductor devices. Excited by the widespread use and numerous applications of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in semiconductor research, he hopes to learn all he can in the Surface Science Lab (SSL) before graduating in spring of 2025.