SPARK received first NSF award

The U.S. National Science Foundation awards a Standard Grant titled “Collaborative Research: Harnessing Operando Plasma to Control Electrochemical Reactions in Metal Halide Conversion Materials” for support of SPARK’s research in reaction kinetics and plasma spectroscopy. Cheers!

Dr. Zhong to Serve as Technical Discipline Chair for AIAA Aviation 2027

Dr. Zhong has been appointed to serve as the Technical Discipline Chair for the Plasmadynamics and Lasers (PDL) Technical Discipline at the 2027 AIAA AVIATION Forum 2027. See you in San Diego!

SPARK's first journal paper accepted!

The first journal paper from SPARK has been accepted and published online in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. Check out our work at Basu et al. 2026 J. Phys. D.

Dr. Zhong Awarded the 2026 ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award

Dr. Zhong has been selected as a recipient of the 2026 ORAU Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. The award recognizes outstanding early-career faculty, with 36 awardees selected from 94 ORAU member institutions. Cheers!

Our PCRF proposal on fs/ps CARS was accepted!

SPARK’s collaborative research (user) proposal “Probing N2(v) near the catalytical surface for nitrogen oxidation with hybrid fs/ps CARS” to the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF) has been accepted and will be given a runtime in FY27.

SPARK received internal award to develop mid-infrared broadband laser diagnostics

The SPARK group has been awarded a Michigan State University Shared Research Infrastructure Program (SRIP) grant to develop a mid-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy user facility. This new shared facility will provide advanced molecular sensing capabilities for research in advanced manufacturing, energy, environmental science, and agriculture. Check out the announcement.

Dr. Zhong chaired sessions at AIAA SciTech 2026

Dr. Zhong attended AIAA SciTech 2026 (Orlando, FL) and chaired two sessions “TES-03, Novel Propulsion Technologies for Alternative Fuels” and “PDL-02, Plasma-assisted Ignition and Combustion II”.

SPARK presented at MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium 2025

SPARK members (Wencheng Lin, Sankhadeep Basu) presented their work at 16th Annual MIPSE Graduate Student Symposium at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Check out this Link!

Our PCRF proposal was accepted!

SPARK’s collaborative research (user) proposal “Understanding the Non-Equilibrium Hydrogenation Mechanism for Biodiesel Up-conversion” to the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF) has been accepted and will be given a runtime on the Facility in FY25/26 (2025).