Elizabeth Kautz

Dr. Elizabeth Kautz received her B.S. in Materials Engineering in 2010 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY. From 2010-2014 she worked at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL), also known as Naval Nuclear Laboratory, in Niskayuna, NY in a rotational program where she held positions in both materials development and fleet support organizations. In this program, she spent time at a naval shipyard, and the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory. While at KAPL, she earned her M.S. part-time from RPI in 2014 in Materials Engineering. She then returned to graduate school full-time in 2014, receiving her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from RPI in 2018. From 2017-2018, she was a Ph.D. Intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, WA. After graduation, she was a post doctoral researcher in the National Security Directorate at PNNL from 2018-2020, and a staff scientist in the Energy and Environment Directorate from 2020-2022 prior to joining the NC State faculty. Dr. Kautz holds a joint appointment with PNNL.

Dr. Kautz has contributed to several programs at PNNL funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) – Basic Energy Science (BES). She has served (and is currently serving) as a PI for projects funded by the Tritium Modernization Program (NNSA) in which she has investigated topics including: detection of hydrogen and lithium isotopes in metallic and ceramic substrates using laser ablation-optical emission spectroscopy, and hydride formation in Zr-based alloys.

Dr. Kautz has worked with and mentored several graduate and undergraduate students during her career, including participants of DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) and Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) programs.