In 2018 I started my first postdoctoral position at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The main topics were R&D for ion backflow (IBF) suppression, setting up a "GEM framing factory" and framing those for sPHENIX TPC. In 2022, I moved to Stony Brook University, where I was commissioning GEM modules and taking an active part in assembling the TPC.

What is the focus of your work on the sPHENIX experiment?

My current focus is sPHENIX TPC hardware and calibration software (channel mapping, IBF, digital currents, etc).

Where were you born and what is your educational background before your current position?

I was born in Moscow Russia and graduated from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI).

What is the title of your Ph.D. or tentative title? Awards or biggest talk highlight?

The best talk I have given so far was the first one: “Centrality dependence of charged particle production in proton-lead collisions measured by ATLAS” at the International Conference on the Initial Stages of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions (IS2013). The main part of the topic was the Glauber-Gribov approach used for the pA collisions.

How did you decide to go into heavy ion or spin research?

There was a theorist in the department at MEPhI, Valery Emeliyanov, who got me interested in QCD during his course. Somehow confinement of quarks and gluons became fascinating for me. So when a few years later I got to choose my PhD topic WIMPs or Heavy Ions, the choice was obvious.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to go hiking. Recently we've hiked Whiteface Mountain upstate New York. I also still trying to combine spending quality time with my family, running, and reading.