Mark Artz
5521 Timbercrest Trail
Knoxville TN, 37909
markartz@alum.mit.edu
(954) 247-1652
Education
University of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
Candidate for Doctorate of Philosophy in Nuclear Engineering – Radiological Engineering
University of Florida – Gainesville, FL
CAMPEP Medical Physics Certificate
GPA: 3.8/4.0
2016
GPA: 3.8/4.0
2015
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Cambridge, MA
Master of Science in Nuclear Science and Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering - Minor in Economics
Standardized Test Scores: ACT – Math: 36/36 GRE – Quantitative: 780/800
GPA: 4.4/5.0
GPA: 4.4/5.0
2012
2010
Relevant Skills
Courses
Applied Nuclear Physics, Particle Transport, Electromagnetic Interactions, Probability Applications to Quality and Risk
Programming MATLAB, C, C#, Objective-C, Java, Python
Simulation
COMSOL Multiphysics, Poisson Superfish, Opera 3D Tosca, COSY Infinity, TRANSPORT, TURTLE, SRIM, MUSCAT
Experience
Provision Center for Proton Therapy – Knoxville, TN
2013 – Present
Medical Physics Fellow – Clinical Commissioning of Proton Therapy Center
• Commissioned pencil beam scanning and uniform scanning treatment rooms.
• Completed RayStation uniform scanning and pencil beam treatment planning commissioning.
• Wrote software to analyze beam spot size and position for PBS clinical commissioning.
• Created first clinically delivered robust IMPT treatment plan at PCPT.
• Approved radiation fields for treatment delivery and completed weekly physics patient chart checks.
• Performed monthly and annual QA using Multi Layer Ionization Chamber (MLIC), PPC05 and scintillating beam profile monitor.
• Interfaced with hardware vendors to restore patient treatments and achieve system upgrades and repairs.
• Developed and implemented new camera based patient positioning technology in the treatment room which reduced treatment times
by 23% and eliminated 50% of patient positioning x-rays.
• Converted the Sun Nuclear dailyQA3 for use with protons to check and trend daily output, spot size, spot position and range.
• Implemented comprehensive radiation therapy daily quality assurance for pencil beam scanning, allowing morning treatment room
startup in under 15 minutes.
ProNova Solutions – Knoxville, TN
2012 – 2013
Physicist - Superconducting Proton Therapy Gantry Development
• Lead the integration and transfer of all core technologies in the proton accelerator and radiation beam delivery from multiple
organizations, contractors and internal developers.
• Identified key areas for improved mechanical support on 4 Tesla superconducting NbTi dipole coils using Opera 3D. Acheived
sustained magnetic field and beam transport to treatment room isocenter.
• Performed beam optics simulations and provided optimized quadrupole field strengths with the inclusion of fringe field calculations
of superconducting magnets. Beam spot RMS radius reduced from 30mm to 3.5mm.
• Identified key features for improvement in alpha prototype superconducting dipole accelerator magnets using liquid helium test
data, improvements resulted in 30% increase in peak field.
• Simulated beam transport sensitivity to mechanical deflection in the gantry support structure. Established mechanical deflection
tolerances for the rotating gantry proton beam transport.
ProCure – Bloomington, IN
2011 - 2012
Accelerator Engineer – Superconducting Proton Therapy Gantry Development
• Managed a dispersed team of seven individuals to design and test superconducting proton therapy gantry accelerator magnets.
• Performed data analysis from temperature sensors and voltage taps to diagnose voltage spikes and heat leaks.
• Wrote MATLAB scripts to convert large data sets of voltage to temperature with Chebychev polynomial fitting.
• Conducted tests which provided promising results for superconducting gantry magnets, allowing for 60 amps of current.
• Provided insight to improve magnet performance in future tests.
• Wrote detailed study to change the superconductor from NbTi to Nb3Sn, including baking process for Niobium diffusion.
MIT – Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) – Cambridge, MA
2010 - 2012
Graduate Research Assistant – Technology and Engineering Division
Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) Ion Source for Superconducting Cyclotrons
• Contributed to the design of a compact (radius less than 0.5 meters) single-stage superconducting cyclotron to provide a proton
beam of final energy greater than 250 MeV and final intensity above 1 mA.
• Designed the magnetic field and electrical insulation of a 20mA 20keV ECR proton ion source.