Aiman Al-Allaq built a career by chasing nothing—and finding breakthroughs that could reshape billion-dollar physics projects.
While studying engineering at CSU Pueblo, Al-Allaq encountered “vacuum” not as a household appliance, but as a scientific problem: how to remove nearly everything from a system so the universe’s smallest particles can move undisturbed. That early curiosity, sharpened by hands-on research and interdisciplinary training at CSU Pueblo, now places him at the forefront of vacuum science and has earned him back-to-back national awards.
“The entire job is removing things, to get to nothing,” Al-Allaq said. “That idea hooked me.”
That fascination now fuels research that could save hundreds of millions of dollars on next-generation particle accelerators and gravitational wave detectors.
Al-Allaq earned his Master of Science in Mechatronics Engineering at CSU Pueblo, where he trained under Hashem Nehrir Jaksic and worked with the university’s Communities to Build Active STEM Engagement (CBASE) research group. The program’s emphasis on integrating mechanical systems, electronics, materials science, and modeling prepared him to ask unconventional questions—and to test them rigorously.
Now a PhD candidate at Old Dominion University and a scientific user at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Al-Allaq has challenged decades-old assumptions about the materials scientists use to create ultra-high vacuums.
That work earned him consecutive Student Presenter Awards from the American Vacuum Society in 2024 and 2025, placing him among the top emerging researchers in the field.
Rethinking a Gold Standard
Particle accelerators and gravitational wave detectors require extreme vacuum conditions. For decades, engineers relied almost exclusively on stainless steel 316—durable, corrosion-resistant, and proven.
Al-Allaq questioned that default.
Drawing on the systems-level thinking he developed at CSU Pueblo, he investigated low carbon steel 1020, a far cheaper and more common material typically used in construction, not cutting-edge physics.
“I didn’t expect a material this inexpensive to outperform stainless steel, which has been the gold standard for decades,” he said.
It did and by a staggering margin.
Al-Allaq measured hydrogen outgassing rates, or how much hydrogen escapes from a material’s surface. In accelerators, stray hydrogen atoms collide with electron beams, damage sensitive photocathodes, and degrade performance.
Low carbon steel released hydrogen 2,000 times more slowly than stainless steel.
“That’s not incremental improvement,” Al-Allaq said. “That’s a fundamental difference.”
His modeling and simulations revealed an important caveat: even small amounts of stainless steel elsewhere in a system erased the gains. To unlock the benefit, engineers would need to rethink entire vacuum assemblies.
Testing Failure, Not Just Success
Low carbon steel’s vulnerability to rust posed the obvious next question. What happens if air leaks into the system?
Al-Allaq designed two identical test chambers—one with bare low carbon steel and one deliberately oxidized with a magnetite coating to simulate worst-case exposure.
Even under those conditions, the oxidized chamber outperformed stainless steel by a factor of 1,000 in hydrogen outgassing.
“If you want faster pressure drops at room temperature, magnetite works,” Al-Allaq said. “If you want the lowest pressures overall, bare low carbon steel performs best.”
From Student to Colleague
At Jefferson Lab, Matt Poelker, head of the Upgraded Injector Test Facility, watched Al-Allaq grow from a student into a collaborator.
“Aiman is a quick study,” Poelker said. “Early on, I taught him a lot. Now he teaches me.”
Poelker credits Al-Allaq’s enthusiasm as much as his technical skill.
“He’s all in,” Poelker said. “That kind of energy elevates the whole team.”
At Old Dominion University, advisor Abdelmageed Elmustafa observed the same evolution. Al-Allaq moved from following instructions to identifying gaps, troubleshooting equipment failures, and producing reproducible, high-quality results through persistence and careful analysis.
“He doesn’t accept superficial answers,” Elmustafa said. “He wants to understand problems at their core.”
Global Impact, Local Roots
Al-Allaq traces that mindset back to CSU Pueblo, where close faculty mentorship and early exposure to collaborative research shaped his approach.
“The mechatronics program forced me to think across disciplines,” he said. “That’s exactly what this kind of research demands.”
His work now connects institutions worldwide, including CERN, Caltech, and the College of William & Mary.
“This is never a solo effort,” he said. “Teamwork makes everything possible.”
Looking to the Cosmos
The planned Cosmic Explorer gravitational wave observatory will dwarf LIGO, requiring unprecedented vacuum performance across enormous distances.
Vacuum systems account for roughly 30 percent of the project’s total cost. Using cheaper, higher-performing materials could dramatically reduce expenses while improving sensitivity—opening new windows into events like black hole collisions and neutron star mergers.
“Being part of something that expands how we understand the universe—that’s incredibly meaningful,” Al-Allaq said.
