Willca Villafana

Computational Research Associate @Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)

Princeton, NJ, US

I conduct computational plasma physics research to model and understand low-temperature plasmas used in semiconductor processing and space propulsion. My work combines kinetic theory, high-performance computing, and numerical simulation to bridge fundamental plasma physics with practical applications.Selected contributions:• Modeled plasma breakdown in narrow-gap geometries using 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and complementary kinetic solvers to uncover the mechanisms behind undesired discharges. • Investigated weakly magnetized capacitively coupled discharges in collaboration with Applied Materials, identifying how magnetic topology affects plasma uniformity and ion-energy flux. • Supported ARPA-E research with General Electric by defining when kinetic modeling is required over fluid approaches and deriving analytical models for plasma plume expansion. • Developed and maintained the EDIPIC-2D codebase, improving solver modules, cylindrical geometry support, and MPI-parallel post-processing in Python. • Provided modeling and HPC support for academic and industry collaborators through the Princeton Collaborative Low Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF).

von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics

Research Master

Penn State University

Master of Science (M.Sc.), minor in Computational Science

Ecole centrale de Nantes

Diplôme d'ingénieur

Toulouse INP

Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

Lycée Champollion

120 ECTS credits