LTC William Koch
Academy Professor
william.koch@westpoint.edu
Biography
LTC Will Koch is an Academy Professor and the Program Director for Space Science in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics.
He was commissioned in the Aviation Branch and served as a Platoon Leader in the 3rd Squadron, 17th Air Cavalry Regiment during the surge in Baghdad, Iraq. He later served as company commander in the 1st Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment during Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.
Following his commands, LTC Koch earned his master’s degree in Physics from Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT) in 2013. He taught in the Department of PaNE from 2013-2016. Following his junior faculty time, he spent two years working in NASA’s Astronaut Office, working on the SpaceX Commercial Crew Program, as the prime stakeholder for 33 crew-vehicle interface requirements on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Following NASA, LTC Koch earned his PhD in Nuclear Science & Engineering from MIT before returning to USMA as an Academy Professor.
LTC Koch is married to the former Miss Vanessa Kurtiak of Flint, Michigan. They have two incredible children and two poorly behaved cats.
Ongoing Research Projects
Virtual Test Bed for DoD Applications
Cosmic Muon Spark Chamber
One-Person Portable Fast Neutron Detection
Publications & Presentations
PhD Dissertation: Construction and Testing of a Portable Time Projection Chamber
Master’s Thesis: Imaging Alpha Recoils for the Directional Detection of Weapons Grade Plutonium