2000-2004 : Engineering degree (Dipl.-Ing. (FH)in Mechatronics on the University of applied sciences of Saarbrücken
2004-2010 : Physics at the University of Karlsruhe (now known as KIT)
2009-2010 : Diploma theses at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) on the stable tritium injection system for KATRIN From 2009 on member
                          of the KATRIN collaboration
2010-2013 : Doctor in physics at the TLK at KIT, research on the compatibility of materials and devices (such as TMP's) with tritium with regard
                          to future use at KATRIN
2013-present : Working at various experiments at TLK, including

Experienced Researcher
Qualified by over 11 years of accomplished research projects on both an academic and industrial level with research interest in compressors, expanders, vacuum pumps and thermal systems.
Expert in the Scroll Industry
A fundamental knowledge in rotary scroll machines with over 8 years of experience in both design and application of scroll machines as compressors, vacuum pumps and expanders for power generation.
Practicing Manager
Currently managing over 15 engineers at Air Squared as part of the scroll product engineering team, product development team, and thermal system engineering team.

Education
Virginia Polytechnic and State University
BS, Mechanical Engineering
Position
As a Principal Mechanical Engineer in the Research and Development Engineering section of Savannah River National Laboratory, Mr. Neikirk is responsible for engineering, design, development, and testing of systems and equipment to meet the mission needs of the Savannah River Site, a U.S. government owned nuclear facility located in Aiken, South Carolina.
Experience
Mr. Neikirk has 30 years of engineering experience; 7 years as a maintenance and operations engineer at the SRS power generating facilities and 23 years as a Research and Development Engineer at the Savannah River National Laboratory. During this time Kipp has been responsible for design and deployment of frit feed system in support of nuclear material vitrification; piping system and vessel design to meet ASME code requirements in support of tritium hydride material research; design and development of a vacuum pump system for the SRS Tritium Extraction Facility project; plutonium immobilization equipment and system design and testing, and pressure safety design for various SRNL research projects to meet ASME B31.3 and Section VIII code requirements.

Since 20 years Stefan Welte is working in the field of tritium technology. Still he has a lot of fun working on this topic, solving problems, meeting challenges and passing knowledge to younger people interested in participating in the field of tritium technology.
Position
Section leader of the tritium processing group at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (KIT, Institute for Nuclear Physics)
Professional Experience
- Leading the TLK tritium processing group since 2014. The group consists of 4 engineers, 5 technicians and 2 students.
- Tritium supply and recovery for the KATRIN experiment.
- Handling of tritium up to concentration of 99% in a semi technical scale, at throughputs of several mols per day, including tritium accountancy,
   tritium recovery, isotope separation, tritium storage, tritium retention.
- Layout design, construction and commissioning of components and experiments for tritium handling: Water detritiation and cryogenic distillation
   experiments Pd/Ag hydrogen permeators PERMCAT type membrane reactors Isotope separation systems