Yan Kucherov

KUCHEROV DR. YAN KUCHEROV Dr. Yan Kucherov passed away on Sunday, December 4, 2011, at the age of 60, with his wife and daughter by his side at INOVA Alexandria Hospital. He was born on February 23, 1951 in Kharkov, USSR to a father who was a physicist and a mother who was a teacher of English. Dr. Kucherov received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Solid State Physics and Nuclear Physics from the Moscow Physics Engineering Institute in 1975 and his Ph. D from SIA Luch Laboratory, USSR in 1984. While at Luch Laboratory he conducted research in Conversion, Accelerated Crystal Growth, Plasma Physics, Low Energy Nuclear Reactions, Neutron Sources and Military Projects. Dr. Kucherov's outstanding work brought him many scientific awards, among which are: The Scientist and Inventor of the Year, of the Luch Lab, on several occasions, The Silver Medal of the USSR Technical Achievements Exhibition in 1988, The Silver Medal for the Progress in Military Technology in 1989 and The European Prize "For the Excellence in Science" in Italy in 1993. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Dr. Kucherov was invited to head research in alternative energy sources at a Utah based research and development company, Eneco. Since 2005 he was a Research Physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C., where he conducted research in the areas of ballistics, personal protective equipment, vehicle armour for the US Marine Corps as well as low energy nuclear reactions and Electromagnetic Launchers. Dr. Kucherov's recent successes are a physical description of the ballistic failure of glass, that eluded explanation for 50 years and a new hypotheses for the mechanism that causes traumatic brain injury of soldiers due to explosion of improvised explosive devices. His latest work brought him the Naval Research Laboratory Award of Merit for group achievement. A prolific inventor, he produced 58 patents and published over 100 articles in scientific journals. Dr. Kucherov was highly respected by his staff and colleagues and will be greatly missed by his family and friends. Dr. Kucherov is survived by his wife, Oksana Kucherov; daughter Katerina Kucherov (Alex Frolov); mother Maya N. Kucherov; mother-in-law Svetlana Russkaya and grandchildren Stanislava and Maria Frolov. Relatives and friends may call at Jefferson Funeral Chapel, 5755 Castlewellan Dr., Alexandria, VA on Thursday, December 8, 2011 from 1 p.m. until time of service at 3 p.m. Inurnment private.