Abdulla is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering Computational Reactor Physics Group at MIT. His innovation is a new theory and computational framework to determine the age of stars. Nucleosynthesis is the process by which atoms heavier than hydrogen are formed in the cores of stars, accurate calculations of the reaction rates of this process are necessary in order to obtain an accurate age for the stars and for the universe. These calculations depend on the underlying physics of the interactions of two nuclei, our understanding of this physics is mostly empirical and subject to uncertainties. This method is a new way to accurately understand the impact of these uncertainties by including new physics into the calculation. Since these nuclei interactions occur not just in stars, but also in nuclear reactors, fusion reactors, medical MRI machines, and many others, this methodology has the potential to impact the design of future technologies in medicine and clean energy. His is pursuing his