2012 annual report
DESCRIPTION
The Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University annual report.TRANSCRIPT
Annual Report 2011-2012
Nuclear Engineering337 Zachry Engineering Center
3133 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3133979.845.4161
nuclear.tamu.edu
Cultivating leaders I Researching solutions I Promoting understanding
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To serve our state, our nation and our global community by nurturing future nuclear engineering professionals and leaders who are:
• instilled with the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior;
• prepared to meet the complex challenges associated with sustainably expanding peaceful uses of nuclear energy;
• enhancing global nuclear security and avoiding the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
To develop and maintain a nationally and internationally recognized program that promotes a passion for understanding and applying the knowledge of nuclear science and engineering to support the nation's alternative energy, national security and health care missions.
• The decision to enter the field of nuclear engineering was made in 1957, while Dr. John C. Calhoun was Dean of Engineering.
• Our AGN-201 nuclear training reactor was purchased and installed in the mechanical engineering shops building, under the direction of Dr. Richard E. Wainerdi in 1957.
• In 1958, the Academic Council approved the recommendation of the Executive Committee that a Department of Nuclear Engineering be created and that graduate programs in nuclear engineering be authorized.
• At that time, only two degree programs were administered: an M.S. and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. The undergraduate program was established in 1966.
During a time of great transition for the university and the department, it is my pleasure to present the 2011-2012 Annual Report for the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M.
I hope you are intrigued reading this overview of the department’s achievements in the past year; none of it would be possible without your spirit, energy and support.
Former and current students, faculty, staff, colleagues, and those partners in the industry-- it is to you we give our thanks for these numbered achievements.
Each year, we strive to surpass the last, to provide more opportunities and support for the students, to forge more partnerships in industry, national labs and government, and to incorporate a stronger, more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to our teaching and research.
In this annual report, we highlight the achievements of our faculty and students from the past year. Some of our most significant achievements include the 36.3% growth over the last five years of our undergraduate student body, and the 34.6% growth over the last five years of our graduate student body. The department’s research awards for fiscal year 2012 were over $12.8 million.
Faculty advancement is shown in the promotion and tenure of several of our faculty: Dr. Sean McDeavitt, Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov, and Dr. Jean Ragusa all to Associate Professor. We also brought in a promising new member to our faculty, Dr. Ryan McClarren as Assistant Professor.
I hope you enjoy this summary of the department’s activities, and plan to be a part of what is to come.
With changing times come new initiatives and new aspirations, and we hope to continue to improve
upon the program that is already the largest and one of the best in the nation. With your continued interest and support, we can accomplish much.
On behalf of the department and myself, I thank Dr. Raymond Juzaitis for his tireless effort to raise the bar of excellence and push the boundaries.
I assumed the position of Interim Head in January 2012, and I am happy to announce that I will serve as Department Head starting February 2013. I look forward to working with you. Visit us should you have the chance, and if you have any questions about our department, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Yassin A. Hassan Interim Department Head
a word from the department head
Dear Friends,
26.......................Students win 2011 Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards
table Contentsof
Department Interest Stories
to start
.........................The Dwight Look College of Engineering at a Glance
Texas A&M Nuclear Engineering Department at a Glance......................................6
Greetings from the Department Head.................................................................2
12..............................................Student Recognition
Nuclear Engineering Department Briefs....................
18....................................................................................................Faculty Profiles
24............................................................Graduate Students: Theses & Dissertations
27..............Grad Student J. Johns Presents at Low Carbon Earth Summit
GNEII Hosts Symposium and Graduation Ceremony..............................................28
11
14
Aggie Nukes tour WIPP and Sandia National Labs............................................32
Save the dates !
NASA Space Tech Program to Sponsor Aggie Research....................................................................
Everyone Can Do It: Marna Billiter Creates Scholarship......................................
............Nuclear Materials Under Extreme Conditions
NSSPI Faculty and Students Participate in Nonproliferation Summer School in Russia..................................
Give a gift, make your mark....................................................................................44
Rottler Named Distinguished Former Student for 2011...................................45
Nuclear Engineering Department 55th Anniversary............................... FALL 2013
Nuclear Engineering Department Annual Tailgate............................................TBA
39
36 34
30
6 Department at a Glance
Incoming Undergraduate Students (Fall 2011)
Incoming Students61 total students
1303 SAT (Math + Verbal) 28.8 ACT Composite
2 National Hispanic Scholars3 National Merit
67% of incoming freshmen were top 10%
16% of incoming freshmen were 1st generation
54 Texas Residents 4 Out of State 3 International
310 Undergraduate Students B.S. Nuclear Engineering B.S. Rad. Health Engineering
133 Graduate Students M.S. Nuclear Engineering M.S. Health Physics Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering
(Source: TAMU OISP, Fall 2011 Semester)
By Ethnicity 2 Black 7 Hispanic 3 Asian/Pacific Islander 3 International44 White
By Gender46 Male15 Female
By Major50 NUEN 11 RHEN
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
U.S.News & World Report RankingsProgram rankings among public institutions
2 Undergraduate3 Graduate
24466
731149
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 7Department at a Glance
InternationalTomsk Polytechnical Institute (Russia)Ecole Polytechnique Féminine (France)Korea Advanced Institute of Science & TechnologyHarbin Engineering University (China)Tsinghua University (China)National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan)
DomesticAbilene Christian UniversityAir Force Institute of TechnologyAngelo State UniversityEmbry Riddle Aeronautical UniversityPennsylvania State UniversityTexas A&M University - KingsvilleU.S. Naval AcademyUniversity of HoustonUniversity of Illinois - Urbana ChampaignUniversity of Wisconsin - Madison
(48% of incoming grad students come from the department’s undergraduate program)
Incoming Graduate Students (Fall 2011)
Incoming Students total students GRE Quantitative Average GRE Verbal Average Average GPR
By Major 24 NUEN HLPH
By Gender Male Female
By Ethnicity 1 Black 1 Hispanic 6 International 17 White
32 Total faculty 18 Tenured/Tenure-track faculty
8 Full7 Associate3 Assistant
2 Senior Lecturers9 Research Faculty3 Professor Emeritus
Student Organizations:
Alpha Nu Sigma Honor SocietyAmerican Nuclear SocietyHealth Physics SocietyInstitute of Nuclear Materials ManagementWomen in Nuclear
1781
25742554
3.690
ANNUAL REPORT 20128 Department at a Glance
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0
30
60
90
120
150
Fall2007
Fall2008
Fall2009
Fall2010
Fall2011
Fall2007
Fall2008
Fall2009
Fall2010
Fall2011
104
237253
291
331310
244260
233208
4558 71 66
194
43
52
32
20
98
54
31
13
110
61
34
15
131
69
45
16
135
62
61
11
TotalMS-NUEN
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
TotalBS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0
30
60
90
120
150
Fall2007
Fall2008
Fall2009
Fall2010
Fall2011
Fall2007
Fall2008
Fall2009
Fall2010
Fall2011
104
237253
291
331310
244260
233208
4558 71 66
194
43
52
32
20
98
54
31
13
110
61
34
15
131
69
45
16
135
62
61
11
TotalMS-NUEN
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
TotalBS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
Total UnderGraduate Student Enrollment
Degrees awarded over past 4 years
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Total Graduate Student Enrollment
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
MS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
BS-NUEN
2011-20122010-20112009-20102008-2009
53
28
32
36
45
24
9
7
2
15
8
5
19
6
711842
7168
87
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
MS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
BS-NUEN
2011-20122010-20112009-20102008-2009
53
28
32
36
45
24
9
7
2
15
8
5
19
6
711842
7168
87
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
MS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
BS-NUEN
2011-20122010-20112009-20102008-2009
53
28
32
36
45
24
9
7
2
15
8
5
19
6
711842
7168
87
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
MS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
BS-NUEN
2011-20122010-20112009-20102008-2009
53
28
32
36
45
24
9
7
2
15
8
5
19
6
711842
7168
87
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total
PhD-NUEN
MS-HLPH
MS-NUEN
BS-RHEN
BS-NUEN
2011-20122010-20112009-20102008-2009
53
28
32
36
45
24
9
7
2
15
8
5
19
6
711842
7168
87
9Department at a Glance
Nuclear Engineering Annual Tailgate-
Although several attendees swore they saw a boat float by, the A&M versus Arkansas Razorbacks game on September 29, 2012, had everyone jumping out of their seats.
It was a great time together, as Aggie Nukes from all years visited together under the giant tent, watching the game on two TVs. The Aggies got their first SEC win against the Razorbacks, with a whopping win of 58-10. The Razorbacks couldn’t score anything after the first quarter.
Current and former Nukes took away a great memento that we encourage them to wear at each tailgate from here on out: the department tailgate t-shirt below.
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 1110 ANNUAL REPORT 201210Department at a Glance ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Computational & Experimental Fluid Mechanics & Heat Transfer
Dosimetry: Micro, Internal & ExternalFuel Cycles & MaterialsIon Implantation & Beam Solid InteractionsIonizing Radiation Bio-effectsMedical Applications for RadionuclidesMultiphase Flow & VisualizationMultiphysics Computation & SimulationNon-Proliferation & Disposition StrategiesNuclear Instrumentation
Nuclear Material SafeguardsOptimization Methods for Nuclear Energy SystemsRadiation & Cancer BiologyRadiation Detection & MeasurementRadiation Safety & TransportRadiological Effects & Risk AssessmentReactor Design & ExperimentationThermal HydraulicsTransmutation DopingWaste Management & Form Development
Facilities
& C
enter
s
Accelerator Laboratory AGN-201M Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Center for Large-scale Scientific Simulations
(CLASS)Fuel Cycle and Materials Laboratory (FCML)Institute for National Security, Education and
Research (INSER) Interphase Transport Phenomena Laboratory
(ITP)Laser Diagnostics Multiphase Flow Laboratory
Micro-Beam Cell Irradiation FacilityNASA Space Power Center (TEES) Nuclear Heat Transfer Systems LaboratoryNuclear Power Institute (NPI)Nuclear Science Center (1MW Triga Reactor)
(NSC)Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute
(NSSPI)Radiation Detection Measurement LaboratoryTandem Accelerator Laboratory
Res
earch A
rea
s
$267.4 million in Engineering Research Expenditures(American Society for Engineering Education)
Pho
to c
ou
rtes
y o
f C
lark
Mo
od
y
8,3292,850
11,179
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 1110 2012 ANNUAL REPORT 11
Engineering Certif icate Program
The Look College of Engineering has designed the certificate programs below to offer students the opportunity to go beyond the traditional curriculum and gain specific knowledge in a concentration area. The certificates are of great value - both to the students who pursue them and to potential employers who seek candidates who posses competencies developed from earning them.
• Energy Engineering Certificate• Engineering Project Management Certificate • Engineering Scholars Program Honors Certificate• International Engineering Certificate• Polymer Specialty Certificate • Safety Engineering Certificate• Business Management Certificate for Engineering Students
Undergraduate Research Scholars
The Undergraduate Research Scholars Program provides motivated, undergraduates the opportunity to engage in mentored, in-depth research experiences. Undergraduate Research Scholars engage in a two-semester research experience (fall/spring academic year) conducted under the supervision of a faculty mentor that culminates in a written thesis or other scholarly project, as determined by the Scholar and his or her faculty advisor. The objectives of the programs are to involve motivated undergraduates in a complex research project that emulates the “graduate student” experience and to also introduce the student to the academic publication process and the scholarly community.
College of Engineering at a Glance
Texas A&M College of Engineering Enrollment, Fall ‘11
undergraduate graduate total
U.S. News & World Report national rankings
Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M7th in graduate9th in undergraduate
$267.4 million in Engineering Research Expenditures(American Society for Engineering Education)
8,3292,850
11,179
12 ANNUAL REPORT 2012Student Recognition
ScholarshipsUndergraduate Student awards
Mclan Amos StinsonRyan Brito StinsonLandon Brockmeyer Harold J. Giroir, Jr. MemorialWilliam Cook StinsonDaniel Custead DepartmentalEric Davied Departmental, Jeff W. Simmons ‘85Lainy Dromgoole Departmental, R.D. Neff Leigh Emerson DepartmentalTyrell Foster Bill R. Teer ‘55Ezra Ginder DepartmentalKelli Humbird Jeff W. Simmons ‘85Timothy Jansen DepartmentalSamuel Kuhr Mitty C. Plummer ‘65Joshua Loucks StinsonSara Loupot DepartmentalPaul Mendoza Harold J. Giroir, Jr. MemorialRobert Mikel DepartmentalDrew Mitchell DepartmentalMichelle Okezie Neff-Poston Health PhysicsChristopher Pannier Harold J. Giroir, Jr. MemorialJacob Peterson StinsonLloyd Price Jeff W. Simmons ‘85Jonathan Scherr DepartmentalRobert Seager Harold J. Giroir, Jr. MemorialDylan Singh Eloise Vezey DromgooleSteven Smiley David G. Barker ‘66Christopher Smirnis DepartmentalKaryn Stern DepartmentalClay Strack DepartmentalJaclyn Stuart R.D. Neff Laura Sudderth DepartmentalRichard Vega Harold J. Giroir, Jr. MemorialEthan Windsor Bill R. Teer ‘55
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 13Student Recognition
graduate Student awards
Bradley Appel NSF Graduate Fellowship and National Excellence
Marie Arrieta Sandia National Laboratory
Christopher Chance Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
Alice Dale Texas Space Grant
Royal Elmore National Science Foundation
Jessica Feener DOE - National Nuclear Security Administration
Braden Goddard DOE - National Nuclear Security Administration
Michael Hackemack Medical University of South Carolina Rickover
Andi Jati Fulbright
Zachary Kulage DHS - Nuclear Energy Forensics
Cheuk Lau National Excellence
Peter Maginot DOE - Computational Science Graduate
James Miller DHS - Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
Vishal Patel DOE - Nuclear Energy University Programs (NUEP)
Charles Stratton Department of Energy
Hayes Stripling DOE - Computational Science Graduate
Andrew Till Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Fellowships
14 ANNUAL REPORT 2012News Briefs
Department Moves Offices in Zachry Engineering Center
The Department of Nuclear Engineering has relocated its offices to the third floor of the Zachry Engineering Center.
The main office is now located in suite 337, with faculty, staff and graduate students in various office locations throughout the third floor. NPI is now located in suite 304 of Zachry.
The new mailing address for the department is: 337 Zachry Engineering Center, 3133 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3133.
NE Students Win 2011 Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards
Two nuclear engineering students won awards in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards competition.
Adam Parkison, a Ph.D. student, was awarded first place in the category of Nuclear Fuels. His award-winning research paper, “Hydride Formation Process for the Powder Metallurgical Recycle of Zircaloy from Used Nuclear Fuel,” was published in the journal Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A in January 2011.
William Sames, a master’s degree student, was awarded a prize in the Undergraduate category. His award-winning research paper, “Voloxidation Modeling and Code Development,”
was presented at the 2011 Waste Management Symposium in February. The research was performed and the paper was written while Sames was an undergraduate student at Texas A&M. {More on page 28}
NEUP Awards More than $2.2 Million to Nuclear Engineering Professors
Nuclear engineering professors Marvin Adams and Paul Nelson were awarded three research grants of more than $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Dr. Paul Nelson, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering and current Associate Director for International Programs of Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute, received two grants with Dr. Marvin Adams receiving the third. The grants were part of the $39 million awarded to support up to 51 projects at colleges and universities across the country through the Nuclear Engineering University Program (NEUP).
The projects selected for award cover four nuclear energy research fields including Fuel Cycle Research and Development; Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration; Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation; and Transformative Research.
Nelson’s projects were awarded under the Transformative Research mission. His projects, “Improved Safety Margin Characterization of Risk from Loss of Offsite Power” and “Correlates of Sensitive Technologies” were granted $600,000 and more than $500,000 ,respectively.
Adams project, “Phenomena-based Uncertainty Quantification in
Predictive Coupled-Physics Reactor Simulations” was granted more than $1 million and is part of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation mission.
Through the NEUP, the DOE is working to leverage the research and development capabilities of American universities and colleges to enhance U.S. leadership in the global nuclear energy industry.
Texas A&M University Receives $4.5 Million to Study the Aging of Stored Used Nuclear Fuel
The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Texas A&M University $4.5 million over the next three years to research the aging of stored used nuclear fuel.
The project, “Fuel Aging in Storage and Transportation (FAST): Accelerated Characterization and Performance Assessment of the Used Nuclear Fuel Storage System” was selected for negotiation of award and is led by nuclear engineering associate professor Sean McDeavitt. Funding for the project is through the Integrated Research Projects (IRP) program under the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), which supports large, multi-year projects led by teams of American universities working to develop cross-cutting breakthroughs in nuclear energy technologies.
McDeavitt led a team of 18 principal investigators and their respective research groups at six universities and two national laboratories. The organization functioned as a matrixed engineering research team focused on
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 15
four distinct, yet integrated Technical Mission Areas (TMAs): TMA1: Low Temperature Creep, TMA2: Hydrogen Behavior and Delayed Hydride Cracking, TMA3: UNF Canister Corrosion, and TMA4: Novel System Monitoring. The TMAs are designed to address challenges relevant to almost every Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) system currently deployed or under development, with a special emphasis on high burnup fuel.
“The project at Texas A&M supports the cutting-edge nuclear energy research that will advance our domestic nuclear industry and help us maintain global leadership in the field,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through this investment we are also training and educating the next generation of leaders in the U.S. nuclear industry to help build a strong new energy economy.” {More on page 40}
Chirayath Awarded NSF Grant
Sunil Chirayath, TEES research scientist for the Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) and visiting assistant professor for the Department of Nuclear Engineering, was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation under the NSF/Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) Academic Research Initiative (ARI).
The project, “ARI: Experimental and Computational Assessment of Unique Trace Elements and Isotope Ratios
in Plutonium from Depleted U r a n i u m Irradiated in Fast Reactor B l a n k e t s , ” was awarded n e a r l y
$400,000 and will assess whether or not it is possible to reliably predict and measure a unique, intrinsic physical signature in weapons-grade plutonium produced in reactors of foreign nuclear fuel cycles. Chirayath will lead the project with Dr. David Boyle, NSSPI Deputy Director, and Dr. Charles M. Folden, III of the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute serving as co-principal investigators.
Researchers will use both computational and experimental methods to study plutonium resulting from fast breeder reactor depleted uranium blankets and CANDU-type reactor natural uranium fuel to define its unique, identifying characteristics.
WIN Tours MD Anderson Cancer Center
Women in Nuclear (WIN) sponsored a tour of the nuclear medicine and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) departments at MD Anderson in Houston on October 21, 2011.
The trip presented the participants with an opportunity to learn about the departments, continuing education opportunities and potential employment with MD Anderson.Students toured the facility and were given demonstrations of how the various machines worked.
Inaugural Nuclear Engineering Student Advisory Council Named
Members of the “first” Nuclear
Engineering Student Advisory Council (NESAC) were named November 14, 2011.
Members: Cody, Clayton (4th yr)Martin, John (4th yr)Dromgoole, Lainy (3rd yr)Twaddle, Rose (3rd yr)Michaelides, Dimitrios (2nd yr)Pannier, Christopher (2nd yr)Holgado, Aaron (1st yr)Loofs, Ryan (1st yr)Evans, Jordan (GRAD)Helmreich, Grant (GRAD)Sames, Will (GRAD)Banuelos, Cervando (HPS)Spence, Grant (INMM)Swim, Ashley (ANS)
Nuclear Engineering Students Win ANS Design Competition
Former nuclear engineering undergraduate students Wes Deason, Daniel Eichel, Josh Hansel and Will Sames won the 2011 Undergraduate Design Competition hosted by the American Nuclear Society at its annual Winter Meeting held October 30 - November 3, 2011, in Washington D.C.
Their design project was titled, “Design and Analysis of a 1-MWe Transportable Heat Pipe-Cooled Fast Reactor.”
The team found the design was compared favorably to diesel electric generators for energy production in
News Briefs
disaster relief and military scenarios. The students originally completed the project as part of NUEN 410 - Nuclear Reactor Design. They all earned their Bachelor of Science degrees in May. Eichel, Hansel and Sames are pursuing their graduate studies here in the department, while Deason is a graduate student at Oregon State University.
Juzaitis Announces Departure
Nuclear engineering department head Dr. Raymond Juzaitis has announced his departure from the department to become the president of National Security Technologies (NSTec).
Juzaitis has served as the head of the D e p a r t m e n t of Nuclear E n g i n e e r i n g since 2007. During his tenure, he has increased the number of faculty, saw enrollment growth in both the undergraduate and graduate programs, created the “Nuclear Society and Technology Invited Speaker Series,” and improved outreach activities and communications with former students. Additionally, he revamped the Department’s Advisory Council to emphasize mutual relationships with the laboratories, nuclear industry and government.
Hassan Appointed Interim Department Head
Dr. Yassin Hassan has been appointed by the Look College of Engineering as the interim head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, effective Friday, January 6, 2012.
Hassan joined the faculty of nuclear e n g i n e e r i n g in 1986 and currently serves as the associate head of the department.
Aggie Collaborative Research Awarded 2010 Significant Contribution Award
Texas A&M Nuclear Engineering faculty and graduate students, and co-authors selected as recipients of the 2010 Significant Contribution Award by the Materials Science and Technology Division of the American Nuclear Society for the paper entitled “Introducing a High Thermal Conductivity UO2-BeO Nuclear Fuel Concept,” by Dr. Sean McDeavitt, Dr. Jean Ragusa, Michael Naramore, Robert Miller (Texas A&M), Shripad Revankar, Alvin Solomon (Purdue University), James Malone (IBS Advanced Alloys Corp).
This award is to be presented at the ANS Annual Meeting on June 27 in Chicago. To see past recipients of this award, visit http://mstd.ans.org/awards.html.
NASA Space Tech Program to Sponsor Aggie Research
NASA’s Space Technology Program has selected 14 proposals on commercial reusable suborbital launch vehicles for development and demonstration. Each idea innovative in its own way, one of these 14 proposals, “Demonstration of Variable Radiator,” was that of Dr. Richard “Cable” Kurwitz, lecturer in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University. {More on page 36}
Czech Ambassador Hosts TAMU Workshop Participants
On June 18, 2012, four TAMU nuclear engineering faculty members, Dr. Radek Skoda, Dr. Jean Ragusa, Dr. Craig Marianno and Dr. Alexander Solodov, took part in a luncheon at the US Embassy in the Czech Republic. Ambassador Norman L. Eisen hosted the luncheon in honor of the CVUT Nuclear Engineering Conference, a week-long graduate and post-graduate workshop that was held in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the nearby Czech Technical University in Prague.
The workshop was organized by the Czech Nuclear Education Network (CENEN) using European Union program funds and was endorsed by the US Embassy as part of its initiative to build stronger nuclear cooperation between Czech universities and US institutions of higher learning.
Aggie Nukes tour WIPP and Sandia National Labs
On May 14, a group of undergraduate and graduate students, professors and guests traveled to Carlsbad, N.M. to visit the Waste Isolations Pilot Plant (WIPP), followed by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. The goal of the trip was to give students a look at applied nuclear engineering in the industry setting.
16News Briefs ANNUAL REPORT 2012
Students were treated to a private ‘insider’ tour of WIPP, the primary storage site for low-grade transuranic nuclear waste in the U.S. Students went deep into the Carlsbad salt caverns to see how waste is stored, and observed the natural process of the salt entombing the containers. WIPP was constructed during the 1980’s, authorized by Congress through the U.S. Department of Energy. In 1998, WIPP was certified for the safe, long-term disposal of TRU, or transuranic wastes. WIPP’s disposal rooms are nearly a half mile below the surface, at around 2,150 feet. {More on page 34}
NSSPI Receives Visitors from Indian University
During the first two weeks of July, NSSPI hosted two students, Mr. Manit Shah and Mr. Vijay Mehta, from the M. Tech. program in Nuclear Energy at the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), along with Profesor Shriram Paranjape, Chair of the Nuclear Energy department at PDPU.
The objective of their visit was to receive hands-on laboratory experience in measurement techniques to support the security of nuclear materials.
NPI Hosts Three IFNEC Meetings
NPI had the honor of hosting three concurrent meetings for IFNEC, (International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation) on July 18-19, 2012. The International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) is a forum of those States that share the common vision of the necessity of the safe use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes worldwide in a safe and secure manner.IFNEC consists of 32 participants, three permanent international observers, and 31 observer countries. The hosted meetings were: Infrastructure Development Working Group, Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services Working Group Meeting, and the Steering Group Meeting.
Science on Saturday Promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
On May 19, 2012, local area teachers and a handful of A&M students electrified local students at the Center for Energy Development in Bay City. SOS is a presentation of experiments geared toward junior high and high school students, developed by NPI
(Nuclear Power Institute) to garner interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). An estimated 175 students of all ages participated in a variety of experiments. Parents, teachers and other community members attended as well. SOS was NPI’s first attempt to bring a STEM related event outside of the classroom and into the community to demonstrate and explain to students that science is fun, and everywhere.
Workshop for Kenyans a Success
From July 8 to August 8, 2012, 29 specialists from Kenya attended a workshop organized by NPI. The objective of the workshop was to provide a background on the utilization of nuclear energy, and consisted of lectures, lab exercises, tours, facilities, and group projects. All activities focused on building the capability in Kenya to embark on a nuclear power program. Participants included scientists, engineers, and a number of others from the fields of law, human resources, communications, procurement, public policy and advocacy, public relations, and regulation.
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 17News Briefs
$12.8M in research awards
$10.2M in Research Expenditures
138 Total pub lications
107 R esearch/teaching assistantships
18 F ellowsh i ps
63 re f ere ed journal articl es
75 Selective conf er ence papers
9 F ellows in professional societi es
10 editorships & editorial board memberships
27 Members of professional society
committees
By the numbers(FY2012)
William CharltonAssociate Professor
Director, Nuclear Security Science and Policy InstitutePh.D., Texas A&M University
Nuclear NoNproliferatioN & iNterNatioNal security, reactor physics & fuel cycle aNalysis, reactor experimeNtatioN & Nuclear data developmeNt
Leslie BrabySenior Lecturer
TEES Research ProfessorPh.D., Oregon State University
radiatioN dosimetry, microdosimetry, Biological effects of radiatioN, microBeam laB, food irradiatioN
Gamal AkabaniAssociate Professor
Ph.D., Texas A&M [email protected]
medical scieNces, Biomedical eNgiNeeriNg, Nuclear mediciNe imagiNg, Nuclear oNcology, radiatioN moNte carlo traNsport, radiatioN oNcology,
radiotherapy physics, radioBiology, pK/pd & pBpK modeliNg, Basic immuNology, & radiopharmaceutical research
David BoyleDeputy Director, Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of [email protected]
safety & efficieNcy of plutoNium storage, dispositioN approaches
Marvin AdamsProfessor
Director, Institute of National Security Education & ResearchPh.D., University of Michigan
computatioNal traNsport theory, efficieNt algorithms for massively parallel scieNtific & eNgiNeeriNg calculatioNs, QuaNtificatioN of uNcertaiNties iN
predictive scieNce & eNgiNeeriNg
18 ANNUAL REPORT 2012FACULTY
Sunil ChirayathVisiting Assistant ProfessorTEES Research ScientistPh.D., University of Madras, [email protected]
moNte carlo traNsport methods iN reactor physics & radiatioN shieldiNg, fast Breeder reactor (fBr) core physics simulatioNs, safeguards approaches & aNalysis for fBr fuel cycles
Stephen GueterslohAssistant ProfessorPh.D., Colorado State University [email protected]
space Weather, experimeNtal particle physics, effectiveNess of composite materials as radiatioN shields, radiatioN traNsport modeliNg (fluKa, phits, mcNp, mcNpx), accelerator shieldiNg desigN
John FordAssociate ProfessorABET CoordinatorPh.D., University of [email protected]
respoNse of iNtact tissues to ioNiziNg radiatioN & a microBeam is reQuired to determiNe hoW the respoNse of iNdividual cells iN a tissue are modified By NeighBoriNg uNirradiated cells
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 19FACULTY
Yassin HassanProfessorInterim Department HeadPh.D., University of [email protected]
computatioNal & experimeNtal thermal hydraulics, reactor safety, fluid mechaNics, tWo-phase floW, turBuleNce & laser velocimetry, imagiNg techNiQues
Ron HartProfessor EmeritusPh.D., University of California, [email protected]
ioN Beam iNteractioNs, NeutroN traNsmutatioN dopiNg, radiatioN effects
Cable KurwitzLecturer
TEES Associate Research EngineerPh.D., Texas A&M University
reduced gravity thermal maNagemeNt, modeliNg of high dimeNsioNal data, data classificatioN, & model validatioN, Nuclear poWer systems
Craig MariannoVisiting Assistant Professor
TEES Research EngineerPh.D., Oregon State University
Nuclear couNter terrorism, Nuclear iNstrumeNtatioN developmeNt, exercise developmeNt, radiological coNseQueNce maNagemeNt,
eNviroNmeNtal health physics
Ryan McClarrenAssistant Professor
Ph.D., University of [email protected]
uNcertaiNty QuaNtificatioN, Numerical methods for radiatioN traNsport, multiphysics simulatioN, high performaNce computiNg
Sean McDeavittAssociate Professor
Director, Fuel Cycle & Materials LaboratoryPh.D., Purdue University
Nuclear materials scieNce, Nuclear fuel Behavior & processiNg, materials processiNg iN the Nuclear fuel cycle, high temperature materials scieNce
William MarlowProfessor
Undergraduate Program AdvisorPh.D., University of Texas
physics of molecular clusters & small particle iNteractioNs - aerosols, applicatioNs iN materials, radioactivity & disperse materials,
eNviroNmeNtal & health protectioN
20 ANNUAL REPORT 2012FACULTY
Pete Miller TEES Research ProfessorPh.D., Northwestern [email protected]
aNalysis of policy optioNs for the storage & disposal of speNt Nuclear fuel, Nuclear fuel recycle, BreediNg plutoNium, elimiNatioN of traNsuraNics.
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 21FACULTY
Jim MorelProfessor Director, Center for Large-Scale Scientific SimulationsPh.D., University of New Mexico [email protected]
moNte carlo methods & hyBrid determiNistic/moNte carlo methods, discretizatioN & solutioN techNiQues for multiphysics/multiscale calculatioNs
Paul NelsonProfessor Emeritus TEES Research EngineerAssociate Director of Nuclear Security Science and Policy InstitutePh.D., University of New [email protected]
traNsport theory, computatioNal methods, maNagemeNt of Nuclear materials
Natela OstrovskayaSenior LecturerPh.D., Texas A&M [email protected]
mathematical & computer modeliNg of radiatioN respoNse of humaN tissues, predictiNg chaNges occurriNg iN tissues folloWiNg radiatioN iNsult
Kenneth PeddicordProfessorDirector, Nuclear Power InstitutePh.D., University of [email protected]
Behavior of Nuclear fuels, reactor systems & desigN, fissile materials dispositioN, mox fuels, geNeratioN iv Nuclear poWer systems, Nuclear geNerated hydrogeN, hydrogeN ecoNomy, Nuclear WorKforce
Dan ReeceProfessor
Director, Nuclear Science CenterPh.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
radiatioN traNsport, assessmeNt of effective dose eQuivaleNt, medical applicatioN of radioisotopes, dosimetry, uses for research reactors
Lin ShaoAssistant Professor
Ph.D., University of [email protected]
materials scieNce & NaNotechNology, radiatioN effects iN Nuclear & electroNic materials, ioN Beam aNalysis
Jean RagusaAssociate Professor
Associate Director, Institute for Scientific ComputationPh.D., Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble
Numerical methods for multiphysics simulatioNs
computatioNal techNiQues for Neutral particle & electroN traNsport
Nuclear fuel assemBly & reactor desigN
John PostonProfessor
Associate Director, Nuclear Power InstitutePh.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
exterNal & iNterNal dosimetry
22 ANNUAL REPORT 2012FACULTY
Radek SkodaVisiting Lecturer
TEES Assistant Research Engineer Associate Director, Nuclear Science Center
Ph.D., Czech Technical [email protected]
ecoNomics of Nuclear poWer, Nuclear research reactors, NeutroN detectioN
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 23FACULTY
Alexander SolodovLecturerTEES Associate Research EngineerPh.D., Texas A&M [email protected]
NoNdestructive assay of Nuclear materials, health physics iNstrumeNtatioN, Nuclear NoNproliferatioN & iNterNatioNal security
Pavel TsvetkovAssociate ProfessorPh.D., Texas A&M [email protected]
system aNalysis & optimizatioN methods, complex eNgiNeered systems, system desigN, symBiotic Nuclear eNergy systems, Waste miNimizatioN, sustaiNaBility, htgrs & co-geNeratioN systems, direct Nuclear eNergy coNversioN systems
Galina TsvetkovaLecturerSenior Research AssociatePh.D., Texas A&M University [email protected]
reactor physics, small Nuclear poWer & co-geNeratioN applicatioNs, Nuclear data maNagemeNt systems, isotope separatioNs, molecular dyNamics & separatioNs pheNomeNa
Karen Vierow Associate ProfessorGraduate Program Advisor Ph.D., University of [email protected]
thermal hydraulics, multiphase floW, particularly coNdeNsatioN heat traNsfer, reactor safety, severe accideNt aNalysis, reactor desigN
Commissioner William Magwood IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Dr. Daud Mohamad, AEA Deputy Director General
Dr. Li-Chi Cliff Po, Micro-Simulation Technology
Dr. Katrina Groth, Sandia National Labs,
Dr. David SenorPacific Northwest National Lab
Dr. Rick JacobiJacobi Consulting
Tom ForbesNuclear Energy for Texans
Dr. Stephen Rottler ‘80Sandia National Laboratories
Dr. Ray Rothrock ‘77Venrock
Some of our invited sp eakers. . . .:
ANNUAL REPORT 201224Graduate Students: Theses & Dissertations
Noushin Amini, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Hassan, Turbulent Flow Analysis and Coherent Structure Identification in Experimental Models with Complex Geometries
Bradley Appel, M.S., Advisors: Drs. Bragg-Sitton & Vierow, Multiphysics Design and Simulation of a Tungsten-Cermet Nuclear Thermal Rocket
Marie Arrieta, M.S., Advisor: Dr. McDeavitt, Low Temperature Chemical Vapor Deposition of Zirconium Nitride in a Fluidized Bed
Rouming Bi, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Ford, Custom Device for Low-Dose Gamma Irradiation of Biological Samples
Luigi Capone, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Hassan, CFD Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Bundles and Spacer Grids for PWR Reactors
Nandan Chandregowda, M.S., Advisors: Drs. Charlton & Chirayath, Assessment of the Fingerprinting Method for Verification of Spent Fuel in MACSTOR KN-400 CANDU
Spent Fuel Dry Storage
Di Chen, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Shao, Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Damage Cascade Formation in Ion Bombarded Solids
Curtis Conchewski, M.S., Advisors: Drs. Boyle & Charlton, Physical Security System Sensitivity to DBT Perturbations
John Creasy, M.S., Advisor: Dr. McDeavitt, Thermal Properties of Uranium-Molybdenum Alloys: Phase Decomposition Effects of Heat Treatments
Wes Cullum, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Vierow, Subcooling Effects for Flooding Experiments with Steam and Water in a Large Diameter Vertical Tube
Marie-Hermine Cuvel ier, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Tsvetkov, Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios with AP1000 PWRs and VHTRs and Fission Spectrum Uncertainties
Nathaniel Fredette, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Ragusa, Imaging Heterogeneous Objects Using Transport Theory and Newton’s Method
Akshay Gandhir, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Hassan, Computational Analysis of Fluid Flow in Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
Alison Goodsell, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Charlton, Flat Quartz-Crystal X-ray Spectrometer for Nuclear Forensics Applications
Je f frey Hausaman, M.S., Advisor: Dr. McDeavitt, Hot Extrusion of Alpha Phase Uranium-Zirconium Alloys for TRU Burning Fast Reactors
Gentry Hearn, M.S., Advisors: Drs. Charlton & Marianno, Mutable Detector Array Software for the Detection of Gamma Emissions in Classrooms and the Field
Laura Holewa, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Charlton, Angular Anisotropy of Correlated Neutrons in Lab Frame of Reference and Application to Detection and Verification
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
25Graduate Students: Theses & Dissertations
Carissa Humrickhouse, M.S., Advisor: Dr. McDeavitt, Characterization of Thermal Properties of Depleted Uranium Metal Microspheres
Joe Justina, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Marianno, Radiation Transport Simulation Studies using MCNP for a Cow Phantom to Determine an Optimal Deteector Configuration for a new Livestock Portal
Abdul Khan, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Hassan, Bubbly Flow Experiment in Channel Using an Optical Probe and Tracking Algorithm
Samuel Kuhr, M.S., Advisor: Dr. McDeavitt, An Electrolytic Method to Form Zirconium Hydride Phases in Zirconium Alloys with Morphologies Similar to Hydrides Formed in Used Nuclear Fuel
Sathish Lakshmipathy, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Tsvetkov,VHTR Core Shuffling Algorithm Using Particle Swarm Optimization ReloPSO-3D
Dapeng Lao, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Akabani, TOF-PET Imaging within the Framework of Sparse Reconstruction
Dongyoul Le e, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Braby & Guetersloh, Simulation and Analysis of Human Phantoms Exposed to Heavy Charged Particle Irradiations Using the Particle and Heavy Ion
Transport System (PHITS)
Hai f eng L iu, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Braby, Monte Carlo Simulations of Grid Walled Proportional Counters with Different Site Sizes for HZE Radiation
Thomas Martin, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Guetersloh, Design and Simulation of a Boron-loaded Neutron Spectrometer
Vishal Pate l, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Tsvetkov, A Multi-Modular Neutronically Coupled Power Generation System
Stephen Revis, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Charlton, Determination and Mitigation of Precipitation Effects on Portal Monitor Gamma Background Levels
Paul Rodi, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Nelson, Algorithms for Incorporation of Dynamic Recovery in Estimating Frequency of Critical Station Blackout
Nathani e l Salpeter, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Hassan, Development of Spatio-Temporal Wavelet Post Processing Techniques for Application to Thermal Hydraulic Experiments and Numerical
Simulations
Grant Spence, M.S., Advisor: Dr. Charlton, Directionally Sensitive Neutron Detector For Homeland Security Applications
Cheyn Worn, M.S., Advisors: Drs. Best & Tsvetkov, An Evaluation of Shadow Shielding for Lunar System Waste Heat Rejection
Valentin Zingan, Ph.D., Advisor: Dr. Morel, Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method for the Nonlinear Hyperbolic Problems with Entropy-Based Artificial Viscosity Stabilization
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
26
NE Students Win 2011 innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards
Two nuclear engineering students have won awards in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards competition.
Adam Parkison, a Ph.D. student, has been awarded a first place prize in the category of Nuclear Fuels. His award-winning research paper, “Hydride Formation Process for the Powder Metallurgical Recycle of Zircaloy from Used Nuclear Fuel,” was published in the journal Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A in January 2011.
William Sames, a master’s degree student, has been awarded a prize in the Undergraduate category. His award-winning research paper, “Voloxidation Modeling and Code Development,” was presented at the 2011 Waste Management Symposium in February. The research was performed and the paper was written while Sames was an undergraduate student at Texas A&M.
The academic community plays a vital role in helping to develop the advanced nuclear technologies that will help sustain and further expand nuclear power in the United States. The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program supports academia and the goal of the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy to develop sustainable nuclear fuel cycle options by encouraging innovative research in fuel cycle related disciplines.
The Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Awards program is designed to award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative fuel-cycle-relevant research publications; demonstrate the Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies’ commitment to higher education in fuel-cycle-relevant disciplines; and support communications among students and DOE representatives.
The program awarded 26 prizes in 2011 for student publications and presentations relevant to the nuclear fuel cycle. In addition to cash awards, winning students will have a variety of other opportunities including presenting their winning publication during the American Nuclear Society Winter meeting, participating in an Innovators’ Forum, and participating in the DOE Office of Fuel Cycle Technologies Annual Meeting.
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2012 ANNUAL REPORT 27
Grad student Jesse Johns presents at Low Carbon Earth Summit
Nuclear engineering graduate student Jesse Johns gave two presentations at the inaugural Low Carbon Earth Summit held October 19-26, 2011 in Dalian, China.
The summit drew more than 1,000 participants from 58 countries and covered the fast-growing field of innovation in the low carbon economy. It provided a forum where industry and academia joined together to learn about the latest and future developments, and explore opportunities for new business ventures. Presentations included speakers from academia, consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, technology providers, designers and carbon trade brokers.
Johns presentation topics included, “Fidelity Needs for Design, Safety, Performance and Fuel Cycle Evaluations of Next Generation Nuclear Reactors - Integrated Systems Approach,” and “Energy Sustainability: Offering Integrated Solution to Energy Delivery and Waste Management,” and were part of the “Global Nuclear Energy Outlook and Energy Policy” and “Next Generation Nuclear Reactor” sessions.
“The organizing committee recognized our efforts and contributions in this area and invited us to participate in the summit,” said Pavel Tsvetkov, associate professor of nuclear engineering.
Johns is a Ph.D. candidate working with Tsvetkov whose research group focuses on system methods and evaluations of contemporary nuclear energy aspects including energy sustainability, global outlook, and next generation reactors. Tsvetkov selected Johns to make the presentations on behalf of the research group.
“It was an important opportunity to engage in global energy talks and offer our point of view on the key subjects defining our global future,” said Johns.
Johns’ research interests include high-fidelity modeling of nuclear systems, computational fluid dynamics, reactor behavior of coupled systems, and design of advanced/novel reactor concepts. Johns is an employed Senior Reactor Operator at the Texas A&M University’s TRIGA reactor at the Nuclear Science Center, and provides the facility with experimental design and core modeling expertise.
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The Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII) held a two-day symposium and graduation ceremony on the Abu Dhabi campus of Khalifa University on October 9 and 10 to mark the completion of their 2012 program.
The symposium focused on nuclear safety, security, and safeguards and featured the eleven capstone projects completed by the GNEII fellows.
The 2012 GNEII class consisted of 26 fellows from five different countries. The capstone projects were the culmination of the 16-week GNEII course. Four of the capstone projects are already slated for publication in international journals.
The symposium was opened by Ambassador Michael H. Corbin, the US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Also in attendance were representatives from the US Department of Energy, US Department of State, Sandia National Laboratories, Khalifa University, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the Emirati Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the Emirati Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Protection Authority, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Texas A&M University was represented by Nuclear Engineering Interim Department Head Dr. Yassin Hassan, NSSPI Deputy Director Dr. David Boyle, and GNEII Faculty Coordinator Dr. Michael Schuller.
A key note address on a “Culture of Safety” was given by a senior member from ENEC, and the symposium program included a presentation by Dr. Ali Boussaha from IAEA on the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Department activities in the Middle East and a discussion on “3S integration in nuclear regulation in UAE” by Dr. Christer Viktorsson, Deputy Director General of FANR. GNEII alumni, Mr. Wael Al Hashimi, who is currently working with CICPA, also spoke to the graduates.
GNEII Hosts SymposiumGraduation Ceremony&
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
2012 ANNUAL REPORT 29
According to GNEII manager Abdelaziz Al Madhloum, “Programs like GNEII are vital to furthering the region’s quest to develop a peaceful nuclear program, as well as become an intellectual and academic hub in the Gulf area.”
GNEII was established in 2011 as a Khalifa University institute housing a regional education program offering both classroom instruction and hands-on experience in topics related to nuclear energy safety, security, safeguards and nonproliferation.
Conceived as a response to the growing interest in nuclear energy among Middle Eastern nations, GNEII strives to promote a nuclear energy security and safety culture in countries in the region with nascent nuclear energy programs.
The program is sponsored on the US side by the International Nuclear Safeguards and Engagement Program (INSEP) at the US Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Partnership for Nuclear Security (PNS), which is a program of the US Department of State’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction. NSSPI has worked with Sandia National Laboratories to develop the curriculum and supply the instructors for the modules.
Programs like GNE I I are vital to furthering the region’s quest to develop a peace fu l nuclear program as well as become an intellectual and academic hub in the Gulf area.
NSSPI Faculty and Students Participate in Nonprolif eration Summer School in Russia
From August 10 - 20, 2012, NSSPI faculty and students traveled to Tomsk in Russia to participate in the 6th International Nonproliferation Summer School: “Nuclear Technologies: Nonproliferation, Disarmament, and Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy.” They also met with and discussed joint research and educational projects with Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) faculty, signed a joint TAMU-TPU Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and toured the TPU Museum, Exhibition Center, Educational laboratories, and the Atomic Energy Information Center.
At the Nonproliferation Summer School, 26 students from Russia, the Ukraine, and the US, along with 16 experts from various organizations around the world were gathered to participate in a week-long course on nuclear nonproliferation. The student participants represented a variety of both technical and policy backgrounds and were at different stages of their educational careers, anywhere from 3rd year undergraduates to PhD-level students.
During the course of the school, students participated in a various activities, including lectures and presentations by experts, presentations by fellow students, hands-on exercises and simulation games, a writing/speaking workshop for Russian-speaking students, and social activities in the evenings.
Two simulation games were carried out relating to creating a physical security system for a nuclear reactor and negotiating a tactical nuclear weapon reduction treaty. During the first exercise, groups of students were given a layout of a reactor facility and a set of security equipment to use. They were asked to develop a full security system for the site, justify choices of the security plan, and determine locations of various protection measures and security sensors. During the second simulation, participants were asked to represent a variety of European NATO states, Russia, Ukraine, United States, and several non-weapon states around the world. The goal of the simulation was to potentially negotiate a treaty aimed at reducing the
number of tactical nuclear weapons on the European continent.
While in Tomsk, the TAMU delegation achieved a major milestone towards closer collaboration between the two universities after the MOU outlining areas of joint work was signed by TPU rector Chubik and TAMU president, Bowen Loftin.
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The TAMU students also toured the TPU Museum, Exhibition Center and Educational laboratories of the Physics Technical Institute (PhTI). US participants were presented with the history of one of the oldest universities in Siberia and a variety of educational programs and major accomplishments of its professors and students. They also saw laboratories featuring nondestructive assay instrumentation, physical security equipment, radiochemistry and other laboratories used in nuclear security and nonproliferation education programs at PhTI.
On the last day of the Summer School, all participants toured the Atomic Energy Information Center in Tomsk. The main purpose of the Center is educating public on about various aspects of nuclear energy, the nuclear fuel cycle and, particularly, the safety of nuclear operations. Students participated in an interactive presentation on nuclear waste handling and disposal.
The TAMU delegation consisted of NSSPI faculty member Dr. Alexander Solodov and students Jessica Feener, Matt Fitzmaurice, Braden Goddard, Zak Kulage, Eowyn Pedicini, Kate Putman, Matt Sternat, and TPU alumnus Alexandra Khudoleeva.
The visit of the TAMU delegation to TPU and the Nonproliferation Summer School had extensive coverage in the local media. For more information, and to see a list of some of the media reports, please visit nsspi.tamu.edu to see the original article.
On May 14, a group of undergraduate and graduate students, professors and guests traveled to Carlsbad, N.M. to visit the Waste Isolations Pilot Plant (WIPP), followed by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. The primary goal of the trip was to give students a look at applied nuclear engineering in the industry setting.
Students were treated to a private ‘insider’ tour of WIPP, which is the United States’ primary storage site for low-grade transuranic nuclear waste. This tour allowed student to go deep into the Carlsbad salt caverns to see how the waste is stored and observe the natural process of the salt entombing the containers. WIPP was constructed during the 1980’s, authorized by Congress through the U.S. Department
of Energy. In 1998, WIPP was certified for the safe, long-term disposal of TRU, or transuranic wastes. WIPP’s disposal rooms are nearly a half mile below the surface, at around 2,150 feet. By comparison, the Empire State Building is only 1,454 feet high.
“It’s stepping out farther than just sitting in a classroom, going so deep underground,” Chad O’Hagan, nuclear engineering senior, said. “We saw where waste was currently kept, and a hint of where it would go. Seeing the huge salt slab and how the waste collapses in on itself, compacting and weathering through billions of years was pretty huge. The mine encloses on itself, preserving waste like the mosquitos stuck in sap in Jurassic Park.”
The WIPP project will basically continue until it fills capacity with the salt slab acting as a buffer. It’s ideal because the waste will stay put, and the natural conditions will not disturb the waste, or allow it to affect the environment. Marking deep-geologic disposal site is a permanent indicator, cautioning against disturbing this ground.
“Propaganda tends to mislead; I was genuinely impressed with the setup and careful planning of WIPP. How they used the properties of the Permian Basin salt to naturally encase the waste was pretty remarkable. [The waste] is mainly just contaminated clothes and such,” Vishal Patel, PhD graduate student, said.
Students witnessed the process used to bring in waste, and then transfer it into containers for preservation and disposal, as well as the carefully planned placement of contained waste in specific sites. They were even given salt samples from the mines as mementos. The trip wasn’t just interesting for students and faculty, though.
“Being with the department for so long, I’ve been interested in [nuclear engineering],” Cory Hearnsberger, nuclear engineering
Aggie Nukes tour WIPP Sandia National Labs&
32
staff, said. “I’ve always wanted to see what they do, what they research, and how they apply it.”
On May 16, the group toured Sandia National Laboratories facilities at the Carlsbad, N.M. and Albuquerque, N.M. sites. At the Albuquerque site, the group toured a large variety of multi-disciplinary research labs, including the Ion Beam Lab, Microsystem and Engineering Science Application (MESA) facility, Solar Array, TA-V nuclear facilities, and Thermal Test Complex.
The tour and demonstration content spanned work over several engineering disciplines, including nuclear engineering. In addition to several nuclear-specific tours, such as a Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) and demonstration of the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) pulse, students learned about supercomputing capabilities, solar energy research, and nanotechnology. For many students who were unfamiliar with the lab system and Sandia’s role in the nuclear fuel cycle, there was genuine surprise regarding the extent of engineering and fundamental science performed at Sandia to ensure the effectiveness of the nation’s stockpile and to safely dispose of spent nuclear fuel waste.
“There was just so much there, on this entire trip. We learned about the big picture of the nuclear power industry, specifically where these two major players [WIPP and Sandia] fit into the big picture. In class, you don’t really see that. It’s theory and coursework, but [at WIPP and Sandia] we saw it in action. Dr. Rottler was a great speaker,” O’Hagan said.
Two social evening events allowed the students to engage TAMU alumni and other members of SNL’s technical and management staff. These events provided a ‘taste of Albuquerque’ and gave students the opportunity to ask more candid questions related to career paths and life outside the lab. The trip provided an opportunity for Sandia to exhibit a small selection of the Labs’ research capabilities and the students to learn more about the DOE mission and Sandia, as well as future employment opportunities.
“From a soon-to-graduate perspective, getting a feel for a national lab like Sandia is very useful,” Patel said. “I highly recommend the trip to any student interested in perhaps working at a national lab.”
Aggie Nukes tour WIPP Sandia National Labs
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NASA’s Space Technology Program selected 14 proposals on commercial reusable suborbital launch vehicles for development and demonstration.
Each idea innovative in its own way, one of these 14 proposals, “Demonstration of Variable Radiator,” was that of Dr. R. Cable Kurwitz, lecturer in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Dr. Kurwitz, associate research engineer and director of the Interphase Transport Phenomena Laboratory, will develop a variable thermal energy rejection technology for spacecraft.
The technology modulates portions of the spacecraft radiator to control spacecraft temperature during different phases of the mission.
Variable heat rejection is considered an enabling technology for future NASA mission. The technology utilizes expertise gathered from over 20 years of reduced gravity research and technology development within the laboratory.
“We are pleased to be selected for the NASA Game Changing Opportunities Program. Our approach builds upon knowledge and technology derived from years of reduced gravity testing and we are excited to be working with NASA,” said Dr. Kurwitz.
The submitted proposals offer unique approaches and solutions to high-priority technology needs recently identified in the National Research Council’s Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities report.
Each report seeks to further advance and enable technology development for NASA’s current and future missions in exploration, science and space operations.
“These technology payloads will have the opportunity to be tested on commercial suborbital flights, sponsored by NASA, that fly up to and near the boundary of space,” said Michael Gazarik, Director of NASA’s Space Technology Program at
NASA Space Tech Program to Sponsor Aggie Research
Our approach builds upon knowledge & technology derived from years of reduced gravity testing & we are excited to be working with NASA.,
34
NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The flights will ensure the technology fidelity before they’re put to work in operational systems in the harsh environment of space.”
NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program sponsored this solicitation in collaboration with NASA’s Game Changing Development Program.
Awards will range from $125,000 to $500,000 with a total NASA investment of approximately $3.5 million. Payloads are expected to fly in 2013 and 2014.
Thermal Load
Radiator
Main Pump
Eductor
Phase Separator
3-‐way Switch Valve
Hot Liquid Cold Liquid NC Gas
Thermal Load
Radiator
Main Pump
Eductor
Phase Separator
3-‐way Switch Valve
Hot Liquid Cold Liquid NC Gas
35
Above is a conceptual layout of the system operating in a high-powered state with all fluid legs of the radiator available for heat rejection.
Below is a conceptual layout of the system operating in a lower-powered state with the far left leg unavailable for heat rejection.
A single mom and program coordinator in the Department of Nuclear Engineering proves you don’t have to be a millionaire to give back to Texas A&M. Marna Billiter, a program coordinator in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, is proving that you don’t have to be a millionaire to give back to support Texas A&M University. This summer, she committed to fund an endowed scholarship for students pursuing a degree in nuclear engineering or radiological health engineering.
Billiter graduated with a degree in sociology in 1991 and shortly after took a job with the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. After living abroad for nine years, starting a family and working as a stay-
at-home mom, Billiter and her children returned to Texas. She found her way back to Aggieland and into the Department of Nuclear Engineering.
“I always joke that I’m the department mom because I advise incoming freshmen,” Billiter said. “When I see them, I ask how they’re really doing. I ask if they’re studying, finding personal time, eating healthy and sleeping. It’s like a well-check. That’s something faculty advisors don’t always think to ask about when they’re advising on academics, and I take a more holistic approach.”
Billiter’s interest in funding a scholarship began when she worked in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. She saw many students who needed help, and she realized that there wasn’t enough funding for everyone to receive assistance.
“I saw how someone could make such a difference to a student, and I realized the donors aren’t always people who are super well-off,” Billiter said. “Creating a scholarship is an attainable goal for many people because even though an endowment requires $25,000, if you plan for it, you can conceivably
I really just want to set an example for my kids. I want them to understand how important it is to think of others, no matter what.”
Everyone can do it
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Billiter’s scholarship serves as a tribute to her parents, Ed and Shirley Kissmann, because as a child they taught her the importance of giving back through their support of the family’s church.
“I got my education from A&M, and they’re the ones who put me through school,” Billiter said. “So I knew there was no better way to honor them than with this scholarship.”
Recipients of the scholarship will be upperclassmen because they are more committed to their chosen major. The scholarship also targets students who have had to overcome personal challenges in order to attend college.
“I want to help the students who are not straight “A” students,” Billiter said. “They’re the ones who sometimes miss out on opportunities because they don’t have perfect grades.”
She also hopes that her scholarship recipients will want to follow her example and give back after they graduate and begin their careers.
When considering the effects her scholarship will have, Billiter smiled, and added, “I really just want to set an example for my kids. I want them to understand how important it is to think of others, no matter what.”
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The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Texas A&M University $4.5 million over the next three years to research the aging of stored used nuclear fuel.
The project, “Fuel Aging in Storage and Transportation (FAST): Accelerated Characterization and Performance Assessment of the Used Nuclear Fuel Storage System” was been selected for negotiation of award and is led by nuclear engineering associate professor Sean McDeavitt. Funding for the project is through the Integrated Research Projects (IRP) program under the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), which supports large, multi-year projects led by teams of American universities working to develop cross-cutting breakthroughs in nuclear energy technologies.
McDeavitt led a team of 18 principal investigators and their respective research groups at six universities and two national laboratories. The organization functioned as a matrixed engineering research team focused on four distinct, yet integrated Technical Mission Areas (TMAs): TMA1: Low Temperature Creep, TMA2: Hydrogen Behavior and Delayed Hydride Cracking, TMA3: UNF Canister Corrosion, and TMA4: Novel System Monitoring. The TMAs were designed to address challenges relevant
to almost every Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) system currently deployed or under development, with a special emphasis on high burnup fuel.
The overall objective was to create predictive tools in the form of observation methods, phenomenological models, and databases that will enable the design, installation, and licensing of dry used nuclear fuel storage systems that will be capable of containing used nuclear fuel for up to 300 years.
Partners included Boise State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Florida, the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Savannah River National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
“The project at Texas A&M supports the cutting-edge nuclear energy research that will advance our domestic nuclear industry and help us maintain global leadership in the field,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through this investment we are also training and educating the next generation of leaders in the U.S. nuclear industry to help build a strong new energy economy.”
iversity Receives $4.5 dy the Aging of uclear Fuel
Texas A&M UnMillion to StuStored Used N
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By Lesley Kriewald
Nuclear Materials Under Extreme ConditionsDesigning advanced materials for next-generation nuclear reactorsTo build safer, longer-lasting nuclear reactors, researchers need advanced materials that can withstand the harsh environment inside a reactor.
Lin Shao, an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, is a materials physicist on the hunt for these advanced materials. Shao’s research focuses on understanding why materials fail, particularly in the harsh environments inside a reactor, such as high temperature, stress, corrosion and neutron damage.
The aim of the research is not only reactor safety but also reactor economics and nuclear waste management. Since 2007, Shao’s research group has received $8.3 million in funding, primarily from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
Shao and his collaborators study a variety of materials, from stainless steel, which was used as cladding material (the hollow tube used to contain nuclear fuels), to ceramics and even concrete.
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out systematic research,” Shao says.
The unique capabilities of Shao’s lab have led to several subcontracts from various national laboratories that lack the kind of radiation testing facilities needed to test material behavior.
Different types of damage
Shao uses the example of stainless steel cladding. An energetic particle of radiation can rupture the atoms that make up the steel tube, causing damage that sets off a chain reaction that can lead to failure.
“You have this perfect stainless steel inside, but the neutron will cause damage and that damage will cause trouble,” he says. “That is the fundamental reason that we have so many nasty conditions inside a reactor.”
Swelling is one example of the damage that can occur. The atoms of a particular material are arranged in a certain shape. But left inside a reactor for a few years, the shape changes and grows.
“If you’re able to see what’s inside, you’ll find it’s like Swiss cheese,” Shao says. “The material begins to have a cavity inside due to this damage. It used to be okay to have 5 percent swelling, but in the next generation of nuclear reactors, even 1 percent swelling will cause a safety issue. So therefore, the whole field is hungry to find what is the best material that can suppress this kind of swelling enough to keep the structural integrity.”
Materials inside a nuclear reactor may also experience cracking. That can happen when stainless steel that contains nuclear fuel comes into contact with coolant, usually water at about 400–500 degrees Celsius in current reactors but will be about 1,000 degrees Celsius in next-generation reactors. After a few years, that water will begin to interact with the stainless steel and cause cracking. If this cracking cannot be stopped, then the nuclear fuel is exposed to coolant, contaminating the whole loop and causing accidents.
Gas atoms that accumulate inside a metal can form bubbles, similar to the bubbles seen around the edge of a pancake while it’s being cooked. Neutrons interacting with the material create these gas atoms.
Shao says it’s fair to blame all accelerated materials failures on
“We need to test these materials to get an idea of how long the materials will last,” Shao says, “and we need to understand what the mechanism is behind these failures so we can come up with a strategy to have better material development so the materials can have a longer lifetime.”
Unique capabilities
Aiding in this study is the country’s largest university radiation facility, Shao’s Ion Beam Laboratory, with five accelerators providing the particles at various energies that are needed to
simulate what happens inside a nuclear reactor—in a relatively short time.
“Previously, if someone said, ‘This material is good and can be used as a structural component inside a reactor,’ we can test to see whether that’s true,” Shao says. “We could put this material inside a reactor and irradiate it for a long time—probably five or 10 years—and then evaluate the damage.
“But we just can’t afford to wait such a long time,” he continues. “Therefore, we use our accelerator to create those high-energy, strong beams to simulate radiation damage and get a very quick answer. Our machines are very capable. For example, one day of exposure to radiation from an accelerator can represent a few years of the radiation inside a reactor.”
Shao says the capabilities of the five accelerators can be combined with those of the Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute, which produces very high-energy particles, and the university’s Nuclear Science Center, which can supply gamma and neutron particles. “Combine these facilities, and we have unique capability to carry
Aiding in this study is the country’s largest university radiation facility, Shao’s Ion Beam Laboratory, with five accelerators providing the particles at various energies that are needed to simulate what happens inside a nuclear reactor—in a relatively short time.
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neutrons, in fact. Neutrons destroy the original material structures through two types of interactions: nuclear reactions that create energetic fission fragments and direct neutron scattering in which the neutron knocks one atom out of its original location. A given atom can be pushed around by either fission fragments or directly by neutrons and get relocated up to hundreds of times.
“So no matter how good a material is at the beginning, everything will get messed up at the end,” Shao says.
Neutron damage also changes the water chemistry inside the reactor so that the water behaves like an acid. Therefore, corrosion damage is also of concern to nuclear engineers.
Cracking, swelling, bubble formation and corrosion are just several typical ways that materials inside a reactor can fail. In reality, these failure mechanisms are correlated into each other and the combined effect is far more severe.
The complexity of these materials issues has driven the nuclear materials research from large-scale descriptive studies into atomic- scale fundamental studies, which requires collaborative researches across the fields of engineering, physics and chemistry.
with Tahir Cagin, from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, has allowed the researchers to understand how some metals and ceramics react when bombarded with radiation.
“We are able to catch those atom interactions at a very short time scale, to go beyond the experimental capability there. We combine experiments and modeling to get an understanding of the mechanism behind material failure.”
Shao says the need for more safety in next-generation reactors drives this push for better material design, and that means studying nanostructured materials at the atomic scale.
If you put two different materials together, the boundary (or interface) between these two different kinds of materials has a unique effect of trapping defects caused by radiation damage. These boundaries between materials, if they can be stabilized under neutron damage, behave as trash cans, collecting the garbage, or damage, created by radiation.
This garbage-collecting property leads Shao to expect that these nanoengineered materials will have a significant impact on material design, with longer lifetime inside a nuclear reactor. This particular area of study has led to several research grants,
Shao directs the largest university radiation facility in the country, with five accelerators to create high-energy particle beams needed to simulate radiation damage.
We need to test these materials to get an idea of how long the materials will last, and to understand what the mechanism is behind these failures so we can develop materials with a longer lifetime.
“Thanks to the excellent collaborative research environments at Texas A&M, we are lucky to find many partners having common interests in these areas,” Shao says.
Understanding damage on the atomic level
Shao says that in addition to testing, his research group seeks to understand the mechanism behind the behaviors observed.
To do that, the researchers have established a strong modeling program to “see” what experiments can’t see. One collaboration
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Major focus
A major focus of the research team is cladding material. That hollow tube serves as the first buffer layer between the coolant and the nuclear fuel—a critical function, Shao says. Shao cites the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident in Japan as an example of just how critical cladding material can be.
“Everybody talks about that reactor accident. That accident came from the fact that the fuel cladding, that hollow tube, was made of zircaloy, a zirconium-based alloy. That alloy works very well at normal operating temperature, 500 degrees Celsius. But after the tsunami, due to the coolant being shut off, the water became very hot. That hot water interacted with the zirconium and released a huge amount of hydrogen. That’s what caused the explosion there. So you can see that material selection for that cladding material is critical. So that is the trend in this country, trying to replace zirconium.”
Shao is investigating using a silicon carbide composite to replace zirconium in cladding material in order to avoid the situation in the Japan reactor. Because silicon carbide is a ceramic, no hydrogen will be released when (or if) the cladding interacts with hot water. And using fiber bundles of silicon carbide rather than bulk silicon carbide helps to strengthen the material.
“If you had a material made of just bulk silicon carbide, and you tried to bend it, it would crack,” Shao says. “But silicon carbide fiber material can be bent to minimize cracking. When you push or displace a fiber, it pulls out of the matrix and then can go back into its shape. So you have a way to release the stress.
Therefore, we do whatever we can do to find the best material that best performs under that normal operation temperature, but who knows what will happen if we have an accident? Anything can happen, so we try to say, ‘Are we able to structure this so we find a better material, which is safer even in extreme conditions?’
including Shao’s National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2009.
“We want to match modeling and simulations, to actually see individual atoms,” Shao says. “So we use transmission electron microscopy to see what happens at the metal–metal interface when we put two metals together and bombard with particles.”
“Our key interest is trying to maximize this interface region so the material will have a self-annealing effect: The material will repair the damage itself.”
Most recently, Shao proposed to bond metals with ceramic glasses to create a new type of interface. The work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy as a collaborative project with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Benefits of nanostructured materials
An energy particle is like a bullet, bombarding the material and causing damage inside. With bulk material—say, a lump of silicon—that energy bullet after one picosecond causes cascading damage by displacing all the atoms in the matrix. But when the same energy bullet is fired at a small nanowire, such as a fiber tube, the same radiation causes very few defects inside.
“That’s the interface effect we are talking about,” Shao says. “Our key interest is trying to maximize this interface region so the material will have a self-annealing effect: The material will repair the damage itself.”
One way to increase this boundary, or interface region, is to order the atoms in a polycrystal, a large crystal made up of many smaller crystals.
“Our desire here is trying to maximize those boundaries so each material inside will have a domain, a crystal as small as possible so we can maximize those regional interfaces. If we can do that, we can trap more defects there to stop damage from spreading.”
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Education is a gift that keeps giving throughout one’s life, far after college is over.
The Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University has graduated more nuclear engineers since the early 1960s than has any other school in the country. More important than just the number of graduates is the quality of those graduates.
We go above and beyond to recognize the potential in students, and provide them with an education to be proud of. We continuously inspire our students, faculty and staff to be the best that they can be.
We stand by our vision: to develop and maintain a nationally and internationally recognized program that promotes a passion for understanding and applying the knowledge of nuclear science and engineering to support the nation’s alternative energy, national security and healthcare missions.
Our program is constantly evolving, and is focused on developing and strengthening every facet required to raise student achievement in and out of college. We aspire to be better, to improve year by year, and for that we require your support. The search for the best students is tougher than ever. As we continue our tradition of producing the high-quality nuclear engineers that the industry needs, a key factor is the ability to attract the most academically capable students.
Some of the best and brightest high school students cannot afford today’s tuition, and scholarships open up a world of possibilities to them. For others, a scholarship frees them from student jobs, giving them more time to follow their intellectual curiosity or to participate in A&M’s character-building student-led organizations.
There are many opportunities available for empowering the students of the department. Scholarships drive the spirit and guide the minds of generations of Aggies, so they can affect the world in productive and inventive ways. When you fund a scholarship, you’re making a profound difference for individual students and for the lives those students touch as graduates of Texas A&M University.
Contact Derek Dictson, Director of Development, to make a difference in a student’s life. phone: 979.845.5113, email: [email protected]
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Dr. J. Stephen Rottler of Albuquerque, N.M., was named “Distinguished Former Student” of 2011 for the Department of Nuclear Engineering.
On Friday, April 13, Dr. Rottler was presented with an award at an intimate gathering with faculty.
“There are few forms of recognition more cherished than to be recognized by one’s peers or by one’s University. My time at Texas A&M University prepared me for and gave me my start as an engineer and leader of technical professionals; it was there where I met my wife and partner of 30-plus years. These gifts make this award all the more special. I am both very grateful and flattered to have been selected by the Nuclear Engineering Department for this recognition,” said Dr. Rottler.
Recently, Dr. Rottler and his wife, Lee Ann ‘81, have endowed a scholarship fund for nuclear engineering undergraduates at Texas A&M University. Recipients of the scholarship must be full-time nuclear engineering students with a minimum GPA of 3.5.
“We are extremely grateful to Stephen and Lee Ann for their continued commitment and engagement with both the university and our department.
Having successful former students to serve as inspirational role models for our current and incoming students is a gift in itself,” said Dr. Yassin Hassan, nuclear engineering interim department head.
As chief technology officer and vice president for the Science and Technology Division at Sandia National Laboratories, Dr. Rottler is responsible for leadership and management of corporate research and development and capabilities stewardship at Sandia National Laboratories. He is also responsible for leadership of technology transfer and strategic research relationships with universities, industry, and the State of New Mexico.
Dr. Rottler currently serves on the College of Engineering’s external advisory board. He was a member of the Singing Cadets and received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1980, 1982, and 1984, respectively.
Rottler Named Distinguished Former Student for 2011
Th e re ar e f ew forms of r ecognition more ch er ished than to be recognized by one’s p e ers or by one’s University. My time at Texas A&M Univers ity prepared me for & gave me my start as an engine er & l eader of techn ical professionals.
Annual Report 2011-2012
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