Top 3 in the nation
We’re ranked 3rd in the nation but we all know we’re #1 in your hearts. Other news to boast about this 4th of July —
- Largest stand-alone department with a research reactor
- #1 nuclear engineering program in the US Southeast
- Tied for 2nd nuclear engineering department at a public university in the nation
- Faculty team of 34 (tenured/tenure track, research, extension, teaching, lecturer)
- Only assistant extension professor for nuclear engineering in the nation
- 10 incoming ANS leaders are at or affiliated with NC State Nuclear Engineering
- Federal and state legislative support for nuclear engineering is high
Reach out and tell us what we should be boasting about you!
Kostadin Ivanov, Department Head
New colleagues from the 2022-23 graduating class
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing must be attained.”
– Marie Curie
Graduation numbers keep rising and we now live-stream the departmental graduation ceremony. Take a look at the stream & program book for familiar or future colleagues.
US Department of Energy scholarship & fellowship awardees
National awards from the US Department of Energy University Nuclear Leadership Program (UNLP) include,
- Nicholas Poole, a doctoral student and member of Dr. Ayman Hawari’s Low Energy Interaction Physics group. He is researching advanced reactor diagnostics through the use of PULSTAR reactor.
- Rylan Paye, a doctoral student studying computational methods/computational physics in nuclear engineering. He is a member of Dr. Dmitriy Anistratov’s research group.
- Matthew Schweitzer, a doctoral student and member of Dr. Ayman Hawari’s research group. His interests lie in radiation effects on materials, advanced reactors, and molten salts.
Our undergraduate UNLP scholars include Jason Clifford (rising junior), Alina Jugan (rising senior), Lauren Kohler (rising senior), Ryan Perry (rising junior), and Pavel Sumeonov (rising junior). They participate in a number of nuclear-related activities including undergraduate research, ANS, WIN and Graduate Student Association (GSA) departmental student chapters, and/or reactor operation.
Fellows article link | Scholars article link
Undergraduate research at the ANS Student Conference
NC State Nuclear Engineering senior design teams, and undergraduate student researchers presented their work at the 2023 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Student Conference in Knoxville, TN. Winning senior design and undergraduate research projects are in bold. We partner with the SC State nuclear engineering department, their seniors join our senior year.
Fuel Management and Reload Cycle Length Optimization for a Westinghouse 2-Loop PWR
Zachary Bevans, Jesse Hines, Ethan Newhouse, Ashanti Meyers (SCSU)
Advisers: Maria Avramova & Kostadin Ivanov (NCSU), Baxter Durham (Westinghouse)
Event Sequence Analysis to Support a Full Scope Dynamic Probabilistic Risk Assessment Framework for the PULSTAR Research Reactor
May Wells, Maddie Barber, Alex Chaisson
Adviser: Mihai A. Diaconeasa (NCSU)
Application of a Tuning Forks in Measuring Viscosity and Density of Molten Salt Systems
Ryan Charrette, Harrison Storms, Declan Miller, Madison Turmon (SCSU).
Advisers: Alexander Bataller (NCSU), Aslak Stubsgaard & Jesper Glahn (Copenhagen Atomics)
Design and Optimization of the Core and Fuel Cycle in a 20 MW Pebble Bed Reactor
Grayson Gall, James Krec, Ershaud Naderi.
Advisers: Pascal Rouxelin & Kostadin Ivanov (NCSU)
The two undergraduate awards went to —
Anomaly Detection in a Cold Trap Liquid Sodium Purification System through Multisensory Data Fusion with Deep Learning Autoencoders
Alexandra Akins. Adviser: Alexander Heifetz (ANL)
Photon Radiation Shielding Evaluation of Metal and Metal Oxide Infused Conformal Coating in MicroShield Pro
Ryan Charrette. Adviser: Robert Hayes (NCSU)
Click here for the full 10 senior design projects, 6 undergraduate research projects, panels & plenaries.
ANS scholarship recipients
Eight (8) undergraduate and seven (7) graduate students are recipients of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) scholarships for 2023-24.
Left to right: Alina Jugan, Max Velasco, Eirini Klemes, Jacob Martin, Jason Clifford, Kristina Pattison, Pavel Simeonov, William Graham, Khaldoon Al-Dawood, Jonathan Crozier, Madeline Lockhart, Andy Rivas, Grayson Gall, Fadel Nasr, and Asmaa Farag.
Ninety-six (96) ANS scholarships, amounting to $259,600, were awarded to students pursuing degrees in nuclear science and technology.
Click here for the article.
U.S. Department of Defense SMART scholars
Catherine Zurawski (2022/23) & Aidan Glickman (2023/24) are our first departmental recipients of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) SMART Scholarship.
Catherine is from Mercer Island, WA. Currently, she is on her summer internship at a US Department of Defense facility.
Aidan is a native of Raleigh, NC. He has completed undergraduate research with Dr. Yang on “Nuclear Sensor Materials and Devices” and is at BWXT for the summer.
Click here for the article.
Akins received NC State Sustainability Award & NSF fellowship
Alexandra Akins won the 2023 NC State Sustainability Award. She served as the resource conservation team coordinator for the Sustainability Stewards and has been part of significant projects, such as the solar bus stop on Dan Allen Drive and Solar Space at Gardner Arboretum. Alie is currently working to install a pollinator garden at Talley Student Union along with organizing multiple events to engage students in conservation, including the campus-wide Energy and Water Competition.
Alie is the recipient of the NSF National Fellowship Graduate Program and starts her graduate studies with
Dr. Xu Wu this fall! She’s done undergraduate research with Dr. Wu and interned at Argonne National Lab.
In other student news
Elijah Rushing, of the PRA Group, was awarded the Undergraduate Student prize of the ASME SERAD 2022 Student Safety Innovation Challenge based on the paper, “Risk Integration and Comparison Safety Study Between Generation II Light Water Reactors and Generation IV Non-Light Water Reactors”, developed and submitted under the supervision of Dr. Mihai Diaconeasa.
Crozier & Gall place 2nd in the NEUP Innovations in Nuclear R&D Student Open Competitions
Jonathan Crozier placed 2nd in the U.S. DOE NEUP Innovations in Nuclear R&D Student Open Competition. His work investigates the “Thermal Scattering Law for Structure-Dependent-Doppler Broadening in FLASSH”. Currently, Jonathan is working on his doctoral degree in nuclear engineering at NC State University. He is embedding artificial intelligence to predict thermal scattering effects on-the-fly for higher-fidelity multiphysics reactor calculations. His adviser is Dr. Ayman Hawari. Degrees completed include is Master of Nuclear Engineering (2021) and Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering, minor in Physics (2020).
Grayson Gall placed 2nd in the U.S. DOE NEUP Innovations in Nuclear R&D Student Open Competition. His work investigates the “Measurement of a radial flow profile with eddy current flow meters and deep neural networks”. Grayson completed his Bachelor of Science (BS) in nuclear engineering with minors in computer programming and music studies at NC State University. This fall 2023 he starts his doctoral studies in nuclear engineering, also at NC State University. His research will be in the area of simulation of plasmas. He is interested in exploring the use of GPUs in building new programs to do so. His advisers will be Drs. Amanda Leitz and Steven Shannon. Currently, his summer internship is at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program. Grayson is working with Dr. Elijah Martin in the Advanced Tokamak Physics Group; working to develop a method to measure the rate of Velocity Changing Collisions in plasma using Doppler Free Saturation Spectroscopy.
Alumnus Alan Icenhour inducted as the 2022-23 Distinguished Nuclear Engineering Alumni
Dr. Alan Icenhour has more than 35 years of experience with nuclear technologies. His work has included operations of nuclear facilities and reactors, as well as research and development on a range of nuclear fuel cycle topics such as enrichment, radiochemical processing, stable and radioisotope production, nuclear fuels, radiation effects on materials, radioactive waste management, and nuclear security.
He retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) after more than 32 years in March 2023. In his last role at ORNL he was the Deputy Laboratory Director for Operations and the Chief Operating Officer.
Click here for his acceptance/graduation speaker speech.
Assistant Secretary of Nuclear Energy gave the Distinguished Executive Lecture
Dr. Kathryn D. Huff gave the 2023 Nuclear Engineering Distinguished Executive Lecture. Her talk centered around “Clean Energy and Nuclear Innovation” – federal legislation, US Department of Nuclear Energy initiatives, as well as collaborative efforts at the state, national and international levels.
Earlier in the day Huff met with senior administrators at the university and college levels as well as with nuclear engineering faculty and students. She had an opportunity to tour labs focusing on radiological, life sciences & industrial plasmas as well as the PULSTAR research reactor.
Dr. Huff attended the 50th anniversary reactor reception. The PULSTAR reactor is a University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors Center. As one of 50 Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Nuclear Science User Facility (NSUF) locations, we provide researchers with capabilities ranging from neutron, gamma and ion irradiation to post-irradiation examination.
Huff’s second day included a round table with industry representatives who provided insight into research and innovation happening in the Southeast.
Click here for the article.
Marshall elected 2023 ANS Vice President/President-Elect
Lisa Marshall, an ANS member since 2005, took office as ANS VP/President-Elect this June. “Thank you, ANS members! I am honored to be your next vice president/president-elect,” Marshall said in an email to Nuclear News. She added, “We are a Society of excellence, and I am devoted to leading us further with passion, vigor, and purpose through recruitment, retention, and collaboration nationally and internationally. People are our most valuable resource. We impact energy and non-energy industries in crucial ways and must continually develop and lead efforts that are transformational.”
Click here for the article.
Ten American Nuclear Society leadership positions affiliated with the department
Congratulations to NC State Nuclear Engineering faculty, graduate student, alumni, advisory board members, and former postdoctoral research associate. These 2023 elected leaders took office at the end of the June 2023 annual meeting in Indianapolis, IN.
Click here for the article.
Faculty participating in NNSA $25 million consortium for research in nuclear forensics
Drs. John Mattingly, Elizabeth Kautz, and Xu Wu are investigators representing NC State University Department of Nuclear Engineering in the University of Florida-led Consortium for Research in Nuclear Forensics.
The purpose of this consortium is to educate the next generation of nuclear forensic scientists and engineers while engaging in research and development spanning basic aspects of new technology and methods to programmatic work directly supporting the nuclear security and nonproliferation missions of NNSA.
Click here for the article.
Yang elevated to IEEE senior member
Dr. Ge Yang, associate professor of nuclear engineering at NC State University, attained senior membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Senior member is the highest professional grade of IEEE for which application may be made. It requires extensive experience and reflects professional accomplishments and maturity.
Only ten percent of the more than 400,000 IEEE members have achieved this level.
Yang’s research revolves around the opportunities at the intersection of nuclear engineering, materials science and engineering, and electrical engineering.
Click here for the article.
Avramova named ANS Fellow
Dr. Maria Avramova, Professor and University Faculty Scholar at NC State University, will be one of five fellows honored at the opening plenary of the 2023 American Nuclear Society (ANS) Annual Conference. She has been an ANS member since 2002.
Avramova’s election to the rank of Fellow recognizes the contributions made to the advancement of nuclear science and technology through notable original research or invention in the nuclear field.
This is the ANS’s highest membership grade to which only a small group of nuclear science and engineering professionals are elected.
Click here for the article.
Diaconeasa received ANS David Okrent Award
Dr. Mihai Diaconeasa, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at NC State University, received the ANS David Okrent Award for Nuclear Safety. The award recognizes recent contributions and accomplishments of significant value to nuclear safety.
Dr. Diaconeasa’s educational, research, and service efforts include theories, applications, and simulation-based techniques in risk sciences such as traditional and dynamic probabilistic risk assessment, reliability analysis, resilient systems design, probabilistic physics of failure modeling, and Bayesian inference to assess the safety, security, resilience, and nonproliferation of current and future generation of nuclear reactors.
Click here for the article.
Diaconaesa and Hou elected to Faculty Senate
Drs. Mihai Diaconaesa and Jason Hou were elected and will serve as College of Engineering representatives on the North Carolina State University Faculty Senate. Dr. Diaconaesa has been nominated to serve as Lead Senator for the College of Engineering.
The Senate provides advice to the Chancellor and, through the Chancellor, to the Board of Trustees. Each faculty senator serves as a liaison between the governing body of the faculty and the faculty of the constituency that the senator represents. Senators report regularly to their constituencies on the deliberations of the Senate, meet as a delegation with the dean or other appropriate administrator of their constituency, bring issues of concern from their constituencies to the Senate for consideration, and act as facilitators of faculty participation in the governance of the University.
NC State nuclear engineering professors promoted
Dr. Djamel Kaoumi is now a full professor of nuclear engineering. Kaoumi’s research revolves around materials for extreme environments such as nuclear reactors.
Dr. Katharina Stapelmann is now an associate professor of nuclear engineering. Stapelmann studies the interactions of technical plasmas with biological systems on a macromolecular level.
Dr. Ge Yang is now a full professor of nuclear engineering. Yang’s research revolves around the opportunities at the intersection of nuclear engineering, materials science and engineering and electrical engineering.
Click here for the article.
Bataller wins U.S. DOE R&D Award; tenure track re-appointed confirmed
Dr. Alexander Bataller, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at NC State University, is the recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Research and Development Award, under Licensing and Safety. Project collaborators include Ammon Williams at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Aslak Stubsgaard at Copenhagen Atomics. The research project is entitled, “An Integrated Elemental and Isotopic Detector for Real-Time Molten Salt Monitoring”.
Also, Dr. Bataller tenure track re-appointment was confirmed for a second term. Reappointment is the extension of a faculty contract after a successful initial appointment and review period. He leads the Ultrafast Spectroscopy Group which specializes in the application of ultrafast laser techniques for probing matter in extreme environments with a particular focus on molten salts for advanced nuclear energy applications.
Click here for the article.
Ivanov appointed Distinguished Professor
Dr. Kostadin Ivanov was appointed distinguished professor by Chancellor Woodson for his accomplishments well above the criteria for full professor and for being one of the best scholars in the discipline. He has improved the quality of NC State University’s mission through service and involvement in the campus community.
Dr. Ivanov is a member of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC) of the Organization of Economic, Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), chair of the Working Party on Innovative Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) at NEA, member of Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) Board of Managers, member of the Science and Technology (S&T) Committee of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Advisory Board. He is an American Nuclear Society Fellow.
Click here for the article.
Expanded international cooperation with South Africa
Faculty and research staff visited South Africa in March to expand existing international cooperation with the nuclear power industry, regulation, national laboratory, and nuclear engineering programs in South Africa. The NC State delegation included Professors Ivanov (Department Head) and Avramova (Director of the Consortium for Nuclear Power), Drs. Abarca and Rouxelin (Senior Research Scholars), as well as Dr. Delipei (Research Scholar).
Click here for the article.
NC State Nuclear Engineering Faculty conduct SINUS
Faculty and research staff from the Department conducted, under the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the first International School on Simulation of Nuclear Reactor Systems (SINUS). They were held online and then in Bologna, Italy.
The SINUS was on the topic of reactor single- and multi-physics simulations based on the Light Water Reactor (LWR) Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (UAM) benchmark. It was produced by the NEA Working Party on Scientific Issues and Uncertainty Analysis of Reactor Systems (WPRS).
Click here for the article.
Faculty visited KIT
Professors Ivanov (Department Head) and Avramova (Director of Consortium for Nuclear Engineering (CNP) visited the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany in February.
They presented a seminar entitled “Demonstration of Utilization of High to Low (Hi2Lo) Fidelity Information Schemes within Advanced Multi-Physics Modeling and Simulation Frameworks” and discussed collaboration activities in modeling and simulation and experimentation for advanced nuclear and fusion energy between the Department, CNP, and INR.
Click here for the article.
Ruffin promoted to Contracts & Grants Manager
In this position, Ayana Ruffin assists with compiling, submitting, and finalizing grant proposals. Ayana manages quarterly reports, tracks spending, and assists faculty members with budget alignments, no-cost extensions, supplemental proposals, and managing closeouts.
Ayana worked as Records Clerk/ Archives Specialist for the Fayetteville Police Department. She is originally from Fayetteville, NC.
Elford joins as new Pre- and Post-Award Specialist
In her position, Madison Elford is responsible for the upkeep of nuclear engineering grant accounts as well as well as assist faculty in applying for new grants in the Department.
Prior to joining us, Madison was an insurance agent.
She is originally from Sebastian, FL.
Message from the editor
This past academic year has been exciting – top 3 ranking by US News & Report, new alums, and several NC State Nuclear Engineering faculty, students, and alum will take up leadership roles on the national stage.
Thank you for your continuing support and well wishes. We want to hear about your successes as well! So drop me a line. Share photos of your growing family or from your exciting adventures.
Help us make a difference in the academic career of current students. You can target support to scholarships, fellowships, starting a faculty endowment fund, or contributing to the overall student success fund.
Hope you are having a wonderful summer! Lisa